Stock Car (film)

Last updated
Stock Car
Stock Car (1955 film).jpg
Original pressbook cover
Directed by Wolf Rilla
Written by A.R. Rawlinson
Story byA.R. Rawlinson
& Victor Lyndon
Produced byA.R. Rawlinson
Starring Paul Carpenter
Rona Anderson
Susan Shaw
Cinematography Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited byJoseph Sterling
Music by Wilfred Burns
Production
company
Balblair Productions
Distributed by Butcher's Film Service (UK)
Release date
  • 1955 (1955)
(UK)
Running time
68 min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Stock Car is a 1955 British second feature [1] crime drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Paul Carpenter, Rona Anderson, and Susan Shaw. [2]

Contents

Plot

When her father dies during a stock car race, Katie Glebe takes over the running of his garage, helped by American driver Larry Duke. Katie struggles to fend off creditors, including the unscrupulous Turk McNeil, who seeks to repossess her property. Further dramas ensue when Turk's girlfriend Gina shows an interest in Larry.

Cast

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "The film would have been greatly improved had there been more emphasis on the actual stock car racing, for the brief racing sequences are by far the most satisfactory. The rest is modestly agreeable, but marred by some very overworked humour on the subjects of wide boys and the differences between the English and American languages." [3]

Kine Weekly said "Meaty romantic melodrama, planted in seamy, yet colorful, stock car racing circles. ... The picture leaves nothing to chance nor, for that matter, the imagination, but its clichés, borrowed from the turf, are nevertheless skilfully handled and realistically embroidered. Paul Carpenter convinces as the Yankee hero, Larry, Rona Anderson is a refreshing Katie, Susan Shaw scores in contrast as temptress Gina, and Sabrina, who, by the way, should be seen and not heard, enhances its by no means inconsiderable sex angle in a minor role. The supporting players are sound, too. The night club, hospital and office interiors closely fit the action, and the climax is hearty. A workmanlike job." [4]

The Radio Times noted, "The mediocrity is unrelenting, with the race sequences every bit as hackneyed as the risible melodrama, although Susan Shaw briefly brightens things up as a shameless floozy." [5]

The Spinning Image wrote: "the lower half of a double bill from British B-movie specialists Butchers, here in their element with a thriller that never did anything particularly spectacular, but provided enough thrills and spills to keep the audience in their seats for the duration, though being well aware that a more expensive and starry movie was following on must have helped in that department." [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Stock Car". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Stock Car". Monthly Film Bulletin . 22 (252): 183. 1 January 1955 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Stock Car". Kine Weekly . 463 (2520): 18. 13 October 1955 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Stock Car – review - cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
  6. ↑ "Stock Car Review (1955)". www.thespinningimage.co.uk.
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