Hot Rod Girl

This film will take you back to the days of rock and roll, jukeboxes and of course, hot rods. Well acted (especially by John Smith) and Lori Nelson is real easy to look at (although you might prefer her cool '55 T-bird). It's also fun to watch a pre-Riddler Frank Gorshin in one of his early roles. Get ready to to roll up your sleeves and grease your hair back while you watch "Hot Rod Girl".

The reason I gave it a higher rating is because of the classic cars and dialogue. I love old film. It's a good simple story line with some familiar faces prior to becoming big stars.

It's worth a watch for the classic cars and dialogue. The banter is worth it too. It would be interesting to see these streets now and how they have changed. My father would have ID'd every make & model of each vehicle. They were unique! Chuck Connors plays his role well in a clean , calm , authoritative performance.

The beginning scenes would fair well at a high school or drivers ed course. Road rage before it was called road rage.

Now here is a little 1950's JD film that I had a lot of fun watching! Kind of an off the wall affair that sends a mixed message but is certainly a hoot to check out. A young Chuck Connors plays a local cop who is trying to end illegal drag racing by getting the kids to participate in a sort of legalized form of racing at a drag strip he put together and supervises with some of the local youth. Things seem to be working fine, though Connors is constantly getting heat from his Captain who wants hot rodding banned altogether, until the local "hero" Jeff loses his brother in an illegal street race. Jeff goes brooding and decides he wants no part of Connors program anymore just as a typical 1950's hood comes driving into town for the first time trying to shake things up. I found the film to be oddly entertaining but I wasn't sure if the message was that kids shouldn't be drag racing or that it's ok, as long as it's done in a certain place. Anyway, a fun movie featuring pretty good performances by Connors, John Smith and a very young Frank Gorshin as "Flat Top". Also in the cast is the extremely attractive Lori Nelson who has the title role. It seems a little odd that the film carries the title HOT ROD GIRL as Nelson is clearly a supporting player and the only time she "hot rods" is very briefly in the beginning during the opening credits. Still, her 1955 T-Bird is a blast to look at as are some of the other cars featured in the film. Catchy 1950's music score also helps capture a nice feel. If you like these kinds of films, as I do, I think you'll find this one rather enjoyable.

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.

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.