The Traveling Executioner

More a grotesque theatrical farce than a black comedy: Jonas Candide (Keach) travels the American South of 1918, hiring out his electric chair at 100 bucks a throw, but loses his omnipotence when he falls for his first lady 'victim' (Hill), and starts conniving to save her. It works best as - and is worth seeing for - an extravagant, outsize performance from Keach, a mixture of trash rhetoric, sinister dedication, and fairground showmanship. But what it desperately needs is a director capable of anchoring the fantasy in recognisable human realities.