The Pace That Thrills

I'm sure that Howard Hughes gave his personal stamp of approval to this RKO B picture which was made to popularize motorcycle racing. Soon enough motorcycles would get a more enduring image courtesy of The Wild One and Marlon Brando.

Bill Williams and Michael St.Angel are a pair of motorcycle buffs, Williams is an aggressive racer on the tracj, St.Angel concentrates on the design aspect of the sport. They both vie for journalist Carla Ballenda. Williams has a nasty rivalry with John Mitchum who's as aggressive as he on the track.

Some nice scenes of racing here with a very trite plot. I think The Wild One has stood the test of time better.

While writing an article exposing its dark side, beautiful reporter Eve Drake (Carla Balenda) is drawn into the world of motorcycle racing, where she becomes involved with egotistical racer Dick "Dusty" Weston (Bill Williams)and clean-cut engineer Chris Rhodes (Steve Flagg). As Dusty and Chris battle to win on and off the track and mechanic Rocket Anderson (Frank McHugh) keeps their powerful machines running, everyone works together to save the failing motorcycle company run by Mr. Barton (Robert Armstrong). Exciting footage of authentic flat-track and TT racing in 1951 is effectively integrated with shots of the actors and is believable, except for a preposterous stunt pulled by Dusty in his first race that will leave fans of the real thing laughing. A fun "B" movie, flawed by the message that cheating is an acceptable way to win motorcycle races. Dozens of vintage British and American bikes are a highlight. With bad boy Dusty and nice guy Chris competing for the checkered flag and Eve's heart, which do you think will win?

Reporter Eve Drake (Carla Balenda) has been assigned to cover motorcycle racing and she's not that thrilled. Owner J. C. Barton introduces her to aggressive self-assured winning racer Richard L. 'Dusty' Weston (Bill Williams).

It is a motorcycle racing B-movie. Everybody is doing B-movie work with some motorcycle racing action. I do like that Dusty has a day job which adds to the underground nature of this world. There is some racing footage, some developing racing fashion and culture. I would like the culture to be less preppy and more outlaw. The cinematic style is still being developed. The Wild One would come out the following year.

Early '50s low-budget "actioner" about motorcycle racing has some good, and at times exciting, racing footage interspersed with poorly written and (mostly) badly acted filler. Pros like Bill Williams, Robert Armstrong and Frank McHugh give a somewhat professional sheen to it and try to inject some life into the witless script--and the sight of beefy but big-chested '50s bimbo Cleo Moore jumping up and down helps somewhat--but performances by Steve Flagg as the somewhat shady Williams' clean-cut and goody two-shoes engineer and Carla Balenda as a "feisty" reporter who comes between them are poor (and in Flagg's case, downright embarrassing) and the leaden direction by "B" vet Leon Barsha doesn't help, either. A lot of footage of vintage bikes, cars and trucks will be a big plus for gearheads, and as mentioned the racing footage is for the most part quite well done, but the film overall isn't much to speak of.

Pace That Thrills, The (1952)

*** (out of 4)

Turner Classic Movies gives film buffs the chance to watch classic movies each and every day but they also do a greater good and that's show unknown and rather unseen movies. This RKO "B" picture is one not too many have heard of but it turned out to be quite a fun little movie. Motorcycle racer Dusty (Bill Williams) has a female reporter (Carla Balenda) write a few negative stories on him, which doesn't sit too well with the boss (Robert Armstrong) or his best friend (Michael St. Angel). Soon Dusty and the friend both fall for the reporter and all the triangle isn't going to do anyone any good. This film really comes off as a pro-motorcycle film because there seems to be a plea for people to give the sport a fair shake. The movie doesn't have anything special or great going for it but the 63-minute running time is short enough for the viewer to get into the drama and in the end this is a pretty fun movie. The motorcycle races are all excellently shot and they manage to have some nice tension as well. The leading cast is another reason to watch the film as both Williams and St. Angel deliver strong performances and make their characters very memorable. Armstrong is best known for his role in KING KONG but he too adds some fun as does Frank McHugh who is best known for being Cagney's sidekick in many films. Robert Mitchum's brother John plays the bad guy in the film. Fans of "B" movies will certainly want to check this one out next time TCM plays it during their "Underground" series as it's fast and fun throughout.