PAUL CARPENTER AND SUSAN SHAW IN WOLF RILLA'S 'STOCK CAR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyPhYGGgUrEMeKJVS5e1DV8bI_Vg-SCQKa5cwWvnbkpK7FCSiGTawr3eIKtJMeQkn-yunGc7TVBWOa5wBZjaCNYPMxM-Rb16LxoqrlF4QRrqpKoZt06UUomvoYoia4QdbfvFqvpq2Mgh-YCfeGouJN96waTKMU7Xolj-j5WK1mL6YMgICFtQ4sfX16pJG/s1452/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyPhYGGgUrEMeKJVS5e1DV8bI_Vg-SCQKa5cwWvnbkpK7FCSiGTawr3eIKtJMeQkn-yunGc7TVBWOa5wBZjaCNYPMxM-Rb16LxoqrlF4QRrqpKoZt06UUomvoYoia4QdbfvFqvpq2Mgh-YCfeGouJN96waTKMU7Xolj-j5WK1mL6YMgICFtQ4sfX16pJG/s1600/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: STOCK CAR Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Canadian actor turned British movie <i>stock American</i> <i>character</i> Paul Carpenter had one of the smoothest voices in the history of cinema, so much that he'd either play random announcers or sometimes co-leads, like in director Wolf Rilla's STOCK CAR...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>By looks he didn't really stand out, yet with a cool enough demeanor suiting the vocal delivery, it's easier to believe that two polar opposite dames (bad blonde and virginal brunette) would be instantly smitten...  <br></p><span></span>

british film noir, fifties, harry fowler, patrick jordan, paul carpenter, race car, robert rietty, rona anderson, sabrina, susan shaw, wolf rilla

PAUL CARPENTER AND SUSAN SHAW IN WOLF RILLA'S 'STOCK CAR'

Title: STOCK CAR Year: 1955 Rating: **** Canadian actor turned British movie stock American character Paul Carpenter had one of the smooth...

ROBERT BLAKE CRASHING 'CORKY' WITH CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lgxk0T-1tTzi2tHTxWCNhvGgovy6-orNwAq4L5oB2hr8M9NWtJ6MkZUsX_dRqB_EMcPtMm5-VjIQFifs0G7-SEROyV-BEZmbwqj_CALmH9no5ZSc0oIoM4GmdDFwe_QaUc_VitrSp5RnpNN-7jVauAJlxtLeUNNP1UtdmHfIff0Ln4XEr-6y4j-bxuB0/s1556/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-06%20at%204.35.40%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lgxk0T-1tTzi2tHTxWCNhvGgovy6-orNwAq4L5oB2hr8M9NWtJ6MkZUsX_dRqB_EMcPtMm5-VjIQFifs0G7-SEROyV-BEZmbwqj_CALmH9no5ZSc0oIoM4GmdDFwe_QaUc_VitrSp5RnpNN-7jVauAJlxtLeUNNP1UtdmHfIff0Ln4XEr-6y4j-bxuB0/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-06%20at%204.35.40%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Blake in CORKY Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An early 1970's hybrid of small-town-dragster TWO LANE BLACKTOP, centering on two young motorheads rolling in a souped-up hot rod, and the exposition-through-flashback IN COLD BLOOD: as CORKY also stars Robert Blake, here as a spitfire Southerner yearning to become a stock car driving champion, before eventually getting lethal... <br><br>Which occurs in the last ten minutes, feeling more like the beginning of the final act instead of the entire movie's violent conclusion in what's an otherwise creatively-shot, open road exploitation where an intense and free-wheeling, strangely optimistic yet equally brooding Blake is surrounded by some topnotch actors...</p><p><span></span></p>

ben johnson, charlotte rampling, christopher connelly, exploitation, john gruber, laurence luckinbill, pamela payton-wright, patrick o'neal, race car, road movie, robert blake, seventies

ROBERT BLAKE CRASHING 'CORKY' WITH CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

Robert Blake in CORKY Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 An early 1970's hybrid of small-town-dragster TWO LANE BLACKTOP, centering on two young ...

DAVID CARRADINE AND ROBERT CARRADINE DRIVING 'CANNONBALL'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAQfpmHFQHLEu0SXorm69coBMJj0UVjOwyRW6BP1F-iDa6VQJOxhx8tdP9ugKTitmQLQg1r8X5y1rSSjOYTKi3wuLEGksc6pQmGsRYYns3pN_uNgq1ztV0qRGOoLZg-Mjm8G-qM7xTZiU6xyql8k1aWVW72HOcJLQjC2-fPMmegnXb2aiEPn1Oe1ShdoC/s2474/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-24%20at%206.29.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="2474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAQfpmHFQHLEu0SXorm69coBMJj0UVjOwyRW6BP1F-iDa6VQJOxhx8tdP9ugKTitmQLQg1r8X5y1rSSjOYTKi3wuLEGksc6pQmGsRYYns3pN_uNgq1ztV0qRGOoLZg-Mjm8G-qM7xTZiU6xyql8k1aWVW72HOcJLQjC2-fPMmegnXb2aiEPn1Oe1ShdoC/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-24%20at%206.29.04%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CANNONBALL Year: 1976 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It would be as surprising if roughshod stuntman director Hal Needham made a sophisticated Shakespeare adaptation as classy/gentlemen Paul Bartel being one of the best high-octane car-race/chase auteurs in the grungy 1970's and, following the popular dystopian-future dark-comedy <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/08/DR2000.html">DEATH RACE 2000</a>, he made the first and least known action-flick based on the genuinely real and extremely illegal no-rules cross-country <i>Cannonball</i>...<br><br>Created and manned by Brock Peters, who only appeared in the famous 1981 Needham ensemble with superstar Burt Reynolds, making <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/09/burt-reynolds-in-hal-needhams.html">THE CANNONBALL RUN</a> the only legitimate showcase... </p><span></span>

belinda balaski, bill mckinney, david carradine, exploitation, garrit graham, hangout, mary woronov, paul bartel, race car, robert carradine, seventies, sylvester stallone, veronica hamel

DAVID CARRADINE AND ROBERT CARRADINE DRIVING 'CANNONBALL'

Title: CANNONBALL Year: 1976 Rating: **** It would be as surprising if roughshod stuntman director Hal Needham made a sophisticated Shakespe...

CHRISTINA GREGG RIDING ROGER CORMAN'S 'THE YOUNG RACERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskYDTYU1LHatBfFbs_yFBBsY-IEHHQhptfDyj1eA_jN8IcOSPut72ukEUH1zim2_68l0xhMGdOXg6HogTN-JRrwVIz9-qOUVLbwy9fHWLR9SLKIMBxB4JC4vcskqXIfj5Iq7MabW6inoHo-k8JiksjwVSVPWaREp_2MzGNAwCIRfspzwXvU5vhL-KjZ2E/s1612/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-13%20at%2011.04.54%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskYDTYU1LHatBfFbs_yFBBsY-IEHHQhptfDyj1eA_jN8IcOSPut72ukEUH1zim2_68l0xhMGdOXg6HogTN-JRrwVIz9-qOUVLbwy9fHWLR9SLKIMBxB4JC4vcskqXIfj5Iq7MabW6inoHo-k8JiksjwVSVPWaREp_2MzGNAwCIRfspzwXvU5vhL-KjZ2E/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-13%20at%2011.04.54%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg with Mark Damon in THE YOUNG RACERS Year: 1963 Rates: ** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are bad b-movies that are still entertaining, and then there are those that simply don't work — as is the case of Roger Corman's THE YOUNG RACERS,<i> that does use</i> genuine European Monte Carlo Grand Prix racing locations that don't resemble stock footage thrown into the melodramatic romance sequences, which this has far too much of...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Howard Hawks fared much better (though not financially) with what this picture seems a precursor of, RED LINE 7000, following womanizing racers and their female conquests, some stronger than others, in particular Luana Anders as the central ingenue, stuck between THE YOUNG RACERS... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, christina gregg, exploitation, luana anders, marie versini, mark damon, melodrama, race car, roger corman, romance, sixties, sport, william campbell, william shatner

CHRISTINA GREGG RIDING ROGER CORMAN'S 'THE YOUNG RACERS'

Christina Gregg with Mark Damon in THE YOUNG RACERS Year: 1963 Rates: ** There are bad b-movies that are still entertaining, and then there ...

DAVID CARRADINE VS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'DEATH RACE 2000'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV615xZklu8VLd3wYUQJGrawG0NN_J2uj_TSVWtExTShhwXw1wGl347BMhezTl8AQgHNjHQevhGx_7EoBgXGNUcMtpiURiZr2Imd_V-rfa1xHy-X_5PpYwuLIep7fJHGtiiPG2VJHvB95rc7aPGaRzqRnW-lgOjECviXPy003GpctNe_dO_J4Q31c6sqcY/s2274/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-23%20at%2011.01.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV615xZklu8VLd3wYUQJGrawG0NN_J2uj_TSVWtExTShhwXw1wGl347BMhezTl8AQgHNjHQevhGx_7EoBgXGNUcMtpiURiZr2Imd_V-rfa1xHy-X_5PpYwuLIep7fJHGtiiPG2VJHvB95rc7aPGaRzqRnW-lgOjECviXPy003GpctNe_dO_J4Q31c6sqcY/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-23%20at%2011.01.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sylvester Stallone in DEATH RACE 2000 Year: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Director Paul Bartel's cult classic Roger Corman production DEATH RACE 2000 is known as a guilty-pleasure — and the pleasure's in seeing civilians being mowed-down by race cars for points... </p><p>Yet it's really an action-packed dystopian science-fiction cautionary-tale where television consumers watch lethal violence as sports-entertainment, inspiring blockbusters ranging from THE RUNNING MAN to THE HUNGER GAMES while the running-over-people aspect actually makes the least sense because, if the race was broadcast worldwide, why would anyone go outside? </p><p><span></span></p>

dark comedy, exploitation, louisa moritz, martin kove, mary woronov, paul bartel, race car, roberta collins, roger corman, science-fiction, seventies, simone griffeth, sylvester stallone

DAVID CARRADINE VS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'DEATH RACE 2000'

Sylvester Stallone in DEATH RACE 2000 Year: **** Director Paul Bartel's cult classic Roger Corman production DEATH RACE 2000 is known as...

RICHARD CONTE DRIVES HAMMER'S RACE VEHICLE 'MASK OF DUST'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmko6Wix_HzMS8Atgk6U2frqkZ6RbG87g8rc-1kvaijBMlGSgkY2YIYPfnvGB9EWXGfSPi6x57U1elC4gprihy5TQNIXX2yPeNuVEJ2pNbvpXLXX8N532A5zUYToCrKWVPHvpUrQ_vCtv4DBUBb94YOsyj7eNghldsXAMM4UqRNQE5R69WXA3SkXxKgxRl/s2312/Screen%20Shot%202025-05-16%20at%204.55.03%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="2312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmko6Wix_HzMS8Atgk6U2frqkZ6RbG87g8rc-1kvaijBMlGSgkY2YIYPfnvGB9EWXGfSPi6x57U1elC4gprihy5TQNIXX2yPeNuVEJ2pNbvpXLXX8N532A5zUYToCrKWVPHvpUrQ_vCtv4DBUBb94YOsyj7eNghldsXAMM4UqRNQE5R69WXA3SkXxKgxRl/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-05-16%20at%204.55.03%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MASK OF DUST Year: 1954 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the greatest titles for a race car movie, Terence Fisher's pre-horror Hammer MASK OF DUST settled stateside for the blandly retooled RACE FOR LIFE, and yet, neither really fit the actual movie...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Starring American crime-genre actor Richard Conte, perhaps <i>Interior Conversations of Exterior Driving</i> would fare better to what's a stagey melodrama with real and/or rear-projected racing shots where Grand Prix drivers fight to survive...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, fifties, george coulouris, hammer films, james copeland, mari aldon, melodrama, race car, terence fisher

RICHARD CONTE DRIVES HAMMER'S RACE VEHICLE 'MASK OF DUST'

Title: MASK OF DUST Year: 1954 Rating: ** One of the greatest titles for a race car movie, Terence Fisher's pre-horror Hammer MASK OF DU...

MIMSY FARMER RIDES SHOTGUN WITH FABIAN IN 'THE WILD RACERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMj2HsnbpCMd1sShnyihyphenhyphenM9Q2INVI-_8F68lIZheErNkK1YyJEvlHR82DekDY-AM8CiA46_z2EueWliGDYPiQADTUn16vMGDOXBxEmcEhyphenhyphenYVT1JFIAY0S5LawuYg1RWde1rLxZnY5m6d2J58vrOswf8Q7Tki65PlZ_6ACBa8h9yxLiz956H9Cev-5PY8OE/s2022/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-05%20at%2010.21.38%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="2022" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMj2HsnbpCMd1sShnyihyphenhyphenM9Q2INVI-_8F68lIZheErNkK1YyJEvlHR82DekDY-AM8CiA46_z2EueWliGDYPiQADTUn16vMGDOXBxEmcEhyphenhyphenYVT1JFIAY0S5LawuYg1RWde1rLxZnY5m6d2J58vrOswf8Q7Tki65PlZ_6ACBa8h9yxLiz956H9Cev-5PY8OE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-05%20at%2010.21.38%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mimsy Farmer in THE WILD RACERS Year: 1968 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following THE YOUNG RACERS, producer Roger Corman returns to the European Race Car circuit for THE WILD RACERS, which actually only really centers on one... played by a great singer turned limited actor in American import Fabian, actually decent here since he never has to oversell a contentedly cocky persona...<br><br>Deliberately clashing against the progressive 1960's French New Wave influence of Corman's director Daniel Haller, using future JAWS editor Verna Fields for a myriad of jump-cuts from creative camera angles to create a deliberately art-house showcase showcasing a young handsome driver with almost everything...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

british, counter-culture, dick miller, fabian, mimsy farmer, race car, roger corman, romance, sixties, sport, talia shire

MIMSY FARMER RIDES SHOTGUN WITH FABIAN IN 'THE WILD RACERS'

Mimsy Farmer in THE WILD RACERS Year: 1968 Rating: **** Following THE YOUNG RACERS, producer Roger Corman returns to the European Race Car c...

BRIAN KELLY, JOAN COLLINS & HENRY SILVA 'DRIVE HARD, DRIVE FAST'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPobgib0HV4V_HJYE3tS5o4ovXtQV_5utKcxh2VUN6dNaIpubhHBm_mWg6LzGBDCdS9RcctpVPWGHzW0demkYFpeirBL56YXfkPsLQzN5lc8mPkO85L3iEkZHvB4Zd1V2rXx02azztHaBBtyDyhXgLKhYpoTL2Ra4YFn90XR5i_4bjdQUPYpgqYs9BZXUd/s1904/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-18%20at%202.16.18%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="1904" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPobgib0HV4V_HJYE3tS5o4ovXtQV_5utKcxh2VUN6dNaIpubhHBm_mWg6LzGBDCdS9RcctpVPWGHzW0demkYFpeirBL56YXfkPsLQzN5lc8mPkO85L3iEkZHvB4Zd1V2rXx02azztHaBBtyDyhXgLKhYpoTL2Ra4YFn90XR5i_4bjdQUPYpgqYs9BZXUd/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-18%20at%202.16.18%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brian Kelly in DRIVE HARD, DRIVE FAST Released: 1973 Rates: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Filmed in 1969 and aired in 1973, by the time audiences saw the TV-movie DRIVE HARD, DRIVE FAST, lead actor Brian Kelly was permanently handicapped from driving too fast and hard on his motorcycle, ending a career that might have had potential since the FLIPPER star was a surprisingly good actor... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sadly, the vehicle featuring Kelly's race-car driver traveling through mountainous landscapes with married Joan Collins while being bugged/eavesdropped by her crazy husband Henry Silva, is too loud and confusing, littered with bad folk music and benign second-hand conversations without enough of the otherwise creatively-edited races or chases (more documentary-style LE MANS than mainstream GRAND PRIX) built into the title.   </p><span></span>

action, brian kelly, henry silva, joan collins, race car, seventies, sport, thriller, tv movie

BRIAN KELLY, JOAN COLLINS & HENRY SILVA 'DRIVE HARD, DRIVE FAST'

Brian Kelly in DRIVE HARD, DRIVE FAST Released: 1973 Rates: ** Filmed in 1969 and aired in 1973, by the time audiences saw the TV-movie DRIV...

STANLEY BAKER & ANTHONY STEEL DRIVEN THROUGH 'CHECKPOINT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mNUPnJze7V_f1kmHKaHpELp3azIwvjZsohyMspCUmS8KxIcLFsEjU3tYf17Z_jnPv_piTDgTwvq6gT2Sf5CTndq2WxJ7aF_0J2BoemDjV8j5uRntnMERONNgAkuM_U9KiAhNN6ZlrgXSDM9gj1wRRYa9Rm500No33pyi3_Y2hueWu_T0-Q3MtGi48oqR/s1732/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1732" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mNUPnJze7V_f1kmHKaHpELp3azIwvjZsohyMspCUmS8KxIcLFsEjU3tYf17Z_jnPv_piTDgTwvq6gT2Sf5CTndq2WxJ7aF_0J2BoemDjV8j5uRntnMERONNgAkuM_U9KiAhNN6ZlrgXSDM9gj1wRRYa9Rm500No33pyi3_Y2hueWu_T0-Q3MtGi48oqR/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CHECKPOINT Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What begins with an edgy heist by square-jawed tough guy Stanley Baker as a hired thief provides CHECKPOINT the only hint of not only a criminal but being a crime film at all...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Otherwise featuring cocky race-car drivers led by handsome Anthony Steel and younger Lee Patterson, standing around a track discussing an upcoming Italian race when Steel's not romancing ingenue Odile Versois... </p><p><span></span></p>

anthony steel, british film noir, crime, fifties, lee patterson, race car, sport, stanley baker

STANLEY BAKER & ANTHONY STEEL DRIVEN THROUGH 'CHECKPOINT'

Title: CHECKPOINT Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2 What begins with an edgy heist by square-jawed tough guy Stanley Baker as a hired thief provides ...

ITALIAN ACTION CRIME 'HIGHWAY RACER' AKA 'POLIZIOTTO SPRINT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRBSOLnvls6Cr_P7mNWGTg9n4zd0ziEGxsPm52Hqn03upHUg7bp7uz534IWq9xbn8UcmfkOKuiHWPkmvbEui8ZuFVAl9XkaMUtKmmpOLq8zUQjCHV819Vr3vcPd5k9xx4isHDvLVy0udY71NsItzZDErjfIDTWRVDP5Vz8P-wGsSTlkX1D9jwXvYnUHRZ/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-18%20at%203.57.47%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRBSOLnvls6Cr_P7mNWGTg9n4zd0ziEGxsPm52Hqn03upHUg7bp7uz534IWq9xbn8UcmfkOKuiHWPkmvbEui8ZuFVAl9XkaMUtKmmpOLq8zUQjCHV819Vr3vcPd5k9xx4isHDvLVy0udY71NsItzZDErjfIDTWRVDP5Vz8P-wGsSTlkX1D9jwXvYnUHRZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-18%20at%203.57.47%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Maurizio Merli in HIGHWAY RACER Year: 1977 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Stelvio Massi's Italian action-crime-flick HIGHWAY RACER is built around the premise of a cop who'd rather be (and drives like) an extremely fast yet far too risky race car driver, beginning like a sequel that had already properly introduced the argumentative relationship between titular cop Maurizio Merli and middle-age has-been captain Giancarlo Sbragia...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter had once been a speed-demon cop on his own (the best sequence is his own Spanish Steps flashback), but now he spends time butting heads with until inevitably mentoring Merli's Marco Palma after his comic-relief "I'm too old for this" shotgun-riding partner's killed during the fastest of several already dangerous chases...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, cop, giancarlo sbragia, italian, maurizio merli, race car, seventies, stelvio cipriani, stelvio massi

ITALIAN ACTION CRIME 'HIGHWAY RACER' AKA 'POLIZIOTTO SPRINT'

Maurizio Merli in HIGHWAY RACER Year: 1977 Rating: *** Stelvio Massi's Italian action-crime-flick HIGHWAY RACER is built around the prem...

DIRECTOR HOWARD HAWKS RACE CAR MELODRAMA 'RED LINE 7000'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9V5GMj1RxNxuAEtrhtaEPtQtPZzpmjRRPqfuoMDuWg0wT-Oc5dyeC_M7MD21iNop97kbBHRME2504k3aKm4fmh9cJXiocQYoCX4sUv7r8kmSMPRc4BmS0GkmuM0c3cqKFkIXdnf3C4aUNJvpOSnFyF6BEEVwpoHl-KEFrdUs0O4p8i9jo5UG2fp_9VDv/s1656/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-24%20at%209.42.16%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1656" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9V5GMj1RxNxuAEtrhtaEPtQtPZzpmjRRPqfuoMDuWg0wT-Oc5dyeC_M7MD21iNop97kbBHRME2504k3aKm4fmh9cJXiocQYoCX4sUv7r8kmSMPRc4BmS0GkmuM0c3cqKFkIXdnf3C4aUNJvpOSnFyF6BEEVwpoHl-KEFrdUs0O4p8i9jo5UG2fp_9VDv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-24%20at%209.42.16%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RED LINE 7000 Stars: James Caan Director: Howard Hawks Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the strangest race car movies of all time is also the most grounded, deliberately mundane, and, directed by an old Howard Hawks starring a young James Caan (right before shooting EL DORADO), it's well worth both watching and re-watching since there's so much going on... yet hardly on the actual racetrack...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In which Caan's one of several racers though mostly holed-up at a Holiday Inn and partaking in various affairs while driving for Norman Aldan, whose pretty tomboy sister Laura Devon winds up quickly bedded with the film's buried lead in muscular drone John Robert Crawford, whose rushed backstory of a farm boy wanting to be the fastest takes away from an against-the-odds story that should have been Caan's instead... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

charlene holt, cult, ensemble, gail hire, george takei, hangout, howard hawks, james caan, laura devon, marianna hill, norman aldan, race car, sixties, skip ward, sport, teri garr

DIRECTOR HOWARD HAWKS RACE CAR MELODRAMA 'RED LINE 7000'

Title: RED LINE 7000 Stars: James Caan Director: Howard Hawks Rating: ***1/2 One of the strangest race car movies of all time is also the mo...

DON SIEGEL'S VERSION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S 'THE KILLERS'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2c7L1CNGSRYClg2aosrvnBJASPWmgmQcSyBhOaC4BCIE6piQZeNDfy_5F8K5IP5fQpv2jxMrBqNrK5c4BwyLfm3KZ5ti44hyYAh0h8aWVuRiGq97i_irJoLWueYF9WZRu4Rot8YA2pFGd9gvMfOZiu0gaP2t5udYmJNhoIJqwL_5F_HINI-IDLWeMw/s1233/2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="1233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2c7L1CNGSRYClg2aosrvnBJASPWmgmQcSyBhOaC4BCIE6piQZeNDfy_5F8K5IP5fQpv2jxMrBqNrK5c4BwyLfm3KZ5ti44hyYAh0h8aWVuRiGq97i_irJoLWueYF9WZRu4Rot8YA2pFGd9gvMfOZiu0gaP2t5udYmJNhoIJqwL_5F_HINI-IDLWeMw/s16000/2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE KILLERS Year: 1964 Rating: **** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ernest Hemingway's 1927 short-story THE KILLERS is indeed quite short, mostly taking place in a diner where two hit men are looking for a renegade who that tale's protagonist, Nick Adams, works with at the small town's gas station... also the prologue to the 1946 Film Noir introducing Burt Lancaster... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This 1964 Don Siegel version couldn't be more different, deleting the central diner scene (from the book and previous film) and was originally intended for television: no surprise given the somewhat mundane framing, noticeable studio sets (more inexpensive than stylized), soapy dialogue and lack of blood — THE KILLERS is not violent enough a theatrical thriller and too intensely lethal for the small screen... <br></p><span></span>

angie dickinson, claude akins, clu gulager, crime, don siegel, ernest hemingway, john cassavetes, lee marvin, norman fell, race car, robert phillips, ronald reagan, sixties, thriller

DON SIEGEL'S VERSION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S 'THE KILLERS'

Title: THE KILLERS Year: 1964 Rating: **** Ernest Hemingway's 1927 short-story THE KILLERS is indeed quite short, mostly taking place i...

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s907/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="907" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s16000/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEERFIELD, especially after a fatal accident by another driver in <i>his</i> car, simply doesn't care much for humanity or even his own family, and only gets a personality after meeting, and then traveling aimlessly with, a beautiful woman in a hospital...<br> <br> In fact, his <i>real</i> turnaround occurs after discovering this mystery woman's deep, dark secret: Thus the free-spirited confidence of Marthe Keller's personality makes sense after this revelation, as does the film...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, drama, marthe keller, melodrama, race car, romance, seventies, sport, walter mcginn

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEE...

BURT REYNOLDS DRIVING HAL NEEDHAM'S 'THE CANNONBALL RUN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1WmjGKS1Cs1V0_Pswj9GoW7M-2pD9_ocAFhgn6H578BWQN3enIHoiLgBAMGCzIMlGMu0DAVnuO7MtmnHwSmrD3Emxjr3eVsSwpAy1P9UqhwmRHsmrcC50nQbQwzOVdyZU6Cd6WuAolGQyhM79zzDlNNkIqfgann2jHGvmZaZK_u9dM_AzpsvplKCOQ/s919/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="919" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1WmjGKS1Cs1V0_Pswj9GoW7M-2pD9_ocAFhgn6H578BWQN3enIHoiLgBAMGCzIMlGMu0DAVnuO7MtmnHwSmrD3Emxjr3eVsSwpAy1P9UqhwmRHsmrcC50nQbQwzOVdyZU6Cd6WuAolGQyhM79zzDlNNkIqfgann2jHGvmZaZK_u9dM_AzpsvplKCOQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Burt Reynolds in THE CANNONBALL RUN Year: 1981 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, director Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds had the car chase comedy down — actually more of a romantic adventure with humor derived from the situation effecting the characters... wherein THE CANNONBALL RUN is more of an intentional slapdash smashup where laughs happen at every turn (somewhat like the game-changing blockbuster AIRPLANE sans the genre-parody aspect)... </p><p>Fully-loaded with an all-star cast ranging from Roger Moore pretending to be a guy pretending to be Moore as James Bond... to a Kung Fu fighting/biker-brawling Jackie Chan, an Arab Sheikh, two hot-rod hotties and...</p><p><span></span></p>

adrienne barbeau, alfie wise, burt reynolds, dean martin, dom deluise, ensemble, farrah fawcett, hal needham, jackie chan, race car, road movie, roger moore, sammy davis jr.

BURT REYNOLDS DRIVING HAL NEEDHAM'S 'THE CANNONBALL RUN'

Burt Reynolds in THE CANNONBALL RUN Year: 1981 Rating: ****1/2 After SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, director Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds had...

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON FOR 'THE WILD RIDE'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGF2UBvTkZGCIz5DpOSf-0Wa0-pIenIB_4CXBH0oomsBHZbyUaFwK_MfL4zNoILF_DfRYIbBzJU3WtLTSXGtMYIe0l4aq7xZHPS4FtwS4tPVzPl_CXi6yZ6IUBRQleNYwPAbM-W_F_lThqzGZIE6a-45qZaT4MXBS7hRmhUDhhDx3ZiuuvJsQ-h00hw/s1548/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-18%20at%2011.30.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGF2UBvTkZGCIz5DpOSf-0Wa0-pIenIB_4CXBH0oomsBHZbyUaFwK_MfL4zNoILF_DfRYIbBzJU3WtLTSXGtMYIe0l4aq7xZHPS4FtwS4tPVzPl_CXi6yZ6IUBRQleNYwPAbM-W_F_lThqzGZIE6a-45qZaT4MXBS7hRmhUDhhDx3ZiuuvJsQ-h00hw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-18%20at%2011.30.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A young Jack Nicholson in THE WILD RIDE Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before the term Speed Kills referred to drugs it was for souped-up fast cars... There weren't any protests under the influence of psychedelia just yet; the 1950's and early 1960's were about hot rods and youth and the latter's misuse was the subject of many films, mostly cautionary tales but this one's a bit more ambiguous and peripheral...<br> <br> THE WILD RIDE stars a young Jack Nicholson as Johnny Varron. He's mostly alone and, with a jovially jazzy soundtrack, every now and then grooving smoothly into a vibe-laden skeletal strut, he's cool to watch driving along a rural road, somewhere in California...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, drama, exploitation, hangout, jack nicholson, jazz score, melodrama, race car, roger corman, romance, sixties, teen

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON FOR 'THE WILD RIDE'

A young Jack Nicholson in THE WILD RIDE Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2 Before the term Speed Kills referred to drugs it was for souped-up fast ca...

HAMMER'S 'STOP ME BEFORE I KILL' AKA 'THE FULL TREATMENT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo7ZuzJwwtQWo9V1CvjRWVhbmY9hCRGGSg_EaDBx7ORSOF3_B_Fgrjp17ZHs34Dty-3C4HT0fU7blVxbtxnIJQzPlFwNMXHJKdpmH98b8xQR5Bhw3JNw_JA7zSvbN9j9B7fhyX1j_LlLPYi9nzPI-BlSago96MKQuVWRmf8tFkctYXm6YcucSZfF48Jw=s1006" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="1006" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo7ZuzJwwtQWo9V1CvjRWVhbmY9hCRGGSg_EaDBx7ORSOF3_B_Fgrjp17ZHs34Dty-3C4HT0fU7blVxbtxnIJQzPlFwNMXHJKdpmH98b8xQR5Bhw3JNw_JA7zSvbN9j9B7fhyX1j_LlLPYi9nzPI-BlSago96MKQuVWRmf8tFkctYXm6YcucSZfF48Jw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Claude Dauphin and Ronald Lewis in THE FULL TREATMENT Year: 1960 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a lovely, talented Australian actress (who worked mostly in England), Diane Cilento made a horribly annoying French girl in an otherwise edgy, deliberately nervewracking film by director Val Guest working again for Hammer...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And THE FULL TREATMENT was retitled STOP ME BEFORE I KILL probably because it didn't sound... Hammery enough... but like Guest's HELL IS A CITY, it's not horror but neo noir... </p><p><span></span></p>

bernard braden, claude dauphin, diane cilento, hammer films, jack hedley, neo noir, race car, ronald lewis, sixties, thriller, val guest

HAMMER'S 'STOP ME BEFORE I KILL' AKA 'THE FULL TREATMENT'

Claude Dauphin and Ronald Lewis in THE FULL TREATMENT Year: 1960 Rates: ***1/2 For a lovely, talented Australian actress (who worked mostly ...

MODEL ACTRESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

<p><i></i></p><p><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_Ht7i0jx_YhA4WjMrsLH8DDb667ZYxCINhZ8U9W0tPmkmdmtzi2N684-msfVa-h9_rl8CQOaaYdBS-ihLu1eclAMO1TGqn4qz7fGnbscyrTxUkUHOxNzC3RHrmusJFrTy4C9rYko_XXaC2LdROdCrAIqqY_NiCAWR3_MmSfc2VYy9Pfos_DtmwHZJIWE/s2100/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-13%20at%2011.12.26%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="2100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_Ht7i0jx_YhA4WjMrsLH8DDb667ZYxCINhZ8U9W0tPmkmdmtzi2N684-msfVa-h9_rl8CQOaaYdBS-ihLu1eclAMO1TGqn4qz7fGnbscyrTxUkUHOxNzC3RHrmusJFrTy4C9rYko_XXaC2LdROdCrAIqqY_NiCAWR3_MmSfc2VYy9Pfos_DtmwHZJIWE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-13%20at%2011.12.26%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Interview with British actress and model CHRISTINA GREGG (here with William Campbell in The Young Racers)<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table></i></p><p></p><p><i>Christina Gregg was in a handful of British movies and TV from 1959 to 1964, and was one of England's top models... We asked some questions about those years where she juggled two trades that combined immense talent and beauty...  </i><u><br></u></p><p><u>START IN MODELING & ACTING</u>: I won a huge beauty contest when I was 17… Miss ABC Television… I would have won Miss Great Britain as well, but they told me I was too young to win! With this prize was a film test with Robert Day, director of <i>Women</i> Magazine, leading to a theatrical coach, Flossy Freedman, who also helped train Marlon Brando, and Angela Lansbur<i>y... </i></p><p>I was provided with an agent, so I had film training, and films came my way afterwards. Modeling took off with the cover of <i>Women</i> magazine, a huge circulation at that time, followed by many more. But it was not an advantage to be advertising products and acting at the same time… I lost opportunities because of this; however, I needed to earn money so I continued: Did advertisement commercials for Camay soap, which cost me a big part in a film.  </p><p></p><span></span>

british, british new noir, british new wave, christina gregg, christopher plummer, crime, interview, jess conrad, lance comfort, mel ferrer, race car, robert urquhart, roger moore, sixties, william campbell

MODEL ACTRESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

Interview with British actress and model CHRISTINA GREGG (here with William Campbell in The Young Racers) Christina Gregg was in a handful o...

DEFINITIVE STREAMLINE REVIEW FOR 'KING OF THE MOUNTAIN'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwqHBv9QyiTZNmuqsDq0pGjrXRW4J21k3m2w6M6HMwwxkevPeC6BrCrde1jGO2wA-GyciXHv1l59rRHajt9q_TBOfnZ9d8LFEe90OMuqMa9x7_7nUUZDMKYkrO7WgPjF4rhPX_2Ydf6ts/s1600/hellow.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwqHBv9QyiTZNmuqsDq0pGjrXRW4J21k3m2w6M6HMwwxkevPeC6BrCrde1jGO2wA-GyciXHv1l59rRHajt9q_TBOfnZ9d8LFEe90OMuqMa9x7_7nUUZDMKYkrO7WgPjF4rhPX_2Ydf6ts/s1600/hellow.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harry Hamlin feeling out an uneasy road in KING OF THE MOUNTAIN Year: 1981 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> As the obscure early-eighties action/melodrama KING OF THE MOUNTAIN revs from the second to third act, the central three hot rodders are at a record company party when would-be producer Richard Cox as Roger, wants to go back out on Mulholland Drive and tear up the famous nighttime road...<br> <br> Joseph Bottoms as Buddy, a gifted yet cursed, naive, idealistic and sometimes corny and downright annoying musician, whose songs are supposedly destined for greatness, turns to Roger and says, with a wry, knowing grin, “We’re at a fancy party and you want to go driving?” Well hell — that’s what the movie promises so why not? <br>

dan haggerty, deborah van valkenburgh, dennis hopper, drama, eighties, harry hamlin, joseph bottoms, lillian müller, race car

DEFINITIVE STREAMLINE REVIEW FOR 'KING OF THE MOUNTAIN'

Harry Hamlin feeling out an uneasy road in KING OF THE MOUNTAIN Year: 1981 Rates: ***1/2 As the obscure early-eighties action/melodrama ...

JACK HILL'S 'PIT STOP' AKA 'THE WINNER' FEATURING SID HAIG

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYMqUwJptUOJPp4PPGeID2v_bi-cGTWCVfH0FGNKs_4cq4xgDEidFwaUqYaV8PSt37apk_WqyPBqhRRSNK6FMWAGMgeW29-NoNMthEIKXI7JwIL1GY6nLMwtaveMwZno_Hw9x69GhVEGp/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-07+at+9.07.11+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="904" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYMqUwJptUOJPp4PPGeID2v_bi-cGTWCVfH0FGNKs_4cq4xgDEidFwaUqYaV8PSt37apk_WqyPBqhRRSNK6FMWAGMgeW29-NoNMthEIKXI7JwIL1GY6nLMwtaveMwZno_Hw9x69GhVEGp/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-09-07+at+9.07.11+AM.jpeg" width="340"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Terry Burnham and Sid Haig in PIT STOP Year: 1969</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> PIT STOP is actually THE WINNER, and there's only one pit stop — where villain turned strategic wild card Sid Haig stops for half a second during the last race. Which isn't your usual climax since the movie continuously peaks throughout. Backed by tough instrumental rock — the fat, crunchy guitar sounding more 1950's than 1967 — this low-budget curio's directed by b-movie icon Jack Hill, before his signature women-in-prison and/or urban blaxploitation flicks...<br> <br> Filmed around Los Angeles in B&W from city streets to a steely-dusk junkyard  to the rowdy track, where the racing is mostly Figure 8: practically suicide even for the most intrepid hot dogs, and, with each smash-up always ending in a loud, boisterous, go-go barroom, Hill clearly lets you know what driver's behind the wheel, and when: Either Sid Haig's cocky Hawk Sidney or main character Dick Davalos as Rick Bowman, both working for Grant Willard, played by veteran actor Brian Donlevy, who's cooler and colder than the drivers he subtly <i>pits</i> against each other. And there's always a reason for the racing around, established within lean exposition that stretches PIT STOP beyond that era's hot rod exploitation fare — but it's <i>all that</i>, too... <br>

beverly washburn, brian donlevy, denise lynn, ellen burstyn, exploitation, jack hill, jazz-score, race car, richard davalos, sid haig, sixties, terry burnham

JACK HILL'S 'PIT STOP' AKA 'THE WINNER' FEATURING SID HAIG

Terry Burnham and Sid Haig in PIT STOP Year: 1969 PIT STOP is actually THE WINNER, and there's only one pit stop — where villain tur...

JAMES TAYLOR AND DENNIS WILSON RIDE 'TWO-LANE BLACKTOP'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlruNholthffovQw6ikvzqBpxso-RRgALGQKP7RqvuVFfquTsLwSiXjmjIUnyN24rYhZr3L6F_8qbFO5k4MrZnXmJ4ZO7dKs-JM-ZUi34ErAxL1gb_lyIaTWgrQamsL6kfYdpSnLmxxw/s1600/bt6.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlruNholthffovQw6ikvzqBpxso-RRgALGQKP7RqvuVFfquTsLwSiXjmjIUnyN24rYhZr3L6F_8qbFO5k4MrZnXmJ4ZO7dKs-JM-ZUi34ErAxL1gb_lyIaTWgrQamsL6kfYdpSnLmxxw/s320/bt6.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1971</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="color: #3d596d;"><span style="color: #3d596d;">During the early to mid 1960's, director Monte Hellman used great actors, from struggling no-names like Jack Nicholson, Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton. He turned these potential firebrands into strategic paint strokes, filling his unique canvas: one of those American directors who seems “foreign” in style, and substance…</span></span><br /> <span style="color: #3d596d;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #3d596d;">But when he finally got studio backing, after his low-budget Western double feature THE SHOOTING and RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND were released in theaters after Nicholson's break in EASY RIDER, Hellman had the chance to put real actors in the cockpit of his most legitimate vehicle, and instead chose two musicians, neither very good actors...</span><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAganp_re_J9-6zZ6b0Q5vLqJTlizfEEyYPZ5mIW30e3dD5owK092H_SQRLA1PEHqjF4mhyu3WNZpk2cj8S7GZaXnwn4jdMUXz3t4EnaUKWydMXq0fzCbf2NyoMKIs2iCdbrXSKgmaqg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.49.01+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAganp_re_J9-6zZ6b0Q5vLqJTlizfEEyYPZ5mIW30e3dD5owK092H_SQRLA1PEHqjF4mhyu3WNZpk2cj8S7GZaXnwn4jdMUXz3t4EnaUKWydMXq0fzCbf2NyoMKIs2iCdbrXSKgmaqg/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.49.01+PM.png" width="235" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Artwork</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d596d;">Thankfully, offsetting their monotone delivery, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP is an ultra realistic venture with a documentary vibe (not template) with James Taylor and cool-grungy Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson. And the epitome of a ringer, bringing the nons to light while toning down his own powerful persona, is Warren Oates' character named after his car, GTO, and one of the strangest cats in cinema...</span><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGN6vj6l5zBooIkgui9G3ojYIBKQP-Y4A6_O0SyrcbTTESjxBUlwqNVqjtAyDZ3AKbAiFfQOpQ-SNJuviQCsvQcHMVO9gcUBSd5xjrtSXwGEhFrYDe-3t2ACkxuo78KXUyZtdTF0MvKQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.42.39+PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGN6vj6l5zBooIkgui9G3ojYIBKQP-Y4A6_O0SyrcbTTESjxBUlwqNVqjtAyDZ3AKbAiFfQOpQ-SNJuviQCsvQcHMVO9gcUBSd5xjrtSXwGEhFrYDe-3t2ACkxuo78KXUyZtdTF0MvKQ/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.42.39+PM.png" width="185" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Warren Oates</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d596d;">Roaring down the highway in his yellow hot rod, and a different origin story to tell each hitchhiker, GTO's sites are on Taylor and Wilson's unnamed Driver and Mechanic in their grey 1955 Chevy, the quiet duo seeking illegal drag races with hometown heroes during various stopovers – one particular moment has The Doors groovy-tropical “Moonlight Drive” echoing throughout a busy boulevard, audibly setting the time and place yet visually turning the post psychedelic era back into the streamline 1950’s: With an ambiguous camera perspective from the back seat, the characters are as sparse as the dialogue, and every word spoken leads to the next scene, and race. The only personal drama sporadically unfolds between Driver and the ingenue, a fickle Hitchhiker whose novice acting chops are on par with Taylor’s...</span><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1b8vHlwniyNONeQsL7WRd7ernkCRQkou2SEdaq2EUk9e46kccbBtizXZxoWqNTP-XMd9HAaeASIvzy-BB0MRrxORieIH-g_mfSksHRzxhEWtA4XpwtYNhjHEqgAHg9k0jaNeQfxjpSY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.44.22+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1b8vHlwniyNONeQsL7WRd7ernkCRQkou2SEdaq2EUk9e46kccbBtizXZxoWqNTP-XMd9HAaeASIvzy-BB0MRrxORieIH-g_mfSksHRzxhEWtA4XpwtYNhjHEqgAHg9k0jaNeQfxjpSY/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-01-11+at+5.44.22+PM.png" width="296" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bird, Taylor & Wilson</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d596d;">Enter Laurie Bird, who, before her tragic suicide, would be far more loose playing Paul Simon’s girlfriend (who Tony Roberts lusts for) in the Woody Allen classic, ANNIE HALL. But like those early films with the talented actors and energetic performances, Hellman guides this show with a quick-cut editing that doesn’t make any particular scene last long enough to override the ultimate purpose...</span><br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8F5JofApxe66rE-01cqo75iK2kj37M_Kt5YB2DqsCAM_3g56RubbwAstQa2A9_qxdU8GX44aCDIydcGtS6HaEF06-T9F25tT0S0LpLbmEGWlRvQ30gNz_wLiZU1qshUQMkkA7tZZKRIqG/s1600/55609105_672459796516533_5363607712464633856_o.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8F5JofApxe66rE-01cqo75iK2kj37M_Kt5YB2DqsCAM_3g56RubbwAstQa2A9_qxdU8GX44aCDIydcGtS6HaEF06-T9F25tT0S0LpLbmEGWlRvQ30gNz_wLiZU1qshUQMkkA7tZZKRIqG/s400/55609105_672459796516533_5363607712464633856_o.jpeg" width="270" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Distance Covered: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d596d;">The '55 Chevy cruising to each location: One quiet, reposeful scene has the foursome split in both cars, in the midst of the potentially dangerous South, and, having traded off... Oates shotgun with Taylor while Wilson rides Bird in the GTO… there’s a quiet and lovely dawn outside, providing a quaint, existential aura to this unique road-trip odyssey, as real as any motion picture gets.</span> <span style="color: #3d596d;"> </span> </div> <div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;"> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="color: #3d596d;"> <span style="color: #3d596d;">Sure there's a plot, initially worked-out between GTO and the boys – a cross-country race to Washington D.C. for “pinks” (pink slips) adds a destination but remains peripheral… Especially in the teaming-up of the polar opposite camps, a business relationship leading to a big race, while the final frame sums up the point of the entire road adventure without a single word, or resolution: If, for instance, a James Caan or Burt Reynolds were cast, which were two names the studios supposedly wanted... and there were probably a lot more studied actors considered over non-acting musicians... BLACKTOP might not have worked at all. The viewer would expect something that wasn’t meant to be, forgetting the purpose is the wheel and not who and what's behind it.</span><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0En7JKuURz3ELXXiuI-WyzYf94tUqrMqlrROnlyVYvySHhd5gpoh5MrWubTlI5xGstDWTZue5bL4qEKSSrdh6aBr-WkxqYddpN8ZVdjLL6elYuLorZvzEZvekZFdKXC5GG6PLzVcKosJ1/s1600/54727544_672491106513402_7602083055833972736_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="767" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0En7JKuURz3ELXXiuI-WyzYf94tUqrMqlrROnlyVYvySHhd5gpoh5MrWubTlI5xGstDWTZue5bL4qEKSSrdh6aBr-WkxqYddpN8ZVdjLL6elYuLorZvzEZvekZFdKXC5GG6PLzVcKosJ1/s1600/54727544_672491106513402_7602083055833972736_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Much of the film (albeit with Wilson by Taylor) is this backseat camera view in Two-Lane Blacktop</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMMfTKflHxzG6FUXgqyI5oFAdYmeooH8dFVHP6qZ4nMKbqihb3gbEPEqoH4KSQrMy5qnkJO1zMEMNcSsuGtP19MweDZPd69VWamc3lOcQ8b4GFvVYhYqz_MKmGD1zA8df_BmK5g3RQrUJ/s1600/54728882_672464906516022_7543911937172570112_o.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMMfTKflHxzG6FUXgqyI5oFAdYmeooH8dFVHP6qZ4nMKbqihb3gbEPEqoH4KSQrMy5qnkJO1zMEMNcSsuGtP19MweDZPd69VWamc3lOcQ8b4GFvVYhYqz_MKmGD1zA8df_BmK5g3RQrUJ/s1600/54728882_672464906516022_7543911937172570112_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The GTO (driven by Warren Oates as GTO) in Two-Lane Blacktop</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtFeo_mJVt-AnvnViDQLk8q56ka8-DcozVRInzHoUDVbufSAgMIz_uQaNae0fTRMyzwwlkuvfAqruByfihqgFuyJ-eFwUma1DcEqli_r-UDHHFBCrypa1cI8ooI-5AnEkgGhb6osn9IiT/s1600/29060591_453922385036943_2843992524455778145_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="1334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtFeo_mJVt-AnvnViDQLk8q56ka8-DcozVRInzHoUDVbufSAgMIz_uQaNae0fTRMyzwwlkuvfAqruByfihqgFuyJ-eFwUma1DcEqli_r-UDHHFBCrypa1cI8ooI-5AnEkgGhb6osn9IiT/s1600/29060591_453922385036943_2843992524455778145_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Oates's GTO peeved that James Taylor would think he might get pulled over during their race</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtAhY4i7LFsHqfjO4ZAYGt4wnXKjVoL7WYTGnNOjgq1GoOFOhjkLXrhiu0t3i-zRjrJBiw8GPOl9qOvNX-MfOxklEAX70K3jIcSMD1ACyFj4rs5ZQuXPq6Pfl6y6LlHK0UtGFawe4M06D/s1600/54517884_672505366511976_7207102083583967232_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="733" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtAhY4i7LFsHqfjO4ZAYGt4wnXKjVoL7WYTGnNOjgq1GoOFOhjkLXrhiu0t3i-zRjrJBiw8GPOl9qOvNX-MfOxklEAX70K3jIcSMD1ACyFj4rs5ZQuXPq6Pfl6y6LlHK0UtGFawe4M06D/s1600/54517884_672505366511976_7207102083583967232_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Taylor and Warren Oates not smoking in TWO-LANE BLACKTOP</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjxcf861ZPTkZNGF-JCV9AkdNmNCsXvHQdRYbYOiqHi7K51gBCk2BE16qWSqHamhBO2VLbYve0h2eEOhKqcCvzZUZC9qBoyosZbpuA_Cu5qvYVBdvIoF027YAkGg9XwU3PAMN8l5l4T5o/s1600/55451635_672505409845305_7345162480168992768_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjxcf861ZPTkZNGF-JCV9AkdNmNCsXvHQdRYbYOiqHi7K51gBCk2BE16qWSqHamhBO2VLbYve0h2eEOhKqcCvzZUZC9qBoyosZbpuA_Cu5qvYVBdvIoF027YAkGg9XwU3PAMN8l5l4T5o/s1600/55451635_672505409845305_7345162480168992768_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The cool Chevy in TWO-LANE BLACKTOP with Laurie Bird</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

dennis wilson, james taylor, laurie bird, monte hellman, race car, road movie, seventies, warren oates

JAMES TAYLOR AND DENNIS WILSON RIDE 'TWO-LANE BLACKTOP'

year: 1971 During the early to mid 1960's, director Monte Hellman used great actors, from struggling no-names like Jack Nicholson, ...