Celebrate the Drive-In is a tribute to a beloved venue of the past. During it's heyday, a trip to the drive-in was one of my favorite things, both on the rare occasions as a child, and in my early adulthood. This blog is going to celebrate Drive-In Day (Jun 6) with a series of movies that I was too young to see (or in a couple of cases, not even born yet) that I wish I could've experienced in a drive-in. Keep coming back for the entire week as there will be one per day for the duration.
Don't! That's it. Just "Don't!" Presenting the next Coming Attraction! Hot Rod Girl!
The above quote could have been inspired by the kinds of events that happened in this film. The movie poster says it all: "Are these our children?" it asks. Given that this is an American International Pictures film, whose main fare was designed to lure teenagers into coming to see them, this sets up an interesting question: Just who was the intended audience of this film? Perhaps that question could best be answered by the fact that this film was originally released to drive-in theaters as a double feature, with the other film being titled Girls in Prison (and I leave it up to you to determine what the focus of THAT movie was...)
There are several other questions that will come to mind if you watch this film. For one thing: the movie is titled "Hot Rod Girl", but except for the opening sequence the main girl, the one I assume is the "hot rod girl" the title refers to, is not seen hot rodding in the film. The other scenes in which Lisa appears show her driving rather sedately,
Another thing: the poster also trumpets "Rock 'N Roll", yet the music is almost entirely modern jazz and bebop music, not the kind of rock, or rockabilly, "rock 'n roll" you would expect coming out of the speakers. And the guys and gals in the film snap their fingers to the beat coming from the jukebox as if they are hipsters in a jazz coffeehouse. The music was written by Alexander Courage. Yes, the same Alexander Courage that Star Trek fans will recognize as the writer of the theme to the original Star Trek TV series.
The film is full of some pretty laughable dialogue, as the main teen characters engage in some banter that, while maybe true to the characters and even the teen audience watching the film, comes off as pretty funny. That said, it's not a bad movie plot wise, although it is somewhat formulaic. But given the intended audience, and the low budget tendencies of the production company, that is to be expected.
The titular Hot Rod Girl, Lori Nelson, only had a brief career in film and TV, playing mostly as secondary characters in TV and film, although for one season she was the star of a TV show called How to Marry A Millionaire, based on the Marilyn Monroe movie. I would guess that the main reason she abandoned Hollywood stardom was to be a wife and mother. Interesting credit: She starred with John Agar in Revenge of the Creature in 1955, a sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, and then 50 years later, in 2005, she reprised her role in The Naked Monster, a parody "sequel" to Revenge. (And, OMG, after watching a trailer for THAT one, I just gotta watch the film...)
The presence of Chuck Connors, TV's The Rifleman, playing an almost carbon copy personality that he would eventually come to be known in that classic TV series is one of the better parts of the film. In addition we also get Dabbs Greer, more well known probably as the reverend on Little House on the Prairie, and Frank Gorshin, ("The Riddler" on the 60's Batman TV show). Gorshin, by the way, is making his first appearance in a credited role in this film.
John Smith (from TV's Cimarron City and Laramie) is the only other big name you might recognize, although many of the rest of the cast did have careers as secondary stars on TV and in film. The bad guy in this film, Mark Andrews, did not have much of a career, only appearing in a total of 8 roles. His IMDb profile seems to indicate his main job in life was as a fireman, so maybe acting was just a brief sideline. (It says, as a fireman, he once saved a man from drowning).
Hot Rod Girl (1956):
In the opening sequence, local darling female hot rod driver Lisa Vernon (Lori Nelson) is preparing to show off her driving skills in a drag race at the local drag strip.
The genesis of the drag strip is the inspiration of Detective Ben Merrill (Chuck Connors), a well meaning police officer who is trying to remedy the rampant drag racing by the local teens on city streets, which threaten to endanger the lives of the residents.
But Ben's dream of solving the issue of the illegal drag racing is up against another blockade. See, the citizens of the town don't want the city streets being used for illicit racing, but they are also so tight-assed that they don't want a drag strip outside the city either. You get the idea that the city fathers would be just as happy if they didn't give driver's licenses to anyone under the age of about 40. (There are no adults in the film other than Ben, his boss (Russell Thorson), and Yo-Yo (Fred Essler), the local diner operator, so this reluctance is only played out through the conversations that Ben has with his boss).
Jeff (John Smith) and his brother Steve (Del Erickson) are driving around town after the race when a hot rodder goads Steve into racing, and the result is Steve is killed. For some reason the authorities blame Jeff, seemingly because he didn't exercise enough influence to convince his brother to NOT race. So they take away Jeff's driver's license. (Huh?).
Jeff becomes depressed ad throws himself into his work, as a mechanic, in the process neglecting his girlfriend, Lisa (Lori Nelson), the "hot rod girl" of this film. Which makes her the perfect attraction for the newcomer in town, Bronc (Mark Andrews).
It doesn't help that she is the odd girl out since her friends, Flat Top (Frank Gorshin) and Two Tanks (Eddie Ryder) and their girlfriends, L.P. (Roxanne Arlen) and Judy (Caroline Kearney) are more interested in each other than the hanger-on, Lisa.
Newcomer Bronc is an obnoxious clod and goads Flat Top into a game of chicken. Which, if you are not familiar, is a "game" where two people get into their cars and drive flat out towards each other. The loser is the one who chickens out first. Flat Top is that guy. Which ends up making Bronc even more cocky than he already is.
Ben sees Bronc for the threat he actually is, and in an effort to get him to leave makes Bronc go to the drag strip with his car. But Jeff, who is in charge of clearing all drivers and their cars disqualifies Bronc's car as not being safe enough to participate. Which of course makes Bronc mad. Instead of leaving town he vows to get revenge.
On a mountain road outside of town he tries to get Jeff, who is just out for a drive with Lisa, to race. Ultimately another accident occurs, with a kid on a bicycle getting killed. Based on Bronc's testimony, Jeff becomes accused of being the culprit, but Ben is not so sure.
Ultimately Hot Rod Girl is a typical teen movie as the kind that AIP put out at the time, featuring sex (50's family safe sex, but sex nonetheless), cars and rock 'n roll (or bebop jazz posing as rock 'n roll, anyway...) It does seem to have a family friendly message to it, though, unlike may of AIP's output. The message being that one should drive safely on the city streets and county roads and save the drag racing for the local legal dragstrip. Cheaply made, it had an appeal to it's intended crowd. It got fair to middling reviews at the time, and one reviewer noted that it was less exploitational than it's title implied.
That, I would say is an accurate description. One would expect with a title like Hot Rod Girl that there was some extremely hot subjects being addressed within the film, but the women in this movie are all the kind of women that you wouldn't be nervous about introducing to your mother. There isn't even a hint of implied sexuality, although both Flat Top and Two Tanks do have a slight hint of misogynistic tendencies, putting down their girlfriends on occasion. One wonders what these girls see in these guys. The only really polite guy when it comes to his female counterpart is Jeff.
Is it top tier cinema? Hardly. See The Born Losers, reviewed earlier this week, for much better drama and very much better bad guys. Mark Andrews' Bronc is not much more threatening than Fonzie, even the Fonzie that appeared in his introductory appearance on Happy Days. Although, Jeff Smith could easily give Richie Cunningham a run for his money on the goody goody side, if Richie were a bit more introspective.
Still, it is worth checking out.
See you tomorrow. Drive safely, folks. Really. Drive safely. Don't get suckered into drag racing with that guy in the Corvette next to you in the theater. Come back tomorrow for Drive-In!
Quiggy
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