Shifting topics a bit. We just picked up a fun movie on video. It's the
1954 film, "The Fast and the Furious".
The heroine, played by Dorthy Malone, is driving her XK120 in a race from
California to Mexico. She crosses paths with an escaped convict played by
John Ireland. He kidnaps her, and commandeers the car, joining the race in
a bid to escape the cops by slipping across the border. Of course, they
fall in love, he's innocent, and they have to prove that to the cops. Ok,
not great theater, although a female race driver was a bit ahead of it's
time. The race scenes are INCREDIBLE. There are XK120's, Jowett Jupiters,
Nash Healeys, MG TC's, Ferraris, a cornucopia of early '50s sportscars. At
one point, they attend a Vintage race...now, vintage racing in 1954 is
something to see.....Mercers, Stutz's, a Stanley Steamer...the race is won
by "Benny's Maxwell"....you'd have to be of an age to understand the joke.
The video is available from TVideo: http://www.tvideo.com/
It's worth the price of admission...
Mike Frank
New York
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