A Hollywood art designer (William Atherton) finds his advances turned away from an aspiring, no talent actress (Karen Black) who is also contending with an ineffectual accountant (Donald Sutherland) and her dying, former vaudeville entertainer father (Burgess Meredith). The Day of the Locust makes a good companion to Nathanael West's ruthless Hollywood sendup but perhaps doesn't stand on its own, although there are some nice touches in Waldo Salt's script and a similar, spectacularly terrifying finale. Atherton and Sutherland are pretty strong, Meredith is excellent, and Black is irritating by device. The film footage clips and drawings are especially cool.
*** out of ****
