Johnny Dark

Except the lead character's name: DARK, nothing is dark here, nothing at all. It is a car race movie, as were DEVIL'S HAIRPIN, THE RACERS, RED LINE 7000, GRAND PRIX, and so on.... Nothing special, this is definitely not the best of Tony Curtis nor George Sherman the director's films. It is an agreeable time waster. The nearly usual Piper Laurie Tony Curtis couple on screen for a film that you can easily avoid in your moviegoer life, except if you crave for smooth fifties movies, or if you are a car races films die hard fan. I am not. Everything is predictable here, but it's colorful, good settings.

I just happened to notice this film was on TV tonight and had never seen it before. Usually I'll watch because of the actors who are in it. Although the movie is mainly about car racing I really did enjoy seeing a youngish Tony Curtis (in the lead as Johnny) and Piper Laurie (as Liz). Both are strong willed so romance isn't easygoing at the start.

Johnny is the auto engineer who is determined to drive his new model race car to win the 2200-mile race from Canada to Mexico and Liz, when she realizes her love for him, supports him entirely.

Lots of action throughout from players and race cars. The speeding cars keep you on the edge of your seat - great film shots from the air and the road as they blaze along from stop to stop during the race.

This film begins with an automobile engineer by the name of "Johnny Dark" (Tony Curtis) working on a new design for a sportscar which he believes will greatly benefit the car manufacturer he works for named of Fielding Motors. Yet even though his immediate supervisor "William H. Scott" (Paul Kelly) shares his enthusiasm, the CEO of the company "James Fielding" (Sidney Blackmer) is intent on producing family vehicles and adamantly rejects the new test model. This infuriates Johnny who, with the help of key members within the company, steals the sportscar prototype and enters it into a cross-country race from Canada to Mexico. The problem, however, is that Johnny's best friend "Duke Benson" (Don Taylor) has also entered this race--but for a major competitor. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an entertaining action film which benefited from solid acting and some excellent camera work from the driver's point-of-view. Admittedly, it's somewhat dated and lacks the advantages of modern-day film technology. But even so, I enjoyed it for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

A young auto racing enthusiast and automotive engineer, Johnny Dark (Curtis) designs a new type of race car that his auto manufacturer-employer, Fielding Motors, won't build, so he enters it in a Reno, Nevada to Tijuana, Mexico road race. His girlfriend, Liz (Laurie), daughter of the CEO of Fielding Motors, as strong-willed as he is, finally realizes how important his passion for racing is, and fully supports him to win his heart.

A really fun picture, in glorious Technicolor. This film was made by many of the same personnel who worked on THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955), including the producer, and featured some prime examples of a custom-fiberglas bodied sports car made in Lynwood (a suburb of Los Angeles, Calif.) in limited numbers by a small auto-maker company. The car was the Woodill Wildfire, made from 1953 to 1957 in small, hand-crafted numbers by Woody Woodill Motors. Film also features many other rare early-1950s American sports cars, made in small numbers by independent manufacturers. They are rare collectors' cars today. This movie was remade exactly ten years later by Bill Alland and director Jack Arnold as The LIVELY SET (Universal, 1964). Great fun for all. Hey, Universal, why isn't this movie out on video?

I was expecting a gangster film when I sas the title to this film, but was surprised to find out it was a lightweight racing film instead. Tony Curtis is pleasing, as is Piper Laurie (before she became middle-aged), and Don Taylor, who would go on to several gangster heavy roles in the future, was also very good. A fun film.