Hot Rod Girl

Last updated
Hot Rod Girl
Hot Rod Girl FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Leslie H. Martinson
Written byJohn McGreevy
Produced byNorman T. Herman
Starring Lori Nelson
Chuck Connors
John Smith
Cinematography Sam Leavitt
Music by Alexander Courage
Production
company
Nacirema Productions
Distributed by American International Pictures
Release date
  • July 1956 (1956-07)
Running time
79 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hot Rod Girl is an independent, black-and-white 1956 teen-oriented action film produced by Norman T. Herman, directed by Leslie H. Martinson and released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Girls in Prison . Hot Rod Girl stars Lori Nelson, Chuck Connors and John Smith. [1] [2] The film centers on efforts to keep hot-rodding teenagers from dangerous drag racing on city streets and having them move to the safety of a specialized drag strip, and the consequences when an aggressive newcomer to town goads them into street racing again.

Contents

Plot

Carolyn Kearney, Frank Gorshin, and Lori Nelson (1956), in Hot Rod Girl Carolyn Kearney, Frank Gorshin, and Lori Nelson (1956), in Hot Rod Girl.jpg
Carolyn Kearney, Frank Gorshin, and Lori Nelson (1956), in Hot Rod Girl

To combat the problem of teenagers drag-racing their hot rods on city streets, sympathetic Lt. Ben Merril (Connors) has set up a dragstrip for them where they can race under controlled, safe conditions. But after a race meet, Steve Northrup (Del Erickson) is goaded into a street race, while his brother Jeff (Smith) is a passenger. Steve ignores Jeff's entreaties to not race. Steve is killed in the ensuing crash and a heartbroken Jeff breaks off all contact with the other drag-racing kids. He also avoids Lisa Vernon (Nelson), his girlfriend, who is also a drag racer.

A biker jacket-wearing bully named Bronc Talbott (Mark Andrews) arrives in town and after terrorizing the teens, appoints himself leader of them, replacing Jeff in that role. Following an argument at the teens' hangout, a diner run by Yo-Yo (Fred Essler), Bronc challenges Flat Top (Frank Gorshin) to a chicken race, in which they'll accelerate their cars straight at each other until one loses his nerve, swerves and becomes the "chicken". Although he's clearly frightened, an angry Flat Top agrees. During the race, Flat Top swerves at the last second. Bronc is cockier than ever after winning, but Flat Top has realized that chicken-racing is insanely dangerous and tells his girlfriend Judy (Carolyn Kearney) that he was stupid and promises to remain "a coward" for the rest of his life.

Ben is meanwhile trying to find a way to run Bronc out of town. Under the threat of arrest, he forces Bronc to take his car to the dragstrip for that day's races. Jeff is safety inspector for the dragstrip and after discovering several serious problems with Bronc's car, refuses to clear him to race. Bronc vows revenge.

Jeff and Lisa reunite and go for a quiet drive on the local winding mountain roads. Bronc shows up, driving around corners on the wrong side of the road, passing Jeff and slowing down, forcing Jeff to overtake him. Lisa and Jeff decide to speed away from Bronc. But then a boy on a bicycle comes coasting down a hill. Both Jeff and Bronc take evasive action, but the boy is struck by one of the cars and killed. Ben doesn't know which car hit the boy. Lisa and Jeff don't know either because they were knocked out in the crash. Bronc swears to Ben that Jeff hit the kid and with no other witnesses, Ben arrests Jeff.

Ben is suspended from the police force by Capt. Logan (Russell Thorson) following a public outcry about the crash. But Ben continues his own investigation. Suspicious that Bronc is to blame, he takes scrapings of bicycle paint from Bronc's car, proving that it was Bronc who hit the boy, At Yo-Yo's, Ben confronts Bronc. Bronc smashes a soda bottle on Ben's head, knocking him unconscious in an attempt to escape. Just as this happens, Jeff and Lisa come in. Jeff and Bronc have a fistfight and Jeff knocks Bronc to the floor, dazing him. Bronc lands right next to Ben, who revives and arrests Bronc on a charge of manslaughter.

Cast

Roxanne Arlen and Eddie Ryder (1956), in Hot Rod Girl Roxanne Arlen and Eddie Ryder (1956), in Hot Rod Girl.jpg
Roxanne Arlen and Eddie Ryder (1956), in Hot Rod Girl

Production

Production of Hot Rod Girl began on 20 March 1956. Shooting locations were Hancock Park in Los Angeles, Larchmont Village and San Fernando, California, which was at the time the site of the San Fernando Drag Strip seen in the film. [3] The San Fernando Drag Strip was quite new when Hot Rod Girl was filmed there, having opened in 1955. It closed in 1970. [4]

Roxanne Arlen's and Mark Andrews's names appear in the credits as "introducing" them, although both actors had roles in earlier films. It is, however, the first film of Frank Gorshin. [5]

Distribution

Hot Rod Girl was distributed by American International Pictures (AIP) in the US with an official release date of 15 July 1956. [3] According to TCM, an article in the 13 September 1956 issue of The Hollywood Reporter says that the film had gross receipts of $600,000 by that date from theatres in "fifteen key cities." [5]

A contemporary US theatrical poster for Hot Rod Girl reads "CHICKEN-RACE ... ROCK 'N ROLL ... YOUTH ON THE LOOSE!" and "ARE THESE OUR CHILDREN? teen-age terrorists tearing up the streets!" [6]

The movie was distributed in the UK by Anglo Amalgamated. Although unspecified cuts were made to the film, it was granted a U-certification by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) on 24 June 1956. The U-cert allowed the film to be exhibited to audiences of all ages. [7] [8]

Reception

Drive-in advertisement from 1956 for Hot Rod Girl and co-feature, Girls in Prison. Baseline Drive-in Ad - 12 September 1956, Highland, CA.jpg
Drive-in advertisement from 1956 for Hot Rod Girl and co-feature, Girls in Prison .

Several authors note the historical context of Hot Rod Girl and similar films. One writes, "America's car culture came into its own in the 1950s when the Interstate highways were built, Detroit boomed and high school shop classes trained auto mechanics. The decade also saw the rise of disaffected youth whose need for speed was expressed in films like Hot Rod Girl (1956), Hot Rod Rumble (1957), and Hot Rod Gang (1958)." [9] Such films, frequently distributed by AIP, "featured large doses of sex, violence, hot rods, drag races, and rock and roll." [10] But "the drag-racing premise proved lucrative if short-lived" [11] as it passed from favour with the release of "Filmgroup's The Wild Ride in June 1960 and the ultra-low-budget Arch Hall production The Choppers (released in November 1961 but produced two years earlier." [12]

BoxOffice reviewed the film in its issue of 8 August 1956. The anonymous reviewer wrote, "As a job of picture making, it is woefully weak, and that concerns scripting, production values and acting," but went on to say that "apparently, the film is enjoying surprisingly impressive patronage in the few situations where it has had pre-release runs." [13] Later, in the 11 May 1957 issue, the magazine summarized that ratings of other publications, using its five-point "very good" to "very poor" scale. BoxOffice itself called the film "fair," as did Harrison's Reports and The Hollywood Reporter , while Variety liked Hot Rod Girl a bit better and rated it as "good." [14]

Academic film historian Thomas Doherty sees Hot Rod Girl as essentially conservative, "a road sign for restraint and caution" where "drag racing off the strip is dangerous, dumb, and unnerving, while on the strip it is safe, smart, and predictable." He notes that even though "a clearly terrified" Flat Top accepts the challenge of a chicken race from the "maniacal Bronc," when he faces "Bronc's relentlessly on-coming car, Flat Top ditches - he chickens out. His cowardice is portrayed as preferable to the insanity of his antagonist, who had no plans of turning off, whatever the consequences." "Nothing in the film," Doherty writes, "gives the lie to the safety-first dialogue." [15]
Somewhat less seriously, Hal Erickson, in his synopsis on allmovie, calls the film "a whole lot less exploitational than its title," [1] while reviewer Laydback at The Grindhouse Cinema Database writes that since Lisa doesn't do "anything except help pressure" boyfriend Jeff to get back into the hot rod scene, viewers shouldn't "go into this one expecting some 'Hot Rod Girl' kicking some ass (as I was led to believe)." [16]

The film was screened as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009. The festival, subtitled "Hot Rods and Fast Times," showed Hot Rod Girl, Hot Rods to Hell (1967) and Hi-Riders (1978) on three consecutive nights. Critic Nick Pinkerton refers to the teens in Hot Rod Girl as "misunderstood but essentially good kids" who are, however, "strictly squaresville." [17]

Soundtrack

Hot Rod Girl "was the first car flick to marry music with the exhaust note" and in scenes in Yo-Yo's diner "the gang snaps their fingers to bebop, [18] not rock music. But soon other filmmakers "were cashing in on the fad" of films about "the rampant juvenile delinquency problems that fueled hot rod culture in the U.S." In terms of music, although "the spirit of youthful rebellion is still there (...) few if any of these films warranted a soundtrack release." [19]

Original music for Hot Rod Girl is by prolific film and TV composer Alexander Courage was performed by "noted jazz musicians" including saxophonist Bud Shank and trumpet player Maynard Ferguson. [5] [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drag racing</span> Type of motor racing

Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragstrip</span> Car racing facility

A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201 m) tracks, and the premiere classes will run 1,000 foot (304.8 m) races. The race is begun from a standing start which allows three factors to affect the outcome of the race: reaction time, power/weight ratio, and traction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Muldowney</span> NHRA champion, drag racing pioneer

Shirley Muldowney, also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Ivo</span> American actor and racing driver

Tommy Ivo, also known as "TV Tommy" and "Instant Ivo" is an actor and drag racer, who was active in the 1960s racing community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brainerd International Raceway</span> Road course, drag strip and kart track in Brainerd, Minnesota, USA

Brainerd International Raceway is a road course, and dragstrip racing complex northwest of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. The complex has a 0.25 mi (0.40 km) dragstrip, and overlapping 2.500 mi (4.023 km) and 3.100 mi (4.989 km) road courses. The complex also includes a kart track. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association's Lucas Oil Nationals. It is a popular racetrack for the Trans Am Series. The spectator seating capacity of the circuit is 20,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Route 66 Raceway</span> Drag race facility in Joliet, Illinois

Route 66 Raceway is a motorsports facility located in Joliet, Illinois, United States. It consists of a 0.25-mile (0.40 km) dragstrip and a 0.375-mile (0.604 km) dirt oval racetrack. The facility is owned and operated by NASCAR and is located adjacent to Chicagoland Speedway.

Great Lakes Dragway is a quarter mile dragstrip in the Town of Paris, Kenosha County, near Union Grove, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip</span>

The Pomona Raceway, is a racing facility located in Pomona, California that features a quarter-mile dragstrip. Since its opening in 1961, the dragstrip has hosted the NHRA's Winternationals event – the traditional season opener – and since 2021, the season's last race, the NHRA Finals. These two events have contributed to its becoming perhaps one of the most famous dragstrips in North America. The facility has a seating capacity of 40,000 spectators, and it is one of the few dragstrips in the USA that is operated directly by the NHRA. This dragstrip has also gone by the nickname of The Fairplex, in reference to its location at the Fairplex, formerly called the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds.

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, originally known as Madison Township Raceway Park, is an American auto racing facility located in Old Bridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilo Dragstrip</span>

Hilo Dragstrip is a dragstrip located just southeast of Hilo, Hawaii at 19°40′53″N155°1′49″W. It is also called the Pana‘ewa Drag Strip. Hilo dragstrip opened in 1978, and is now operated by the County of Hawaiʻi. The Big Island Auto Club and the Hawaii Drag Racing League race at the strip. The biggest race events at the Hilo Drag Strip are the BIAC Memorial Day Drags and the BIAC Tommy Thompson Labor Day Drags. The track is sanctioned by the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) (HDRL) and American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) (BIAC) International Hot Rod Motocross and kart racing tracks.

Orange County International Raceway was a combined 1⁄4-mile US dragstrip and 2-mile road course, plus a motocross track, located in Irvine, California adjacent to the Interstate 5 (I-5) Santa Ana Freeway. Under a lease agreement with the Irvine Company, OCIR – as it was known in racing circles – was in operation from August 5, 1967, until its closure on October 30, 1983. The track was so named because its founders envisioned hosting sports car, motorcycle, midget, and stock car races in addition to National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) sanctioned drag racing events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom McEwen (drag racer)</span> American dragster driver (1937–2018)

Tom McEwen was an American drag racer who was a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years.

<i>Hot Rod Rumble</i> 1957 US low-budget film by Leslie H. Martinson

Hot Rod Rumble is a US, low budget, black-and-white 1957 teen-oriented drag racing crime drama produced by Norman T. Herman and directed by Leslie H. Martinson. It stars Leigh Snowden and Richard Hartunian. The film tells the story of a clash within the Road Devils hot rod club when some of its members jump to a wrong conclusion following the accidental death of one of them in a car crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Essler</span> Hungarian-American actor (1895–1973)

Fred Essler was an American actor. He worked film, television and on stage.

<i>Dragstrip Girl</i> (1957 film) 1957 film

Dragstrip Girl is a 1957 film starring John Ashley in his first lead role. American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with Rock All Night and it proved an early success for the studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1950s American automobile culture</span> Historical cultural phenomenon in the U.S.

1950s American automobile culture has had an enduring influence on the culture of the United States, as reflected in popular music, major trends from the 1950s and mainstream acceptance of the "hot rod" culture. The American manufacturing economy switched from producing war-related items to consumer goods at the end of World War II, and by the end of the 1950s, one in six working Americans were employed either directly or indirectly in the automotive industry. The United States became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles, and Henry Ford's goal of 30 years earlier—that any man with a good job should be able to afford an automobile—was achieved. A new generation of service businesses focusing on customers with their automobiles came into being during the decade, including drive-through or drive-in restaurants and greatly increasing numbers of drive-in theaters (cinemas).

<i>Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow</i> 1959 American film

Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow is a 1959 AIP horror comedy film. It was a sequel to their film Hot Rod Gang. American International Pictures released the film in July 1959 as a double feature with Diary of a High School Bride.

Roberta Maxine Leighton was an American drag racer. She was the first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race competitively. She was also the first woman to win a national title, in the 1962 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, in the J/S class. In 2002, shortly before her death, she received a lifetime achievement award at the World Finals at Pomona.

Doug Thorley was an American Funny Car drag racer, hot rodder and businessman. In 1967, he won the NHRA Nationals' first Funny Car Eliminator title, and was given Car Craft's All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Driver of the Year Award in 1968. Hot Rod magazine describes him as "one of drag racing's most famous early era drivers."

Steve Reyes is an American photographer and storyteller from Oakland, California. Reyes has been included in Don Garlits' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame (2002), NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion Honorees (2009), and the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame (2011).

References

  1. 1 2 "Hot Rod Girl (1956) - Leslie H. Martinson | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  2. ↑ Gary A. Smith, American International Pictures: The Golden Years, Bear Manor Media 2014 p 34
  3. 1 2 "Original Print Information". TCM Data Base. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Granahl, Pat (1 October 2003). "The Lost Dragstrips of Southern California". Hot Rod Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "Notes". TCM Data Base. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hot Rod Girl (1956)". Postermen. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  7. ↑ "Hot Rod Girl (1956)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  8. ↑ "History of the age ratings symbols". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "Revving up for Rush". American Film Institute. September 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  10. ↑ Fornell-Brunell, Mirian, ed. (2001). Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia: Vol. 1 A-I . Santa Barbara CA: ABC-Clio Publishers. p. 461. ISBN   1576072061.
  11. ↑ Brickman, Barbara Jane (2012). New American Teenagers: The Lost Generation of Youth in 1970s Films. NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 39. ISBN   9781441176585.
  12. ↑ Stanfield, Peter (2015). The Cool and the Crazy: Pop Fifties Cinema. New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 91. ISBN   9780813572987.
  13. ↑ "Feature Reviews". BoxOffice Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Review Digest" . Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Doherty, Thomas (2002). Teenagers and Teenpics; The Juvenilization of American Movies, Revised and Expanded Version. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp.  88–90. ISBN   1566399467.
  16. ↑ "Hot Rod Girl Review". The Grindhouse Cinema Database. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  17. ↑ Pinkerton, Nick (24 June 2009). "Los Angeles Film Fest: Hot Rods and Fast Times". LA Weekly. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  18. ↑ Dregni, Michael, ed. (2009). The All-American Hot Rod: The Cars, The Legends, The Passion. Minneapolis: MBI Publishing Company. p. 88. ISBN   9780896586543.
  19. ↑ Spenser, Kristopher (2008). Film and Television Scores 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company Inc. p. 301. ISBN   9780786436828.
  20. ↑ Kubernik, Harvey (2006). Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Film and On Your Screen. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN   9780826335425.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.