Chrome and Hot Leather

I appreciate the cheesy and inept exploitation flick as much as the next person--in fact, probably a good bit more--but even by by basement standards, "Chrome and Hot Leather" is a piece of crap. The whole story of Green Berets vs. Bikers is lame and unconvincing on all sides, the bikes are nothing special, nor is the riding done on them. But one thing does set this film apart and that would be the presence of the legendary Marvin Gaye as one of the aforementioned military types. And it makes one a bit sorry that he didn't do more acting (his only other dramatic role seems to have been alongside Lee Majors in a similarly forgettable film): Gaye's on-screen presence is as relaxed and charming as his musical style and he was certainly easy on the eyes. Still, what drove him to make supporting appearances in drive-in fodder escapes me--probably the same thing that drove him to train with the Chicago Bears. But, if it's biker trash you want, I suggest the classic "The Wild Angels" or the magnificently sleazy "She-Devils on Wheels." And, if you want to appreciate Marvin Gaye's talent, you might be better off tracking down one of his "Shindig!" or "T.A.M.I. Show" appearances.

Come on now...a biker flick is supposed to be violent and sleazy. This one is so antiseptic it would have made it by TV censors in the 70's--even if the original American-International ads tried hard to suggest otherwise. It does contain one great line: As the biker gang leader prepares to rough up one of our heroes, he is distracted by a fellow gang member playing a noisy pinball machine, leading to remark, "Gabriel, can't you see that we're menacing someone?" Ludicrous music, seemingly from another film, accompanies one of the climactic fight scenes. Sadly, this film could give the Hell's Angels a good name.

As biker movies go, Chrome And Hot Leather is unusual. Biker films, tended to highlight the wild lifestyle of the outlaw biker culture, as desirable. But this film doesn't glorify bikers. In fact, the military establishment, and their straight-arrow values, are the focus of heroism in this movie.

It's true that by the time this film was made in 1971, outlaw bikers were no longer romanticized like they had been just a few years earlier, by the youth culture. Still, it's hard to believe that during the Vietnam war era, when antiwar sentiments were strong, Hollywood goes and makes a film with the military as the good guys.

The plot centers around a Green Beret Sgt. named Mitch, who is headed home after his tour of duty in 'Nam. He's engaged to be married to a beautiful young woman, and ready to begin a new life as a civilian. Meanwhile, as his fiancé and her friend are out for a drive, they're harassed by a biker gang. This results in an accident, that kills the two women. Mitch, along with a few of his army comrades, are determined to catch the bikers who are responsible for killing his fiancé.

Actor Tony Young infuses the character of Mitch with a steely, square-jawed resolve, to avenge his fiancé's murder. The great R&B singer Marvin Gaye, appears as Mitch's Green Beret buddy. Marvin does an adequate job in his role, but he's a much better singer than actor. William Smith plays the biker gang leader. William has appeared in more biker films over the years, than probably any other actor. With his burly, threatening appearance, Smith seems like he was born to play badass outlaw bikers.

Mitch and his Army pals work together as a cracker-jack military unit, to accomplish their mission of nabbing the biker gang. The way Mitch and company carry out their quest for justice, reminds me of the fictional TV military group, called the A-Team. I wonder if the creators of the A-Team, were inspired by this movie.

Chrome And Hot Leather isn't the best biker film around, but it's different. For fans of biker movies, this one won't validate the bikers as cool. This movie would be most enjoyable for those that admire the military, and how it's members triumph over the bad guys.

Sad but true, this double feature of CHROME AND HOT LEATHER plus GOD FORGIVES, I DON'T was a crowded night of goggle eyed teen adventure (I secretly went without mum and dad knowing) and saw it in 1971 at Sydney's home of the crap double feature The Capitol Theatre. Lots of customers there that Saturday night, plenty of couples (I wonder what the girlfriends thought) and me and my pals scoffing lollies and staring at the screen. One memorable scene in CHROME was a bikie being stopped by a cop on a rural road. The cop comes over and we all expect him to harass the bikie. Instead the cop shows what a nice guy he was by telling the bikie how much he liked his bike, admiring those hot chrome exhaust pipes..... I do not know if a sex scene followed and was edited out, but today that would play like a pick up to raucous laughter. GOD FORGIVES I DON'T was a terrible Italian or Spanish western with Terence Hill. However we all went home satisfied. Cost 70c I remember. The 70s were such fun.

I must say, here was a bikie flick that really disappointed me. It's the most disappointing bikie flick I've seen in my life, when I first saw it at the tender age of fifteen. The title is fantastic and the cover was so appealing, but appearances can be deceiving. How can such a great titled movie represent such a dull film? Just watch Chrome And Hot Leather. Now some people may think I'm quite hard on this. Let me give you the rundown here. It has a good story/revenge premise of an ex green beret and his mob avenging a vicious gang of bikers, who've killed his fiancée. No surprise the lead bikie here is played by William Smith from The Losers, another bikie film, who came close to this on disappointed me, in it's first view, some shades of familiarity between the two as well. The Losers had a couple of men in berets too. Why you may ask this film doesn't work. In the violence and action department, it's remarkably restrained, and there's a lot of nothing happening moments, where the end is really when the movie perks. It's just flat, with nothing happening-ness. If judging the cover too, the movie looked more recent like eighties. We did have that rush of revenge running through our veins to see this beret to kick arse, only there wasn't enough kicking arse. Too much waiting around. We needed many more emotionally charged, and anger driven moments, that required more plot points, or even turning points. Trivia note. The lead beret, and other actor Peter Brown both starred in Rape Squad as very bad guys/rapists. And again, my true thoughts here: someone should rape this movie, before it's hired out again.