Hot Rod Gang

John Ashley is wanted by the law for driving recklessly through a puddle (no kidding). He is later framed for stealing hub-caps (no kidding). Incognito, he becomes a rock n' roll star with some help from 50's rockabilly legend Gene Vincent. In between, he meets a hip chick and gets into fistfights with some cool cats. Dig it, Daddy-o.

Lucky enough to catch and record this off of AMC a few years ago. The only thing about this movie that makes me want to view it again is to see what Gene Vincent was like at near the height of his fame. Gene, of course, does 'Be Bop A Lula' in color in 'The Girl Can't Help It' but he has some dialog in this one and does TWO songs with the Blue Caps in this one: 'Dance In The Street' and 'Baby Blue'. You get a good look at Gene's 2nd lead guitarist (after Cliff Gallup); Johnny Meeks and his greasy hair-do and dancer Tommy Facenda doing a frenzied shimmy. Also some Gene stage moves. Apparently his staring up into space and singing was something of a trademark. Anyhow, missing the 50's, this'll have to do for catching Gene. Oh yeah, the rest of the movie. Always nice to see the AIP logo and nice opening credits race scene down some street in the LA are in the 50's. A couple of fights, dances and less hot rod action that I expected. John Ashley apes Elvis the best he can and sings more songs than Gene (boo). ** out of *****. *** if you're a Gene fan.

The main reason I decided to watch this movie was because since I've been recently reviewing movies featuring '50s Rock stars, I had to check this one out after finding out Gene Vincent was in it. Unlike previously in The Girl Can't Help It in which he only sang, here he also has some speaking lines as he's a friend of the leading lady, Jody Fair. John Ashley is the leading man and he sings quite a bit of songs as well. Maureen Arthur is the only other singer here though she only has one number. While there are plenty of hot rod races, there's also an eccentric group of supporting characters related to Ashley's character that provide many laughs. To tell the truth, I couldn't keep up with the plot since so much was going on! Still, I very much liked Hot Rod Gang. P.S. Another reason I decided to watch this was because this was the only other movie in which Kay Wheeler did a dance, her other one was Rock Baby - Rock It.

No, it's no classic, but it has one of the greatest lines ever (heard in narration, it pretty much sums up the film): "This story is true--only the facts have been changed." Honest!

Hard to rate a movie like this. It really belongs with the popular teenage genre of the 1950's. But judged on that restricted basis, it's a goodie-- roaring hotrods, tight sweaters, poodle skirts, and a nice dash of Gene Vincent r&r. Even multi-talented actor Ashley does his own numbers without dubbing. Forget the plot, something about raising rent money for the clubhouse, and John (Ashley) acing out rival Mark (Drexel). Then too catch the many snappy lines from a better than usual script that plays up the laughs. Even the old gals are a hoot, and I still can't believe the elderly maid did her own acrobatic tricks. See what you think. Note too, how many of the street scenes were apparently filmed alongside the slab-like walls of the movie studio. Still, I'm glad there's some cop catch-up for the wild street racing that may be fun but really is dangerous. So how did I miss this little gem back in '58; I'm sure I would remember it if for nothing more than the bullet-busted Marilyn Monroe look-a-like. But I'm glad to have finally caught it thanks to IMDB. Hard to believe the surviving kids from the flick are as old now as we drive-in freaks. But it was fun while it lasted. And it will be for you too if you still like a can of soda pop now and then.