I give this one a five out of ten. A) Because it has cool race cars, and B) Jean Wallace while over acting is definitely hot in that white dress. With Edith Head as costume designer, you could expect as much.
Oh, I desperately would love to give this one a glowing review. It took years and years and years to track down a copy to watch.
The fact of the matter is... this is a film for race car fans, and vintage sports car racing fans at this point. With that in mind.... there are a whooping 6 minutes of race action...all at the very end of the movie. Seventy-five minute race movie with 6 minutes of racing.
The race course is vintage grass roots early 50's California sports car racing, complete with checkered flag pylons at the turns. It gets 10 out of ten for that. The speeded up race action is pure vintage Hollywood and expected for the period.
The plot.... is as stereotypical as any race film possibly could be. Gruff racer guy, pleading girl friend tries to get him to quit.. or in this case stay retired (about the only real plot twist from the usual race movie scenario).
The preamble of this guy getting back behind the wheel goes on and on and on and on.... If you came for the race action you'll be going back for a second box of pop corn here. Jean Wallace is about the only thing keeping you from staying at the concession stand until it's mercifully over.
Of this vintage... Green Helmet probably remains the best of what I've been able to see so far. Some of these old B-movie race movies are all but extinct at this point. Some are terribly difficult to get a look at in any format, anywhere. There are a few left I've yet to see, but they're all in that rare air category.
Devil's Hairpin at this point is for the vintage race fan who has to see everything ever made no matter how bad it is. For those of us in that category... it could be worse, but it also could be a whole lot better.
"Johnny Dark" is like "Gone with the Wind" compared to "the Devil's Hairpin". "On the Beach" has about as much race action... set inside a real movie.
Oh, I desperately would love to give this one a glowing review. It took years and years and years to track down a copy to watch.
The fact of the matter is... this is a film for race car fans, and vintage sports car racing fans at this point. With that in mind.... there are a whooping 6 minutes of race action...all at the very end of the movie. Seventy-five minute race movie with 6 minutes of racing.
The race course is vintage grass roots early 50's California sports car racing, complete with checkered flag pylons at the turns. It gets 10 out of ten for that. The speeded up race action is pure vintage Hollywood and expected for the period.
The plot.... is as stereotypical as any race film possibly could be. Gruff racer guy, pleading girl friend tries to get him to quit.. or in this case stay retired (about the only real plot twist from the usual race movie scenario).
The preamble of this guy getting back behind the wheel goes on and on and on and on.... If you came for the race action you'll be going back for a second box of pop corn here. Jean Wallace is about the only thing keeping you from staying at the concession stand until it's mercifully over.
Of this vintage... Green Helmet probably remains the best of what I've been able to see so far. Some of these old B-movie race movies are all but extinct at this point. Some are terribly difficult to get a look at in any format, anywhere. There are a few left I've yet to see, but they're all in that rare air category.
Devil's Hairpin at this point is for the vintage race fan who has to see everything ever made no matter how bad it is. For those of us in that category... it could be worse, but it also could be a whole lot better.
"Johnny Dark" is like "Gone with the Wind" compared to "the Devil's Hairpin". "On the Beach" has about as much race action... set inside a real movie.