Red Hot Tires (1935) User Reviews

Fast

[boblipton · 6/10 · 5 May 2006]

An exciting Warners B programmer features some of the best of Warner's stock company, including Lyle Talbot and Mary Astor in the lead, with the ever-dependable Roscoe Karns, Mary Treen, Frankie Darro and Henry Kolker in support. Although the director, Ross Lederman, does not do anything particularly interesting, he directs the dialogue -- including a lot of lines by Dore Schary, at high speed.

The plot crams an awful lot into the movie, perhaps a little too much, but it is certainly typical of Warners B movies, and the cinematographers choose some interesting camera angles to focus on Mary Astor.... always a pleasure to look at, and always able to communicate an interesting combination of brains and beauty. While this is not a great movie, it certainly is worth your time.

Surprisingly good but goofy programmer

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 31 July 2021]

I wasn't expecting much, honestly. But this little film took some unexpected and also some illogical turns and kept me guessing and wondering. If I could I'd give it a 6.5.

Lyle Talbot plays Wally Storm, a mechanic for the wealthy Sanfords' race car. Apparently the family business is to build and innovate these cars, though no background information is given. The Sanford driver is Robert Griffin (Gavin Gordon). Robert Griffin has romantic aspirations with Patricia Sanford (Mary Astor), but she prefers Wally. Griffin, always a bad sport, gets Wallace fired by lying to Mr. Sanford about him - saying he is a drunk and difficult. So Wally goes and gets a job as a mechanic on another racing team. Meanwhile Griffin and his evil pal, Curley, put a feature on the race car guaranteed to knock other cars out of the race. At the next race, one of the drivers is ill and Wally substitutes and gets to show off his developing racing skills. Complications ensue, but not necessarily the ones you think you see coming from a mile away.

In the end this film involves crime and punishment and a case that could end up before the Supreme Court, cops that don't listen, extradition treaties, sloppy law enforcement and evidence collection, the potential adoption of an adult by two other adults, and an imaginary girlfriend who miraculously materializes out of thin air.

Because of all of the obvious stock footage and back projection going on, the film depends on its fast plot so there is no time for acting or even questions. I'd recommend this as a worthwhile way to spend an hour.

racetracks. courtrooms.

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 2 June 2019]

From First National, which was already Warner Brothers by now.... Lyle Talbot, Gavin Gordon, and Mary Astor were already big hollywood names. Lovers triangle, with the two men fighting over Pat Sanford (Astor). This all takes place around the racetracks, which were apparently filmed at LA Legion and the Indianapolis Speedway. Lots of backdrops and stock footage. It's all pretty clean cut stuff, as the film code was in full force by now. Check out the wikipedia entry for Gavin Gordon -- some fun trivia from his life on there. Anyhow. the guys despise each other, and when shenanigans happen on the racetrack, there's a courtroom trial. will the truth come out? lots of action. its pretty good! Directed by Ross Lederman. never won an oscar, but made some respectable films. as of today, wikipedia thinks he was married to "June", but imdb says it was Doris Warner... odd. ah well.

It's BEN HUR, brought up to date without the religious background.

[fisherforrest · 7/10 · 7 May 2006]

Yep, that's right the correspondences are too many to be accidental. First off, we have two guys who are close associates, but who become enemies. One of the guys is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison. Remember "Ben Hur" was falsely accused of attacking a Roman bigwig and sent off to be a galley slave, largely at the instigation of his former friend. Our racing mechanic escapes and goes to South America, where under another name he becomes a famous racing driver. "Ben Hur", thanks to saving a Roman admiral, becomes a famous chariot racer. Near the end, "Ben Hur" and his former friend race against each other. His opponent attempts to wreck the chariot of "Ben Hur" with "Greek" chariot wheel scythes, which will tear out another chariot's spokes. Our mechanic's enemy tries a similar trick with a spike on the side of his car, intended to puncture his rival's tyres. In both cases, the nefarious plan fails and the unscrupulous racer is killed. No doubt one can find other similarities, but these are enough I think. With a famous name like Dore Schary as one of the screenwriters, it is likely the studio was the guilty party in suppressing the plagiarism. I can just hear Dore Schary saying to his producer: "We really ought to credit General Lew Wallace, since we are adapting his famous novel." And we can hear the producer reply:"Lew Wallace? Never heard of him. Who does he write for? Republic? Fogeddabatit!" The background of the auto racing story uses considerable footage of what may be actual Indianopolis 500 scenes from the late 1920's. There are some really spectacular crashes shown, especially in the final race at fictional "Dayton 500 Speedway". This little B-pic is not bad at all. It gives Mary Astor a very "meaty" role. She is a "licensed mechanician" and helps her father design and build racing cars. In those days, the mechanic often rode with the driver to assist in handling some ancillary controls. And that's what Mary does in the big final race!

An enjoyable B.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 22 May 2019]

"Red Hot Tires" is a B-movie. And, like most Bs, it's fast, economically made and modestly enjoyable provided your expectations are reasonable. However, it was unusual seeing Mary Astor co-starring in this one as she nearly always appeared in A-pictures.

Wally Storm (Lyle Talbot) is a hotshot race car driver. However, in his rise to the top of the circuit he's involved in a wreck which kills another driver...and he's framed for the killing and is sent to prison. How can Wally prove his innocence and become a free man?

Like nearly all Bs, this one is pretty predictable and the production values, though good for a B since it was made by Warner Brothers, are not as high and refined as an A. But it is enjoyable and in spite of the usual dull rear projection, the stars all seem to try hard and the film is worth your time.

Anyway, red hot Mary

[marcslope · 5/10 · 4 April 2014]

Utterly implausible Warners programmer, a little over an hour, but a nice look at Lyle Talbot, always a likable leading man, and Mary Astor, in fetching garage-mechanic drag. Even in an unimportant B like this one, she's fully committed and always entertaining to watch. Good work, too, from that excellent child actor Frankie Darro and the always-despicable Gavin Gordon. The plot takes even wider turns than the race cars, of which there's a lot of footage, and we're supposed to believe that Talbot, having broken out of prison for a crime he didn't commit and fled to South America, would successfully sneak back into the States, fly to Dayton just as a race is starting, take over mid-race from buddy Roscoe Karns, win, and be pardoned because the presiding judge just happens to be in the stands and gets the true story from Astor. It's ridiculous and rushed, but an agreeable time-passer, and Mary's always worth looking at, even in these reduced circumstances.

old car racing

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 July 2021]

Patricia Sanford is scouting a mini-car race for new talents for her father. Bob Griffin is the arrogant top Sanford driver. He has his eyes set on Patricia but she has no interest. Their mechanic Wally Storm brags that he's a better driver and Patricia likes him more. A jealous Bob has him fired. Bob comes up with a dirty dangerous trick. Bob gets killed by his own antics and Wally goes on trial.

I expected a whole movie with Bob and Wally battling on the race tracks. This is not what I expected. It's not better. Chances are it's much worst. First, this must be the easier pardon ever received. The DA almost jumps out of his chair to advocate for it. The escape makes little sense and the rest of the movie suffers for it. I think they had phones back then. It makes even less sense for him to return. Despite the bad plot, it's still fun to see the old cars racing. It's something at least.

This is Astor's place, nobody else's.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 12 May 2020]

While this programmer from Warner Brothers features many of their great character performers, it's Mary Astor who easily walk off with the film because she is simply divine as a racing car technician who is as fiery as the men of the race track are. reply to simple. Her boyfriend, race car driver Lyle Talbot, is framed for murder, and she must find a way to prove his innocence. By some ridiculous plot twist, he is involved in a prison break just as he is about to be pardoned, and he ends up in Brazil, becoming a race car champion there. Astor continues to work to get the charges against him dropped, ultimately pinpointing who the real culprit is, and ending up in a race car herself.

Roscoe Karns is his typical wisecracking feature player, which Frankie darro very good as a young driver and Bradley Page playing his typical crooked secondary character. Mary Treen pops up out of nowhere towards the end submitted love interest for carnes, briefly creating a little bit of humor. The race car sequences themselves are pretty good, but it's clear that some of them or utilize through stock footage although some of the crashes are quite frightening. Like many Warner Brothers programmers, the plot twists are bizarre make little sense, dialogue is crisp and the pacing is quick.