Steel Arena (film)

Last updated
Steel Arena
Steel Arena.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mark L. Lester
Written byMark L. Lester
Produced by
  • Mark L. Lester
  • Peter S. Traynor
Starring
CinematographyJohn Arthur Morrill
Edited by David Peoples
Music byDon Tweedy
Production
company
L-T Films Inc.
Release date
  • April 1973 (1973-04)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Steel Arena is a 1973 American sports drama film written and directed by Mark L. Lester, in his feature film directorial debut. A precursor of the Burt Reynolds school of mainstream redneck films such a Smokey and the Bandit , the movie follows the fictionalized career of auto daredevil Dusty Russell as he develops into a world class stunt driver. [1]

Contents

The fictional Dusty ties and then breaks the world record for the auto "dive bomber," a stunt where a stock car is driven at high speed off a ramp and over a measured space to come crashing down on top of parked junk cars. Russell actually was a world champion auto daredevil who set the dive bomber record while filming Steel Arena.

Cast

ActorRole
Dusty Russell Himself
Buddy LoveHimself
Gene Drew Himself
Dutch Schnitzler Himself (a.k.a. "Atom Man")
Speed Stearns Elaine Harper
Ed RyanHimself ("Chrome Dome")
Dan CarterHimself
Bruce Mackey Crash Chambers
Laura BrooksJo-Ann
Eric Nord Southern Sheriff

Plot

After being dropped off in front of a bar in a town in rural Kentucky, transient Dusty Russell goes into the bar but doesn't have the cash to pay for the drink he orders. The bartender offers him a job for $100 driving a "tanker", a souped up car for running bootleg moonshine. As Dusty prepares for the run, the police arrive at the still but Dusty manages to escape, eluding the local sheriff and state police in the bar owner/moonshiner's 1939 Dodge, which he rolls during his escape, destroying the 50 gallons of moonshine in the trunk. Coming back to the bar to collect him money, the bartender/moonshiner refuses to pay him and has his bouncers attack Dusty. A stranger joins the fight on Dusty's side and they escape the bar, along with Jo-Ann, a waitress Dusty has taken a fancy to. The stranger turns out to be Buddy Love and he intends to enter a demolition derby but lacks a car. Dusty offers to use the bootlegger's car he ran the moonshine in for the derby, and they become partners. Dusty and Jo-Ann become lovers.

Driving in the demolition derby, Dusty is the last car running and wins the purse of $300. The derby promoter, Gene Drew, turns out to be the head of an outfit of traveling auto daredevils, The Circus of Death, stunt drivers who perform stunts such as head-on collisions and the rolling-over of cars. One of the daredevils, an old German (Dutch Schnitzler, playing himself), does the Texas dynamite trick as "Atom Man", lying in a flimsy box that is blown up by dynamite.

Gene hires Dusty as well as his partner Buddy, and Dusty turns out to be a first-rate stunt driver. Dusty becomes famous on the auto daredevil circuit for the dive bomber, running a speeding car off of a ramp at 55 mph, flying through the air 50 feet, and crashing down on parked cars. The stunt driver Crash Chambers, who has taken an instant dislike to Dusty, becomes jealous as he is relegated to the secondary attraction of smashing through a flaming wooden wall with his head, as he lies on the hood of an automobile. Buddy Love performs "The Slide of Death", a stunt where he is dragged in a sitting position through a burning circle of gasoline, but dreams of moving up to stunt driving.

Dusty quickly develops into a record-breaking auto daredevil with his dive bomber stunt. Touring the state of Texas with the Circus of Death, Dusty ties the world record of 60 feet. At the celebration of his achievement in which Dusty is given a trophy, an inebriated Gene challenges Dusty to set a new record of 100 feet. A jealous Crash verbally attacks both Dusty and Gene, claiming that the trophy should be his, denouncing Dusty is a greenhorn whose success is a matter of luck. Gene calls Crash a coward, saying that even if Dusty's success is a matter of luck, he did the dive bomber stunt whereas Crash chickened out and refused to do it. His hatred on full boil, Crash challenges Dusty to a stunt driving feat mano a mano, in which they will try to drive the other off of the road. Dusty prevails when Crash's auto rolls over due to a blown tire.

Crash continues to irritate Circus of Death owner Gene, who threatens to fire him. During an event where Dusty is supposed to stage a head-in collision with another stunt driver, Buddy begs Dusty to let him drive the car, to prove himself to Drew. Crash knocks out the other driver and takes over the second auto, believing that he will be crashing head-on into the hated Dusty. Over the loudspeaker, Gene explains to the crowd of the dangers of staging a head-on crash, saying that the stunt requires teamwork as both drivers must obtain the same speed when they crash, because if one is going slower than the other, it increases the chances of a serious injury. Thinking Dusty and the other driver are in the cars, Gene comments that the car driven by Crash is going too fast and there might be trouble. Crash smashes into Dusty's car, and Buddy Love is killed.

As Dusty prepares to set a world record dive bomber jump of 70 feet, Crash sabotages him by cutting his safety belt. Dusty sets the world record but is injured in the stunt. Gene arranges for him to set a new auto dive bomber record of 100 feet after a short stay in hospital. Russell goes ahead with the stunt despite being injured and requiring clutches to make it to the event, and successfully extends his world record to 100 feet. However, upon landing in his auto on top of five parked cars, Dustry is injured and knocked unconscious. In the final scene, Jo-Ann catches a Greyhound bus alone, and is in tears because of the tragedy as the credits roll.

Production

Mark L. Lester saw Dusty Russell and the other stunt drivers who appear in the movie at an auto daredevils show in Berkeley, California, where they performed as The Circus of Death. Originally intending to make a documentary film about the Circus of Death on tour, Lester signed them up to star in a fictional story about auto daredevils. The actual drivers appeared as fictionalized versions of themselves and performed all their own stunts. [2]

The movie, which was budgeted at $150,000, was shot in 21 days. Dusty Russell was credited as associate producer under his real name Robert Hanna. The movie was first released in the Atlanta metropolitan area in early April 1973. [2]

The final stunt in the film, a 100-foot jump that Russell made and which his character dies performing, actually broke the world record, which it does in the film. [2] Lester recalled ""All the stunts were filmed at real events. They don't do those shows anymore. The vehicles they used were steel cars from the 60's. The cars today would collapse if they rolled over and crashed like in the movie." [3]

Stunt driver Ed “Chromedome” Ryan was an escaped convict wanted for armed robbery, which was revealed after the film was released. He was arrested and the movie was shown to the inmates in the prison he was incarcerated in. [2]

Lester recalled ""t was a slice of Americana that I was trying to create out of that. Later I thought it was kind of a parable of America. The war in Vietnam was going on, and I thought this was like the gladiators of America - in cars." [3]

Distribution

The working title of Steel Arena was The Daredevil, but it was changed as another movie in production at the same time had the title. The movie was first released in the Atlanta metropolitan area in April 1973. [2]

Mark L. Lester-Peter S. Traynor Productions did not officially submit Steel Arena for copyright at the time it was released, despite an on-screen copyright notice. Lester registered the copyright in 2002 by Mark L. Lester, under the number RE-862-134. [2]

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray on December 31, 2018. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Test Pilot</i> (film) 1938 American film directed by Victor Fleming

Test Pilot is a 1938 American drama film directed by Victor Fleming, starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, and featuring Lionel Barrymore. The Oscar-nominated film tells the story of a daredevil test pilot (Gable), his wife (Loy), and his best friend (Tracy).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evel Knievel</span> American stunt performer (1938–2007)

Robert Craig Knievel, known professionally as Evel Knievel, was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. He died of pulmonary disease in Clearwater, Florida, in 2007, aged 69.

<i>Thunder Road</i> (1958 film) 1958 film by Arthur Ripley

Thunder Road is a 1958 American drama–crime film directed by Arthur Ripley and starring Robert Mitchum, who also wrote the story. The supporting cast features Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon, Keely Smith, James Mitchum, Sandra Knight, and Peter Breck. The film's plot concerns running bootleg moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee in the late 1950s. Thunder Road became a cult film and continued to play at drive-in movie theaters in some southeastern states through the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormer Locklear</span> American aviator (1891–1920)

Ormer Leslie "Lock" Locklear was an American daredevil stunt pilot and film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stunt performer</span> Person who performs stunts

A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joie Chitwood</span> American stunt driver (1912–1988)

George Rice "Joie" Chitwood was an American stuntman, racing driver, and businessman. He is best known as a daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show.

<i>The Rookie</i> (1990 film) 1990 film directed by Clint Eastwood

The Rookie is a 1990 American buddy cop action thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Boaz Yakin and Scott Spiegel, and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert, and David Valdes. The film stars Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Tom Skerritt. Eastwood plays a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective played by Sheen, whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles, following months of investigation into an exotic car theft ring.

William Carey Loftin was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stunt drivers. In a lengthy career spanning 61 years, his body of work included classic films such as Thunder Road, Bullitt, Vanishing Point, Duel, and The French Connection. He was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbie</span> Anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures

Herbie, the Love Bug is a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle which has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with The Love Bug in 1969. He has a mind of his own, being capable of driving himself and often becoming a serious contender in auto racing. Throughout most of the films he is distinguished by red, white, and blue racing stripes from the front to the back bumper, a pearl white body, a racing-style number "53" on the front luggage compartment lid, doors, engine lid, and a yellow-on-black 1963 California license plate with the registration "OFP 857".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trick riding</span> Performing stunts while riding a horse

Trick riding refers to the act of performing stunts while horseback riding, such as the rider standing upright on the back of a galloping horse, using a specially designed saddle with a reinforced steel horn, and specialized kossak loops for hands and feet. The horse is likewise galloping free. Trick riding is not to be confused with equestrian vaulting, which is an internationally recognized competitive sport governed by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitty O'Neil</span> American stuntwoman and racer (1946–2018)

Kitty Linn O'Neil was an American stuntwoman and auto-racer, often called "the fastest woman in the world" for her various speed records. Her women's absolute land speed record stood until 2019.

<i>White Lightning</i> (1973 film) 1973 film by Joseph Sargent

White Lightning is a 1973 American action film directed by Joseph Sargent, written by William W. Norton, and starring Burt Reynolds, Jennifer Billingsley, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins, R. G. Armstrong and Diane Ladd. It marked Laura Dern's film debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wing walking</span> Aerial barnstorming daredevil stunt

Wing walking is the act of moving along the wings of an aeroplane during flight, sometimes transferring between planes. It originated as a daredevil stunt in the aerial barnstorming shows of the 1920s, and became the subject of several Hollywood movies. An early exponent was Ormer Locklear, who was killed performing a dive on film. Charles Lindbergh began his aviation career as a wing walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorcycle stunt riding</span> Motorcycle acrobatic sport

Streetbike freestyle is a motorsport which involves wheelie, stoppie, acrobatics, burnout and drifting. Motorcycles are modified to do multiple tricks

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe of death</span> Stunt where riders ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere ball

The Globe of Death is a circus and carnival stunt where stunt riders ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere ball. It is similar to the wall of death, but in this act riders can loop vertically as well as horizontally. There have been three performance-related deaths recorded between 1949 and 1997. The only Globe of Death World Record officially recognized by the Guinness World Records is six riders and one person in the center by the Infernal Varanne team on the set of Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 13 April 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 Atlanta 500</span> Auto race held at Atlanta International Raceway in 1973

The 1973 Atlanta 500 was the sixth race in the NASCAR 1973 Winston Cup Series, held on April 1, 1973, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia. The race took three hours and thirty-four minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butch Laswell</span> American motorcycle stunt performer (1958–1996)

Sherman Dwayne "Butch" Laswell was an American stunt performer and professional motorcycle stunt rider. Laswell died after sustaining injuries during a live stunt in front of a crowd of spectators, while attempting to carry out a dangerous motorcycle jump in Mesquite, Nevada. The accident was captured on camera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Danger</span> American motorcycle racer

Doug "Danger" Senecal, born March 31, 1962, in Palmer, Massachusetts, is known as Doug Danger. He is an American motorcycle jumping world record holder and stunt performer and Stage 4 cancer survivor who lives in Oak Hill, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spider Matlock</span> American stuntman and stunt pilot

William Earnest "Spider" Matlock was an American stuntman, stunt pilot, car racing promoter, driver and mechanic.

Robert Shuman Hanna was a record-breaking American stunt driver and motorsports promoter who performed under the stage name “Dusty Russell." He was the star of the 1973 action movie Steel Arena, on which he also served as associate producer.

References

  1. "Steel Arena (DVD)". kinolorber.com. Kino Lorber. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Steel Arena (1973)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The First Hundred Years (1893-1993). American Film Institute. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 Cribbs, John (2011). "The Films of Mark L Lester". The Pink Smoke.
  4. "Steel Arena Blu-ray (Dark Force Entertainment Exclusive)" via www.blu-ray.com.