In addition to the sound recording (which is often outstanding in Altman's films - pay attention to the soundtrack for O.C. & Stiggs, another one of his obscurities) it has that sparse soundtrack from John Williams which seems completely unlike anything else he has done.

William Castle ... Shanks (1974) - w/ Marcel Marceau in the lead.

As a non Jon Cryer fan you might really enjoy OC & Stiggs as he takes a lot of good-natured abuse from the title characters. Plus it has Ray Walston - I'll watch anything with Ray Walston.

I've been thinking about Altman a lot since this post and I realize that most of his output from the 80s and 90s is fairly obscure and almost everything is worth seeing. Some of his late 70s work is obscure too - although many have now come out on DVD (they were never out on VHS). He always hovers in or near my ten favorite directors list.

Shanks is odd. Really odd. I'm not sure if I like it but I will definitely watch it again someday - I've saved a VHS dupe I made - not sure how available it is.

Here's another one from me:

Al Adamson's Carnival Magic (1981) - possibly the most unwholesome children's film ever made. Seedy, degenerate - Hell, very typical of Al Adamson. And it features a monkey in a major role so it will count for Challenge of the Apes next month!

Me too. I originally saw it when we showed it as a midnight movie at the theatre I ran. I thought it would never surface again but eventually it did come out on DVD. I have been on the verge of buying it ever since.

Holy Schmoly - It amazes me what they run sometimes. I love TCM. Or at least I did when I had a satellite. That's where I first saw Night of the Lepus and Hot rods To Hell.