mrb1980 Okay, this movie is titled "Hot Rod Gang" and it was released in 1958, so a person's first instinct is that it's a horrible teen movie with little plot and atrocious acting. In reality, the film is pretty good, with decent music, good acting and some good touches of humor. John Ashley plays John Abernathy III, who will inherit his grandfather's entire estate if he lives a virtuous life and stays out of trouble. Naturally, Abernathy wants to race fast cars, chase girls, sing with his "combo" and fight with his enemies. The film moves quickly to Abernathy's rock stardom, lots of music by Gene Vincent, several fistfights, and a final defeat of the bad guys, who want to ruin Ashley's dreams.Ashley acquits himself well in the lead role, and croons several songs anonymously as "Jackson Dalrymple", who is disguised with a fake beard. He's supported by the wholesome Jody Fair, with comic relief by numerous adult actors, who of course behave like idiots. The movie's a notch above the usual late 1950s teen movies, with good photography, lots of action, the music of Gene Vincent, and some very good work by Ashley. It's not a bad way to spend your evening if you're feeling nostalgic.

morrison-dylan-fan For the final day of the 1958 best movie poll on ICM,I decided to look for one last title to view on YouTube. Looking down the YT page,I found a flick with a short & sweet run time,that led to me starting the hot rod up.The plot:Entering a street race, John Abernathy III runs into a puddle that splashes all over a man. Coming from the upper-class,Abernathy tries to hide as the police treat the puddle as a crime scene. As the police investigate the youth hang outs,Abernathy attempts to keep his driving and Rockabilly-singing identity secret. View on the film:Speeding by at 72 minutes, director Lew Landers & cinematographer Floyd Crosby give the flick an energetic slickness, with regular early Rock numbers being played with "happening" teen parties and limited Hot Rod racing. Kicking off all the trouble by John Abernathy III driving into a puddle (!) the screenplay by Lou Rusoff now has a sweet, sincere 50's innocence, due to the overreaction from the adults on Abernathy and the gang hanging out,now playing with a lightly comedic tone that sets the hot wheels off.

dmraci OK, was this a spoof, documentary, parody, comedy? I don't care, it's like some person 2 generations removed from the era used it for an excuse to write up every cliché for some subculture. It's just too hip, let's rumble, to cool Daddy O, to be cool, the moments of Father Knows Best revelations thrown in and you get vomit in the back of the throat.There is really no character development other then moron, senseless, self absorption. More then likely this what the movie was meant to be, I just don't find in interesting, humorous, nor entertaining, the music isn't that good.If you like the Beach Party movies you will like these series of movies, as for me, I kept watching my watch, wondering the run time.

mcdamsten Lucky enough to catch and record this off of AMC a few years ago. The only thing about this movie that makes me want to view it again is to see what Gene Vincent was like at near the height of his fame. Gene, of course, does 'Be Bop A Lula' in color in 'The Girl Can't Help It' but he has some dialog in this one and does TWO songs with the Blue Caps in this one: 'Dance In The Street' and 'Baby Blue'. You get a good look at Gene's 2nd lead guitarist (after Cliff Gallup); Johnny Meeks and his greasy hair-do and dancer Tommy Facenda doing a frenzied shimmy. Also some Gene stage moves. Apparently his staring up into space and singing was something of a trademark. Anyhow, missing the 50's, this'll have to do for catching Gene. Oh yeah, the rest of the movie. Always nice to see the AIP logo and nice opening credits race scene down some street in the LA are in the 50's. A couple of fights, dances and less hot rod action that I expected. John Ashley apes Elvis the best he can and sings more songs than Gene (boo). ** out of *****. *** if you're a Gene fan.