Billy Coy, son of a famous race-car driver, has headed to California hoping to get a job working for his late father's mechanic. He doesn't plan to remain a mechanic though; he wants to be a race car driver and, in his words, he'll driver over anybody to do it. He manages to find a car to drive and is successful but after he is blamed for the death of a fellow driver it looks as though his career might be over. He is determined to race in the Indianapolis 500 so heads back east to enter races there. Away from the racing there is some romance; mostly between Billy's mother and his new employer, who she knew many years before, but also it is clear that tomboy mechanic Lou Riley has feelings for Billy.
While this isn't a classic it still has plenty of exciting moments; the best being during the numerous car racing scenes. Apart from the close-ups of the drivers it is clear that most of the footage was of actual races. The story is decent enough with Mickey Rooney doing a solid job as the arrogant Billy and Mary Hatcher being a lot of fun as Lou... it is refreshing to see a film of this era where the leading lady isn't always glamourous; we only see her in a dress once, the rest of the time she is in mechanics clothes with her hair hidden under a cap. It was also refreshing that the story's main romance was actually between two older characters not the youngsters. It is interesting to see how racing has changed over the last seventy years; here, apart from helmets and goggles the racers look as if they dressed for a relaxing ride in the country not speeding round a racetrack in one of the sport's most famous races! Overall this is a decent film that fans of car racing are likely to enjoy thanks to the numerous exciting racing scenes.
While this isn't a classic it still has plenty of exciting moments; the best being during the numerous car racing scenes. Apart from the close-ups of the drivers it is clear that most of the footage was of actual races. The story is decent enough with Mickey Rooney doing a solid job as the arrogant Billy and Mary Hatcher being a lot of fun as Lou... it is refreshing to see a film of this era where the leading lady isn't always glamourous; we only see her in a dress once, the rest of the time she is in mechanics clothes with her hair hidden under a cap. It was also refreshing that the story's main romance was actually between two older characters not the youngsters. It is interesting to see how racing has changed over the last seventy years; here, apart from helmets and goggles the racers look as if they dressed for a relaxing ride in the country not speeding round a racetrack in one of the sport's most famous races! Overall this is a decent film that fans of car racing are likely to enjoy thanks to the numerous exciting racing scenes.