The Lively Set

The main reason I love this movie is because it shows off the Chrysler Turbine Car to great effect. The scene where the camera zooms in on the exposed turbine engine during the road race still gives me goosebumps when I see it. Back in the sixties that was like saying, "Here's the Future, folks; get a close-up look at it in action!"

The rest of the movie is admittedly a bit stilted and obvious, but Darren and McClure are earnest and believable, and the race scenes are well staged and filmed. Seeing the actual race drivers in their younger days is kind of fun, too.

I was shocked upon a recent viewing because when I saw this film as a kid I remember believing that the evening desert scenes were actually filmed outdoors! Now the studio lighting and backdrops are painfully obvious to adult eyes.

I always wondered why such a Chrysler-oriented movie would have so many Mercurys hanging around (Pam's convertible Comet, most notably.) Were there some hard feelings between the studio and Chrysler, for some reason, which may have caused the director to populate the sets with competitor's cars? I would much rather have seen Furys and 300 Letter cars in this instance. However, those two great Engel Imperials are worth the price of admission for me.

I just wanted to tell anyone interested in this movie that it's available on DVD from a small specialty supplier of hot rod movies and rock and roll videos, www.thevideobeat.com. The quality is very good (it appears that it was recorded from an AMC broadcast) and is well worth it if you, like me are a fan of the Chrysler Turbine Car program.

As for the movie itself, what can I say that hasn't been said in earlier posts? The most interesting elements for me are any of the scenes where the Turbine Car is featured, the scenes in and around Los Angeles (where you can see how the area has changed in the 40 years since the movie was filmed) and the racing scenes filmed in Death Valley (before it was a National Park) with the cooperation of the Department of the Interior, something that would never happen today.

that was a pretty harsh review. I thought it was light and entertaining and enjoyed the old school racing scenes. This movie is not much different than the Elvis Presley movies of that era ... the acting wont blow you away but it will entertain you, seems like most reviewers agree.

BTW, it was racer Dave MacDonald who did some of the driving scenes for this film, he also appears in a cameo role. He was killed in the 1964 Indy 500 before the movies release date.

Pamela Tiffin is gorgeous so it was a pretty easy movie to watch.

I believe it was Bobby Darin who did the soundtrack

My father stunt drove for James Darren in this movie. He has a lot of Lively Set info & stills at his house, including autographed pictures from James Darren, Doug McClure, Peter Mann, Marilyn Maxwell (Casey's mom), Pamela Tiffen, & Joanie Summers (Chuck's girlfriend). He was selected since he worked on the Turbine car project at Chrysler Corp., was a mechanic, and had some previous racing experience. This movie's race sequence had to be re-done. One of the drivers in the original sequences (Eddie Sachs I believe) was killed at the Indianapolis 500 just prior to the movies original release. Also a car magazine (Car & Driver?) had several years ago listed this movie in its top ten movies for action car scenes. My father probably has that information also. If you are interested in contacting my father for more information, etc. please send me an e-mail, and I will call him and ask.

Greg Morris (later of Mission Impossible fame) was the policeman who gave Casey & Chuck their tickets early in the movie.

Great old movie. Loved it when it came out and still do. Nice hot rods. Although some of the drag racing scenes appear to be 'sped up', the road racing scenes are really nice.