Rojo 7000 peligro

Although well intended, this is a real melodrama, a tale of the daring, reckless, untamed men of stock car racing and the women who love them... oh, please. The racing sequences are good, but these guys are pulling stunts that would have made even early NASCAR officials nail them to the wall.

Caan's acting is good, but he's not yet the fantastic actor we know today. He does well with the often stilted dialogue, some of which has gaps you could drive a truck through. MST3k material. Gail Hire (Holly) has a voice that makes Lauren Bacall sound like Minnie Mouse...You haven't lived until you've heard her baritone song/rap "Wildcat Jones" and seen George "Mr. Sulu" Takei dancing the Pony. This film is funnier than it was ever meant to be... and in ways I doubt Howard Hawks ever intended.

I have to agree with the comment about Ms Hire being a junior grade Paula Prentiss. I logged on to my account to write that Gail Hire (Holly) came across like Paula Prentiss, but it had already been noted. But, I also noticed that Marianna Hill (Gabby) seem like she was a substitute for Brigitte Bardot and Laura Devon (Julie) as Nancy Sinatra.

I like the movie, even though it was full of clichés and all too typical of most racing movies. I like looking at the race footage. I remember many of the races and knew the full background of the races and accidents shown in the movie. I like the movie because it showed real production based race cars racing. The same makes and models my neighbors owned. If you like NASCAR this is a movie worth seeing. If you are looking for AFI top 100 films, this is not the movie for you.

Noted director Howard Hawks would make only two more films after "Red Line 7000" before calling it a day.

"Red Line" is a soap opera racing flick from 1965 that tries a bit too hard to be hip (no doubt on account of Hawks' previous film "Man's Favorite Sport?" being criticized as "old-fashioned"). It's corny at times and melodramatic at others, but it's fun and highlighted by some truly bizarre dance numbers, including clever usage of public domain music (be on the look out for the rockin' rendition of "The Old Gray Mare").

The picture is generally considered to be one of Hawks' worst films, if not THE worst, but it's redeemed by the dynamic chemistry between James Caan and Marianna Hill, who plays a French girl. Caan displays the intensity and talent that would make him one of the better actors of the early 70s. And Hill's performance, on par with other memorable Hawks discoveries Lauren Bacall and Angie Dickinson, makes you wonder why she didn't become a bigger star before fading into obscurity. Particularly notable are Hill's two lusty dancing sequences, at the nightclub and later at the Holiday Inn Pepsi machine, as Caan observes her from afar.

If you're not familiar with the incredibly gorgeous Marianna Hill, she played Dr. Helen Noel on the original Star Trek episode "Dagger of the Mind" from 1966 (1st season). Believe it or not, Hill was arguably the MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN to appear on the series (which is saying A LOT in light of the fact that Star Trek is highly noted for it's over-abundance of stunning beauties). She appeared in NUMEROUS television shows throughout the 60s and 70s (e.g. Batman, Kung Fu, Bonanza, Mayberry RFD, etc.) and also quite a few films like Elvis' "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" (1966), Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" (1973) and even STARRED in the underrated atmospheric horror flick "Dead People" (aka "Messiah of Evil" 1973).

BOTTOM LINE: Hill and Caan redeem "Red Line 7000" and make it a mandatory purchase or viewing. The film should have focused exclusively on these two characters and gotten rid of everybody else (!), yet even with its weaknesses "Red Line" is still more intriguing than the more popular mid-60s race drama "Grand Prix."

Unfortunately the film is only available used on VHS for WAY too much money. Hopefully it will be released on DVD some time soon!

Allow me to close by repeating: MARIANNA HILL IS IN THE FILM!

In Todd McCarthy's Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, the impetus behind RL7000 was a) Hawk's 10-year old son Gregg was into cars, or b) Hawks wanted to prove he could make a commercial film quickly for a million dollars. Too, Hawks loved cars, studied Mechanical Engineering at Cornell, raced cars after college, and made the racing film The Crowd Roars (1932) giving him the opportunity to work with Cagney (and wrangle a Deusenberg for himself from the Deusenberg company in exchange for product placement). In a sense, both films are indulgences which never translate into a coherent picture.

RL7000 comes off a bit more like a Roger Corman film than a Hawks film, probably due to budgetary constraints. We see lots of young unknowns, dancing, loud music, interludes of unevenly-acted drama interspersed with bouts of frenetic action. Caan is a good, brooding Bradoesque study, though he squints and smirks to distraction, Marianna Hill looks great, and seeing cars like Cobra Daytonas is pretty enjoyable for mid-60's sports car fans. Ultimately, the film has problems because Hawks doesn't get what he wants out of the actors. All of his other films have very strong acting; Hawks could always get great performances from Wayne, Grant, Bogart as well as the veteran character actors he used. He didn't have such luck with most of the primary cast of three men and three women. Their bonding as lovers and as male and female groups is integral to the credibility of the film, and it just doesn't happen.

Another possibility explaining the film's weakness is that this is the only one of Hawk's final six pictures (Rio Bravo to Rio Lobo) without writer Leigh Brackett on the team.

One also senses that Hawks tried too hard to be "hip," perhaps in reaction to the fact that some critics had complained that his previous picture "Man's Favorite Sport?" seemed old-fashioned. Thus the plot is periodically suspended for some truly bizarre song and dance numbers, even by mid-60's standards. It seems inconceivable that "Wildcat Jones" was given us by the same Hawks who gave us the immortal "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" number.

I want to like this movie, since I do subscribe to the school that a great director can never make a truly bad film. I also happen to love "Man's Favorite Sport?" which often critically lumped in with RL7000 as the two off-the-track films between a pair of Wayne/Hawks collaborations before and after. Furthermore, there are some vocal critics who love the film, such as Robin Wood. So I guess I need to watch it a few more times and hopefully can write a better review next go around.

After a Nascar driver (Anthony Rogers) is killed in a race at Daytona, fellow team racers gather round his mysterious new girlfriend (Gail Hire) and together they have trials and tribulations on and off the track.

Late Howard Hawks film is exciting on the track, but makes for dull drama off the track, but with little in the way of characterisation. This is unfortunate in that the action is well done and could have been an interesting time peace, but is instead dated. There were exploitation films made in the period that handle this subject matter better such as PIT STOP (1969).