Hot Cars

I seem to have a soft spot in my heart or head for B movies of the 30's thru the 50's. I like their fast pacing, attention to the story line, the actors who for the most part are virtually unknown. Hot Cars, if it is known at all today lives on because of the lobby cards featuring the beautiful, and, talented Joi Lansing. This is a really good movie though with great performances by John Bromfield and Joi Lansing. Of course wherever Joi is there is delightful eye candy but make no mistake about it, Joi was a very good actress. This movie gives her a bigger role than just walking across the back drop. It's a real shame she didn't get better roles. John Bromfield is an ideal actor for the role of Nick Dunn who is caught in the middle of the hot car scam. The supporting cast works along with these two stars to form a cohesive ensemble. Something you don't always get in the "Bigger" movies. OK, it's not a lavish movie with a big budget and razzle dazzle special effects. Just a gripping story told in a late film-noirish manner. The actors make you care about what is happening on screen in a most convincing manner. This is a real gem! See it if you can. It needs to be released on DVD.

Fans of fast cars, forgotten noirs, obscure L. A. locations, jowly John Bromfield and the many-splendored joys of buxotic Joi Lansing will have a field day with this no-budget delight. Produced by cheapskate auteurs Howard Koch and Aubrey Schenck, who gave the world CRIME AGAINST JOE, PHAOROH'S CURSE and THE GIRL IN BLACK STOCKINGS, this two-bit jalopy has it all: hot wheels, hot dames, hot spots (including shameless plugs for actual used car lots and beachfront watering holes), and hot action (climaxed by a wild fight to the death on a roller coaster ride).

All in an hour's running time.

Hot damn!

John Bromfield is an honest young man with a pretty wife and a new baby. He's also a used car salesman, who gets fired for not pushing junk to a customer. That customer turns out to be the owner of a chain of used car lots, looking for someone like Bromfield to sell stolen cars.

HOT CARS, like many a Schenck-Koch production in this period, has an interesting story, people who look good on the screen and fine visuals. Not only is it shot in the "Southwest Noir" style, but there's a fine noir ending on a roller coaster. What it lacks is good performances. The line readings all seem a bit droning, like a bad episode of DRAGNET. It even results in calling attention to the actors. Joi Lansing, in particular, seems to hit her mark and pose before reciting her lines.

Still, the careful visuals and bravura ending add to the story to keep things interesting all the way through.

"Nick Dunn" (John Bromfield) is an honest, hard-working man who does his best trying to support his wife, "Jane Dunn" (Carol Shannon) and their extremely ill newborn son. Then one day things take a turn for the worse when he is subsequently fired from his job as a used car salesman after telling a customer by the name of "Karen Winter" (Joi Lansing) the truth about one of the vehicles. Needless to say, this puts him in a bind as the bills are quickly piling up and he has no money left to pay them. Things begin to change, however, when he learns that Karen has recommended him for a job at another used car lot and after talking to the owner "Arthur Markel" (Ralph Clanton) he is not only hired but also discovers that he will now make even more money than before. What he doesn't know, however, is that there is more to this used car lot than he was initially told and in order to sell the cars he will have to put his integrity on the line as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather basic crime drama which suffers from an unremarkable script and a general lack of suspense. Having said that, it wasn't necessarily a bad film by any means and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

From the title and release date I was expecting jalopy races and juvenile delinquents. Instead the brief 60-minutes amounts to a tight little crime thriller. Poor family man Bromfield. He's seduced into a criminal hot car operation because of typical family problems like money and a sick kid. The crooks run a slick network of stolen cars almost like a regular business. With a needy wife and child, Bromfield adjusts his conscience, getting the kind of security his family's has long desired. I like the way his ethics are compromised in realistic fashion that we can well understand and maybe sympathize with.

For a handsome Hollywood hunk, actor Bromfield brings off his difficult role in surprisingly nuanced fashion. Then there's the busty blonde Lansing parading her measurements in good Marilyn Monroe fashion. Note too the not-so subtle innuendo between her and a straying Bromfield that no doubt pushed the bounds of the fading Hollywood Production Code. However, I couldn't figure out her relationship with the gang, whether it's just me or a flaw in the narrative.

The exteriors are all filmed on LA locations, the car lot, the city streets, that lend an air of urban reality. But most of all there's that white-knuckle climax aboard the rollercoaster at Santa Monica pier. It's a real grabber, made more so by what must have been a hand-held camera that puts us right there inside an upsy-downsy car-- thanks guys, my head is still swimming. Credit producer Howard Koch for the general quality of the results. Over a lengthy career he helped guide such classics as The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and The Odd Couple (1968).

Anyway, it's a neatly packaged little crime drama that almost qualifies for what many old movie buffs treasure most -- a sleeper.