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An Exercise In Nonsense

A lot of fun.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Believing that a drag strip will keep kids from racing their hot rods on the street "Detective Ben Merrill" (Chuck Connors) takes an active interest and encourages them to drive responsibly. Unfortunately, when a certain group's leader by the name of "Jeff Northrup" (John Smith) has his younger brother killed in a racing accident he decides to avoid the drag strip altogether. This results in the rest of the group also losing interest in the drag strip and instead doing the exact thing that Detective Bill Merrill feared the most. Soon the residents of the city become extremely upset with the way the kids are driving recklessly through town and the police are forced to begin taking action against those who own hot rods. Matters become even worse when a troublemaker by the name of "Bronc Talbott" (Mark Andrews) arrives in town and decides to make a play for Jeff's girlfriend, "Lisa Vernon" (Lori Nelson). Now, rather than reveal any more of the film I will just say that this was an okay grade-B picture which managed to pass the time more or less. Although it's not a great film by any means I didn't think it was that bad either and so I have given it a rating of about average. If nothing else it manages to capture the 1950's time-period pretty well and that might be of interest to some viewers.

HOT ROD GIRL is one of the many American-International teen oriented films that flickered at the drive-in and equally was part of those Saturday triple features in the ice cold theaters during the duck-tail days. A decent flick that has Chuck Connors playing a concerned cop that helps organize a drag strip to keep illegal drag racing to a minimum making the city streets safer. John Smith is a former champ who has quit racing and is happy to keep his friend's rods tuned. But he is forced to race again in order to avenge his little brother's death and win his sweetheart(Lori Nelson)back. The cast also includes: Frank Gorshin, Mark Andrews, Roxanne Arlen and Dabbs Greer.

I have to admit it. Why? Well it features a young Chuck Connors for one thing but even more importantly for me it stars Lori Nelson of REVENGE OF THE CREATURE fame. I have to admit there's just something about Nelson I adore, not sure what it is exactly but she has a certain quality that defies description. The film itself is an interesting piece of 1950s nostalgia, especially for anyone who remembers or actually lived through the hot rodding craze from that era. Now I'll admit this was before my time, yet it holds a certain fascination and appeal for me. The film, while being basically pro-teens (they are just mixed up kids in need of a place to go and have fun but who need the help and guidance of a responsible adult-Connors' Detective Ben Merrill), does send a mixed message with regards to hot-rodding...both positive and negative to the point that in the end we are left scratching our heads.

I bought this movie on DVD.I am a Baby Boomer and a hot rod enthusiast.Although I liked the vintage drag strip shots I wanted to see more of the cars,especially under the hoods.I found the dialog campy even by 1956 standards.The "Hot Rod Girl" character contributed almost nothing to the movie,and I found myself asking why the movie even had her as part of the title.I also noticed they didn't even actually wreck a real car any where in the movie.One of the race scenes was "up hill" in the mountains and the cars looked as if they were doing about 20 m.p.h. I was disappointed but seeing the old cars was one redeeming quality of this movie.