Hell's Belles

I missed this when it originally played, but 30+ years later seeing it for the first time I'm very impressed. This is a biker film that anyone could enjoy, despite one's feelings about that genre. Imagine an old western where Bob Steele or someone like that wins a horse race on a horse that he has raised from birth and devoted his life to. After the race, a crook with a lot of money who came in second in the race offers to buy Bob's horse, but Bob won't sell at the ridiculous price offered. So the crook steals Bob's horse, and then Bob goes on a mission to get the horse back (wait a minute, that IS the plot of an old western serial from 1934, LAW OF THE WILD, I thought is was familiar). Transplant that plot into a biker realm, with Jeremy Slate in the lead role, and you've got HELL'S BELLES. His nemesis is played by the late, great Adam Roarke (who actually steals the bike from the guy who stole it from Slate!). Slate is always convincing, here taking what could be a two-dimensional character and turning him into a complex, three dimensional man with a fascinating back-story, someone about whom we care. The same can be said for Jocelyn Lane, as the woman with whom he is involuntarily teamed. They hate each other for much of the film, so in a way you have a biker version of THE African QUEEN, but once her real story comes out she is quite fascinating. Ms. Lane made a number of fine films in the 60's--TICKLE ME with Elvis, BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY with Fabian Forte, and some European genre films (wow, until looking her up on the IMDb, I didn't even know she was European!!) I'll have to dig out my copy of WAR GODS OF BABYLON. The Arizona photography on this film is excellent, the shots are beautifully composed, and director Maury Dexter has an excellent sense of pacing. His work at AIP in the late 60s is much underrated. MARYJANE is excellent, and YOUNG ANIMALS was very much ahead of its time. I gave this film a "10" rating, which I hardly ever do, because it don't think it could be improved upon. It took me into its world and kept me captivated for 90 minutes. For me, HELL'S BELLES is one of the definitive biker films, even if it is basically a western in biker garb. Highly recommended!!

This is one hell of a fun movie, and probably the best motorcycle flick of the '60s after Easy Rider. The is actually an update of the old Jimmy Stewart movie Winchester '73, except a motorcycle is used in place of the rifle. Jeremy Slate, always great in these '60s flicks, is the lead and is supported by a wonderful exploitation movie cast. Les Baxter's score, next to that of Easy Rider is about the best heard in a biker flick, a perfect artifact of the period, and lots of fun.

If you're a guy, you watch this for Jocelyn Lane's "Cathy".

All of the biker guys treat her like garbage. They're too concerned with their dumb motorcycles. If just one of them showed some genuine kindness towards Cathy, she would've been been very affectionate & devoted to them.

How dumb do you have to be to care more for a machine than an insanely sexy woman?

Is it any wonder she has such an attitude towards the men?

The story & acting aren't that bad.

This could've been much better ...or worse. Depending upon your point of view.

The humor is okay at times.

Jocelyn Lane looks like she had the potential to be a huge star, if not for acting, then as a magazine cover girl.

Yes, she is THAT beautiful.

The late '60s were the era of biker movies. The "Citizen Kane" of this genre was obviously "Easy Rider", while "The Wild Angels" might get called the second-best.

Released on DVD with the latter was "Hell's Belles". The simple plot - a racer's motorcycle gets stolen, so he sets out to reclaim it - holds second place to the sight of Jocelyn Lane in a miniskirt. I guess that she got relegated to potboilers while other actresses of the era got the highbrow roles. Even so, she was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

So, it's nothing special. I understand that the director later directed episodes of "Little House on the Prairie" (which I've never seen). The main thing here is the chance to see Jocelyn Lane looking sexy.

The late-60's biker sub-genre take on the James Stewart Western, WINCHESTER '73, which is about a cherished gun, won in a contest then stolen from the winner before winding up in several different hands...

Only here it's a motorcycle that modern cowboy type Jeremy Slate loses the night of the race by his jealous rival, who then loses it to the token gang led by sixties' biker staple Adam Roarke, fresh from HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS and THE SAVAGE SEVEN...

So Roarke (with bulky sidekick William Lucking) is as comfortable in a biker flick as director Maury Dexter is at Westerns, since, earlier in the decade, he turned out a bunch for 20th Century Fox along with Neo Noir thrillers, and, like those entertaining and economical programmers, he moves an otherwise plodding exploitation decently enough for the viewer to remain semi-intrigued throughout...

But the true scene-stealer is the extremely gorgeous Jocelyn Lane, who Roarke trades Slate for the stolen vehicle and that he doesn't want (God knows why), and the title HELL'S BELLES is misleading since it's not about the other biker molls, all but passive commentators on their men, fighting with fists instead guns and riding bikes instead of horses, while Slate eventually thaws out from his initially reluctant relationship with Lane... Who wouldn't?