Dragstrip Riot

An almost-endearing product of its time, now notable mainly for the cars, the teen slang, and appearances by veteran Fay Wray and newcomer Connie Stevens (who quickly erased this title from her resume). After a rumble with bikers over at the local malt shop, clean-looking teen Gary Clarke, a sports car enthusiast with bleached blond hair, defies Mom and Gramps by entering a race down at the track. The suburban kids (boys with crew-cuts and tucked-in shirts, girls with ponytails and sweater-and-skirt combos) appear to dig calypso rock, dancing to the jukebox and making out under the stars in their convertibles; the motorcycle gang (unshaven boys with leather jackets and slicked black hair) are eager to spoil the fun. A.I.P. nonsense on a low-budget. It's like a pulp paperback in motion, or a cartoony version of "The Wild One". *1/2 from ****

The teen pictures of the 50s are great fun, as anew genre finds it's way. This one, originally known rather optimistically as "Dragstrip Riot", contains the basic plot conflicts that would later be twisted into "Beach Party". The hero is the alarmingly blond Gary Clarke who hangs out with a cool group of beach kids, sipping sodas and spinning tunes on the jukebox. There turf is invaded by a pack of greasy motorbike riders and their molls, lead by menacing Steve Ihnat. They leads quickly to rumbles and car chases and tragic death, before a showdown on the beach sorts it out. Along the way, the story stops so perky Connie Stevens can do an elaborately choreographed musical number in the diner. It may not be realistic, but it's snappy.

Dragstrip Riot?

What dragstrip? As far as "racing" goes, there _was_ a sports car road race (with a lot of stock footage) and a "chicken race" vs. a train but absolutely nothing that came even close to drag racing.

This was a late '50s movie when rock 'n' roll was just getting started . . . and drive-in movies were still ubiquitous and popular (probably a third feature shown after midnight) . . . and they were probably trying to cash in on restless teenagers . . . but . . . this is junk.

It's not even one of those "so bad it's funny" movies . . . it is just bad. Don't waste your time.

... except by moviegoers demanding their money back. However, if you can stick around for an hour, you will see what is quite possibly the funniest rumble in film history.

Gary Clarke stars as - well, I don't know exactly what he is supposed to be, or do, but at one point he drives a sports car in a race. But I am getting ahead of myself. Clarke's mom (played by Fay Wray - I kid you not) and "Gramps" caution Clarke to stay out of trouble, because of that "incident" in San Francisco. (Gramps is played by Ted Wedderspoon, who had his name legally changed from Ted Bedwedder.) Apparently the audience is supposed to be intrigued by the incident in San Francisco. I wasn't. Clarke heads to the local beach, where a quintet of guys sing some sort of calypso song which made me seasick. This conjured up memories of the classic "Daylight come and me wanna go hurl."

Clarke and his chief rival, played by Bob Turnbull, compete for the attention of pretty blonde Yvonne Lime. Now it's on to the local hangout, where everyone is dancing and having a good time, until a motorcycle gang shows up, led by Gabe DeLutri. These are not exactly household names. A biker chick bumps into Connie Stevens, which prompts this exchange:

Stevens: "Hey, watch it!" Biker chick: "Pull in your bumper, sister!" (Today, this chick would say "back that arse up")

After trading a few slaps, Connie proceeds to knock the crap out of the chick, landing a couple of haymakers to her breadbasket. The punching sound effects must have been done by the same guy who did The Three Stooges shorts. In short order, Clarke is challenged by DeLutri, but decides to walk away, until DeLutri makes a move on Lime. Clarke lays out DeLutri, who promises to get even.

Now Turnbull challenges Clarke to a "train drag." This is either a game of chicken, or they are going to get dressed up in wedding gowns. Turnbull loses, and heads off to DeLutri's hangout, where he joins forces with the dark side. The gang heads out after Clarke, and tries to terrorize him on the road. Oh, this is so scary, I'm sure at least one member of the audience must have soiled his/her pants. DeLutri takes a swing at Clarke with a lug wrench but ends up hitting his own gang member, who goes flying off a cliff.

We now discover that Clarke had a manslaughter rap in San Francisco, and can't get involved in this mess. So he decides to head to Mexico, but turns back when he realizes there are still 22 minutes left in the film. Turnbull finds out that Clarke and Lime are going to meet on the beach, and tips off DeLutri. Clarke is surrounded by about six guys, and a few chicks. DeLutri has a spear gun. He ends up shooting the wrong person. Suddenly, the door to a nearby café swings open and all of Clarke's friends pour onto the beach. This becomes a Pier Six brawl, with guy vs guy, girl vs girl, guy vs girl, and "undetermined" vs "prefers not to answer." Meanwhile, Fay Wray and Gramps are watching all this, with the old geezer yelling "oh" every time Clarke gets knocked down. Obviously, Gramps had to rehearse quite a bit for this part.

Clarke, with bleached hair, looks like an albino version of Anthony Perkins. Still, he manages to rise to a certain level of mediocrity in his role. Lime is cute, and Stevens is plucky as ever. This is the film debut of Steve Ihnat, as a gang member. He growls a lot and tries to look tough. Everyone else just blends into the scenery. Wray should have stayed on top of the Empire State Building.

This is an entertaining snapshot of Americana, in black and white and circa '58. This film supposedly was about "teen culture" in the US, yet within a short few years (and or course, during The Sixties!), things among American youth would look very different than this!

What a cast, with young hottie Connie Stevens at one end of the spectrum, and seasoned King Kong starlet Fay Wray at the other end! And, soon-to-be TV star regular Steve Inhat makes his screen debut here.

I take issue with, and correct, Moonspinner55, who claims Stevens "erased this title from her resume". She is alive and kicking, and lists this film clearly on her webpage:

Finally, I must brag that I know actor Barry Truex, who plays one of the motor bike tough guys here. He and I presently both are US expats residing in the Philippines, and I'm please to see and chat with Barry from time to time.