Hot Rod

Car culture was a big deal for post-war teens. As I recall, cool cars conferred about as much status on ambitious boys as competitive sports. The war had put a big crimp in the supply of new cars, so boys fashioned their own automotive skills by assembling 'hot rods' from spare parts wherever they could get them. As the movie shows, true hot rods were faster than normal, and when a kid won a competition, either on the street or on a track, he was not only showing off driving skills, but mechanical ability as well. In short, he built an enviable reputation among teens if not among adults.

The movie dramatizes much of this. Of course, the story's done Hollywood style. Thus, many of the rough dramatic edges are smoothed out in the end, even if it's not too plausible. For example, kids would continue to do risky street racing, despite drag strips alternatives. Nonetheless, for viewers curious about teens and the time period, Jimmy Lydon is a good example of the teen image prior to James Dean's celebrated rebelliousness. Lydon's a little overage here for the school boy part, but his basic likability and respectfulness are never in doubt.

Anyway, whatever else, the movie remains a showcase for hot-rodding, circa 1950.

This was required watching in the early 50's when we were building rods & customs. Poor acting, second rate plot, but Oh Those Cars!!! Anyone building a retro-rod today should be able to see this. Too bad we can't get it on tape or DVD

Before watching "Hot Rod", I also watched "The Devil on Wheels". Both films are low budgeted exploitation films from so-called 'Poverty Row Studios'....small outfits who filmed by renting out space at major studios...often at night. In general, these films were very quickly made, cheap and less than stellar. "The Devil on Wheels" is worse, as it was made by tiny PRC....whereas "Hot Rod" was really not terrible and that's a bit of a surprise because it's from Monogram.



Judge Langham has two sons, David and Joe. Joe is a respectable policeman and David is a teenager who is fascinated with hot rods. The judge hates hot rods and they show him in court lecturing teens about the dangers of hot rodding. Because of his hatred of these fast cars, he only lets David have a car if it's not souped up and isn't a speedster. However, the young man is soon accused of driving recklessly and causing an accident. What's next? See the film.

While few would consider "Hot Rod" a great film, it's not nearly the bad film I'd expected. Much of it is that while it isn't subtle, it isn't nearly as preachy as other cheap hot rodding films of the era and teenage driving isn't a black & white issue in the picture. The judge's son isn't a terrible kid and the problem isn't as simplistic as it was in "The Devil on Wheels" and other roadster films of the day. The acting isn't bad considering everything and the film is a decent time-passer--not some cheap exploitation pic.

By the way, look for the character 'Jack'. He was played by Tommy Bond...a guy who in his childhood years appeared in dozens of Little Rascals films. He usually played Butch the bully.

Those darn teenagers are at it again, with their fast movin' horseless carriages! Dave and Swifty are trying to get an off- road race track set up so that their friends don't have to race in the streets, but of course Dave's father is the local judge, and is set dead against it. Jimmy Lydon and Gil Stratton co-star in this teen angst shortie from Monogram, ( which is now Allied Artists). After trials and tribulations, ups and downs, mistaken identities and hold-ups, the boys hope their father will approve the track area, which would be a safer solution, and get those darn kids off the streets. The plot line is pretty inane, but worth seeing for some great oldie, jazzed up jalopies, as well as some old scenery of 1950s Los Angeles. A great chase scene right at the end, and it would be fun to see what some of those locales look like today. This shows now and then on TCM, but only 60 votes so far. Pretty tame stuff. The rebellious kids are all dressed so neatly, and speak so well... i wonder if they really were like that, or was this just Hollywood's image at the time. and you can feel the anger when the teenager's father doesn't believe when he's telling the truth, a common feeling we all had at one point. Directed by Lew Collins.... had worked on a couple shows with John Wayne.

A narrator describes the world of the hot rod as a new and developing sport. He then describes the problematic world of illegal hot rod racing. A motorcycle cop confronts a group of racers. He catches a couple of racers after their car breaks down. Judge Langham sentences the first time offenders and revokes their licenses for a year. His son David Langham gets a car and gets caught up in an incident.

This starts basically as one of those government films that get shown in high schools. It turns into something else. It does have characters and a story. I don't care about the characters. The story is not that compelling and it ends in the least compelling way. This is a movie trying to placate the hot rod crowd, but they would never fall for a lame movie like this. The government film warning against hot rods would be more fun.