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The Choppers
A gang of teenage delinquents terrorize a small community by stealing cars and stripping them for parts, then selling the parts to a crooked junkyard owner. The police and an insurance company investigator set out to break up the gang.
Release : | 1961 |
Rating : | 4.7 |
Studio : | Fairway International Pictures, Rushmore Productions, |
Crew : | Director, Screenplay, |
Cast : | Arch Hall Jr. Rex Holman Tom Brown Bruno VeSota Britt Wood |
Genre : | Drama Action |
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Reviews
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Arch Hall, Sr.'s first attempt to make his son Arch Hall, Jr. a star was with this tale of juvenile delinquency Choppers. The film sat on the shelf for two years before being released in 1961. That fact in and of itself should have convinced the senior Hall that his son was not destined for stardom other than in family made vehicles.The junior Hall is a kid with a souped up hotrod and a gang who specializes in stripping cars. They're a real fine group of rejects and they've been taught the car stripping trade by Bruno Vesota and his sidekick Britt Wood who did a year as a sidekick for Hopalong Cassidy back in the day.Tom Brown who also saw better parts in his career and in his salad days played juvenile in much better films than Choppers is the detective from the auto theft squad.Shot on a G-string budget Choppers did not make Arch Hall, Jr. a star. But that didn't make dad give up. Even worse films than this followed.And people get down on Ed Wood.
Five delinquent adolescents known collectively as "the Choppers" terrorize the countryside by stripping cars left by the side of the road with ruthless efficiency. The laughably clueless local yokel cops bumble, fumble and stumble around in fruitless circles until the discovery of a lone chicken feather at a crime site (!) steers them in the right direction.Tautly directed by Leigh Jason, crisply shot in gorgeous black and white, further graced by hip slangy lingo ("square johns" for decent law-abiding citizens, "bandits" for the fuzz), groovy music (highly unlikely and sublimely geeky flash-in-the-pan wannabe teen scream idol Arch Hall, Jr. belts out a couple of endearingly goofy songs), solid acting, continuity errors aplenty, and snappy pacing, this funky little item sizes up as a good deal of trim, no-frills, mean'n'lean early 60's JD crime movie fun. Yummy blonde "Playboy" Playmate Marianne Gaba (Miss September '59) looks quite delectable in her tight sweater and form-fitting skirt. Rotund veteran sleaze film character actor Bruno Ve Sota has one of his best-ever roles as Moose, a greedy, grubby, no-count, cigar-chewing junkyard owner who fences stolen automobile parts on the side. Scrawny chopper Rex Holman also portrayed a member of the lethal highway gang in "Panic in Year Zero." Arch Hall, Sr., who both wrote and produced this picture, pops up in a sizable supporting part as a smooth-voiced radio reporter and does marvelously mellifluous vocal work on the film's nifty trailer. Moreover, this flick scores bonus points for depicting the choppers as toxic products of messed-up families: Musclehead Torch has a pathetic drunk for a dad, Holman was raised by an aunt and uncle after his original parents dumped him when he was just a baby, and cocky ringleader Hall, Jr. is a spoiled rotten rich brat who's hungry for kicks. Those fine folks at Something Weird Video offer this baby on a terrific DVD double bill with the equally excellent and entertaining Arch Hall, Jr. rock'n'roll star vehicle "Wild Guitar." Can you dig it, daddy-o? I sure can -- and certainly did.
A delicious little JD film about kids who strip cars for parts. Yes, our youth has gone wild! But what's up with that song Arch Hall Jr. sings? "Monkeys in my hat band. I can do a hand stand" Poetic genius.Would you believe that a life of stealing parts off cars can lead to a violent death? Lives are thrown by the way side in a climatic shoot out in the junk yard. And who's to blame? The parents.
And yet another of those oh sooo bad affairs from Hall and son. In this one, a young hot-rod enthusiast becomes involved with car thieves working at a 'chop' shop-hence the title. There IS a neat game you and friends can play with this one: count how many continuity errors you can spot. You'll be high in double digits, IF you make it to the end of this one.(Hint:watch for a police cruiser that changes from a Ford to a Plymouth and back again!)