Cool, handsome Johnny—college student and aspiring rock singer—is having a playful drag race with nerdy Dave, an engineer testing out a new hot rod model, but thuggish Mark, a city kid who resents Johnny's college student airs, comes along and challenges Johnny to a real race, during which Johnny almost hits an older man. Johnny makes it back to his gang's hangout, where they dance and drink sodas and work on hot rods, but the police arrive with the old man and his passengers, one of whom is young Lois, new in town. Lois recognizes Johnny but thinking him cute and likeable, doesn't ID him to the cops. We soon discover that Johnny is actually John Abernathy III, heir to a fortune, being held to a strict code of behavior by his lawyer and his two eccentric aunts, Anastasia and Abigail (who switch names every so often to keep folks on their toes). The family doesn't know about Johnny's hot rod, rock & roll life, and that evening, at a staid family gathering, Johnny officially meets Lois; her father is a new employee of the Abernathy family lawyer. She agrees to keep his secret if he'll introduce her to his friends. They sneak out of the house and head for the hangout where Johnny finds out that the landlord of their space is about to foreclose because of taxes. To get a lump sum to pay the taxes, Lois introduces Johnny to rock singer Gene Vincent who agrees to produce a record for him. But because Johnny has to hide his identity, he wears a huge fake beard and calls himself Jackson Dalrymple. His song, "Hit and Run Lover" is a hit, but just when it looks like Johnny's gang will be able to hold on to their hangout, Mark and his buddy, who are responsible for a string of auto part robberies, plant stolen goods in Johnny's car. Will the cops, not to mention Johnny's guardians, foil his plans?
As you may be able to tell from the summary above, there isn't much about hot rods or gangs in this movie, which for me is fine; it works fairly well as a light teen drama. There is a surprising amount of comedy here, so much that it can't really be called comic relief—it's more like the drama works as a "relief" to the humor. In addition to the mild comic antics of the nerd Dave, there’s Johnny's super-square put-on in front of his family, Johnny's bearded alter-ego (his silly beard might be well-regarded by today's hipsters ), Lois's I’m-in-on-the-gag demeanor during the family scenes, the snarky family maid, and of course, the two spinster sisters who actually get involved in the big fisticuffs scene at the end. Though it's not intended to be funny, two performances by Gene Vincent come off as fairly humorous because of his two sidemen; dressed in preppy sweaters and what look like sailor hats, they stand right next to him on stage, clapping and dancing, and only occasionally singing background. (It helped me that one of them could pass for Ryan Reynolds' younger brother--see picture at right.) Among the talent: John Ashley (who actually can sing) as Johnny, Jody Fair as Lois, Dub Taylor (a familiar face in Westerns and 60s & 70s TV shows) as the landlord, Claire Dubray as the wry maid. Of interest to me was the presence of Maureen Arthur (pictured with Ashley at top left) as a buxom blonde hot rod girl—10 years later, she memorably played sex bomb Hedy LaRue in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, one of my favorite movie musicals. Overall a good-natured B-film with no pretensions, though those hoping for lots of hot rod action may be disappointed. [TCM]
Cool, handsome Johnny—college student and aspiring rock singer—is having a playful drag race with nerdy Dave, an engineer testing out a new hot rod model, but thuggish Mark, a city kid who resents Johnny's college student airs, comes along and challenges Johnny to a real race, during which Johnny almost hits an older man. Johnny makes it back to his gang's hangout, where they dance and drink sodas and work on hot rods, but the police arrive with the old man and his passengers, one of whom is young Lois, new in town. Lois recognizes Johnny but thinking him cute and likeable, doesn't ID him to the cops. We soon discover that Johnny is actually John Abernathy III, heir to a fortune, being held to a strict code of behavior by his lawyer and his two eccentric aunts, Anastasia and Abigail (who switch names every so often to keep folks on their toes). The family doesn't know about Johnny's hot rod, rock & roll life, and that evening, at a staid family gathering, Johnny officially meets Lois; her father is a new employee of the Abernathy family lawyer. She agrees to keep his secret if he'll introduce her to his friends. They sneak out of the house and head for the hangout where Johnny finds out that the landlord of their space is about to foreclose because of taxes. To get a lump sum to pay the taxes, Lois introduces Johnny to rock singer Gene Vincent who agrees to produce a record for him. But because Johnny has to hide his identity, he wears a huge fake beard and calls himself Jackson Dalrymple. His song, "Hit and Run Lover" is a hit, but just when it looks like Johnny's gang will be able to hold on to their hangout, Mark and his buddy, who are responsible for a string of auto part robberies, plant stolen goods in Johnny's car. Will the cops, not to mention Johnny's guardians, foil his plans?
As you may be able to tell from the summary above, there isn't much about hot rods or gangs in this movie, which for me is fine; it works fairly well as a light teen drama. There is a surprising amount of comedy here, so much that it can't really be called comic relief—it's more like the drama works as a "relief" to the humor. In addition to the mild comic antics of the nerd Dave, there’s Johnny's super-square put-on in front of his family, Johnny's bearded alter-ego (his silly beard might be well-regarded by today's hipsters ), Lois's I’m-in-on-the-gag demeanor during the family scenes, the snarky family maid, and of course, the two spinster sisters who actually get involved in the big fisticuffs scene at the end. Though it's not intended to be funny, two performances by Gene Vincent come off as fairly humorous because of his two sidemen; dressed in preppy sweaters and what look like sailor hats, they stand right next to him on stage, clapping and dancing, and only occasionally singing background. (It helped me that one of them could pass for Ryan Reynolds' younger brother--see picture at right.) Among the talent: John Ashley (who actually can sing) as Johnny, Jody Fair as Lois, Dub Taylor (a familiar face in Westerns and 60s & 70s TV shows) as the landlord, Claire Dubray as the wry maid. Of interest to me was the presence of Maureen Arthur (pictured with Ashley at top left) as a buxom blonde hot rod girl—10 years later, she memorably played sex bomb Hedy LaRue in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, one of my favorite movie musicals. Overall a good-natured B-film with no pretensions, though those hoping for lots of hot rod action may be disappointed. [TCM]
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