Well I've endured a couple beach flicks and a ski party with Frankie and Annette, so why not give a racing picture a try? This was actually quite a more serious picture than something like "Beach Blanket Bingo", and I didn't expect to see Frankie Avalon and Fabian go at it the way they did in their fist fight. I wouldn't go so far as claiming it was better than Clay vs Chuvalo the way one of the 'revenooers' did, but it was certainly well staged. Avalon's tussle with Harvey Lembeck's character Charlie Bigg was even wilder.
That's not to say the eye candy wasn't as prevalent as ever. Fabian's Sonny Leander Fox almost always had an entourage of beauties hanging around. Annette Funicello maintained her usual wholesome appearance as Leander's main squeeze, while Julie Parrish went from bad girl to good over the course of the story while winning over Dave Owens (Avalon). But I have to say, I did the same double take that Frankie Avalon did when he heard Fabian call his gal pals the Eager Beavers.
Contributing to the more serious nature of the story was the whole business of 'going chicken' and watching the moonshine cars flip down the hillside. The racing sequences were pretty well done, with a fairly seamless transition from movie action to stock footage and back. Race and stock car fans looking for a bit of nostalgia would probably have some fun with this flick, especially if you grew up during the era with the principals. Another movie with a somewhat harder edge you could try would be 1958's "Thunder Road", written, produced by and starring Robert Mitchum. It's got it's fair share of moonshine too.
That's not to say the eye candy wasn't as prevalent as ever. Fabian's Sonny Leander Fox almost always had an entourage of beauties hanging around. Annette Funicello maintained her usual wholesome appearance as Leander's main squeeze, while Julie Parrish went from bad girl to good over the course of the story while winning over Dave Owens (Avalon). But I have to say, I did the same double take that Frankie Avalon did when he heard Fabian call his gal pals the Eager Beavers.
Contributing to the more serious nature of the story was the whole business of 'going chicken' and watching the moonshine cars flip down the hillside. The racing sequences were pretty well done, with a fairly seamless transition from movie action to stock footage and back. Race and stock car fans looking for a bit of nostalgia would probably have some fun with this flick, especially if you grew up during the era with the principals. Another movie with a somewhat harder edge you could try would be 1958's "Thunder Road", written, produced by and starring Robert Mitchum. It's got it's fair share of moonshine too.