Movie Info
Movie Name: The Fast and the Furious
Studio: American International Pictures
Genre(s): Action/Adventure/Romance/B-Movie
Release Date(s): February 15, 1955
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
No…We don’t know anything about stolen white Jaguar…
A man named Frank Webster (John Ireland) has escaped from prison and is on the run. Accused of killing a man, Webster kidnaps a female race car driver named Connie Adair (Dorothy Malone) and plots to use her to get across the border to Mexico while pretending to be the driver in a race. Connie starts out as Webster’s hostage but, she finds herself believing his story and trying to get him to turn himself in before it is too late.
Directed by its star John Ireland, The Fast and the Furious was written and produced by famed B-Movie director/producer Roger Corman and the first film of Americna International Pictures. The movie only took less than ten days to film, received poor reviews, but has become a cult classic.
See here! You will help me race!
This B-Movie is playing on the stereotype of “fast cars and fast women”. Despite that being a basis for the film, the 1950’s “hot” romance between Ireland and Malone is very tame and mostly just involves picnicking and being forced to sit close to each other when driving in the great looking Jaguar.
The movie really could have used either more sensuality or more driving. The film used footage of actual races for the few racing scenes and mixed in shots of the actors. The period leading up the races also is a bit slow and despite being only an hour and fifteen minutes, the movie does drag at points. Car buffs might enjoy it as an early race movie and they can check out what are now some vintage cars.
Let’s do this!!!
Despite these criticisms, there is something kind of fun about this film. It is probably its simplicity and throwback nature. The fact that the main characters don’t “get it on” after a few minutes knowing each other is a bit quaint and makes moments where they are close more meaningful.
The Fast and the Furious is just classic ’50s movie fluff. The acting is so-so, the visuals are so-so, and what could be a good concept is underused mostly due to budget. The movie’s story was essentially reused for the Charlie Sheen Kristie Swanson film The Chase in 1994 and the title was purchased for use for the popular 2001 Vin Diesel/Paul Walker film which spawned a series of movies.
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