One of the best films i have seen

not horrible nor great

good back-story, and good acting

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A humane cop works at converting troublesome teens from street racing onto supervised dragstrips. But then a new guy, a street outlaw, comes to town and stirs the pot.The movie's title is something of a misnomer. Actually, our hot rod girl operates a clipboard rather than a road racer. But that's okay, since Lori Nelson is—surprise, surprise—very pretty, and even a good actress, to boot. Focus shifts about half-way through from the teens to cop Chuck Connors as he tries to shift street racing to the less dangerous drag strip. At 6'6", he's clearly an imposing presence that commands audience attention. There's also a good look at young Frank Gorshin (Flat-top), who comes through with some badly needed snap. He's also a very distinctive presence and clearly on his way up the show-biz ladder; he even does a couple brief Cagney bits. Too bad he wasn't cast as the outlaw where he could have shown his talents as a sneering villain (e.g. The Riddler).No doubt much of the theme is familiar to teens of the time when a guy's status could depend on how close he was to a fast car, preferably a 'hot rod'. The movie itself is fairly routine, longer than needed, and without much drag strip footage. Overall, the results lack needed drama, as when the two collisions are only implied and not shown. Maybe the staging was just too expensive for a budget outfit like Nacirema. Then too, actor Smith comes off as too bland to inject his nice boy Jeff with much personality. All in all, the movie's a drive-in programmer with a provocative title minus anything more.

Champion drag racer Jeff Northrup (amiable Jeff Smith) quits racing after his younger brother gets killed in a street race. However, Jeff receives pressure to get back into racing by cocky newcomer "Bronc" Talbott (essayed with spot-on arrogant swagger by Mark Andrews), who also makes a play for Jeff's girlfriend Lisa (an appealing portrayal by the fetching Lori Nelson). Director Leslie H. Martinson, working from a compact script by John McGreevey, relates the simple and straightforward story at a snappy pace while offering a nice slice of the 50's era complete with clean cut kids, shoddy obvious back screen projection, an engaging harmless tone, the inevitable chicken race, and a lively climactic brawl between Jeff and Bronc. The sincere acting by the solid cast helps a lot: Chuck Connors as the earnest Detective Ben Merrill, Frank Gorshin as flaky hipster Flat Top, Roxanne Arlen as the sweetly ditsy L.P., and Fred Essler as friendly diner owner Yo-Yo. Sam Leavitt's crisp black and white cinematography makes neat use of fades and dissolves. Alexander Courage's swinging jazzy score hits the groovy spot. A pleasant drive-in diversion.

It's the mid-1950s in the San Fernando Valley and all the kids are into hot rods of one sort or another. It's generally peaceable. The community has built a drag strip where the kids may race in relative safety after their cars have been inspected to make certain there isn't a loose pfoofnik pin somewhere. (You don't really learn anything about hot rods or their engines; you just see them zoom around.) All of this friendly competition takes place under the avuncular guidance of the gentle policeman, Chuck Connors.John Smith, the young auto mechanic, is the titular hero on parole for an accident that wasn't his fault. He's blandly handsome (I guess) and is, overall, a dull goody-goody. His girl friend is cute and innocent Lori Nelson, also dull, but who once had the decency to parade around in her underwear for a few seconds in "Revenge of the Creature," the second Gill Man movie. Frank Gorshin is "Flat Top," who is there mainly to provide laughs, though his wisecracks are no longer funny, if they ever were.The bad guy, Mark Andrews, rolls into town in his modified Olds and exudes contempt for everyone he meets, as a brightly colored tree frog in the Amazon rain forest exudes poison. I suppose he's darkly handsome too, and he has the smoothest line for the girls. "Hey, Baby, you're some high-powered chick. Whaddaya say we step on the gas tonight." I don't think I'll bother with the plot. It's not worth it. A couple of other reviewers seemed to truly enjoy this, which makes me feel more marginalized than Big Top Pee Wee. I thought it was immeasurably bad. It plumbed depths of imagination and skill that I never knew existed. I needed a bathyscaphe while searching for the least evidence of any redeeming quality but the benthic deep was sterile.It's hard to imagine that even someone who grew up in that milieu could enjoy this. However, these days, there is simply no telling.

Now here is a little 1950's JD film that I had a lot of fun watching! Kind of an off the wall affair that sends a mixed message but is certainly a hoot to check out. A young Chuck Connors plays a local cop who is trying to end illegal drag racing by getting the kids to participate in a sort of legalized form of racing at a drag strip he put together and supervises with some of the local youth. Things seem to be working fine, though Connors is constantly getting heat from his Captain who wants hot rodding banned altogether, until the local "hero" Jeff loses his brother in an illegal street race. Jeff goes brooding and decides he wants no part of Connors program anymore just as a typical 1950's hood comes driving into town for the first time trying to shake things up. I found the film to be oddly entertaining but I wasn't sure if the message was that kids shouldn't be drag racing or that it's ok, as long as it's done in a certain place. Anyway, a fun movie featuring pretty good performances by Connors, John Smith and a very young Frank Gorshin as "Flat Top". Also in the cast is the extremely attractive Lori Nelson who has the title role. It seems a little odd that the film carries the title HOT ROD GIRL as Nelson is clearly a supporting player and the only time she "hot rods" is very briefly in the beginning during the opening credits. Still, her 1955 T-Bird is a blast to look at as are some of the other cars featured in the film. Catchy 1950's music score also helps capture a nice feel. If you like these kinds of films, as I do, I think you'll find this one rather enjoyable.