Half Fast

The Fast and the Furious - not the Vin Diesel version, the one from 1955 - was one of Roger Corman's first productions. It is an almost perfect example of his work, except it's missing Beverly Garland.

John Ireland directs and stars as a truck driver accused of murder and on the lam. He carjacks Dorothy Malone and her hot Jag at a So. Cal. mountain hash house. His plan: enter the car in an international roadrace that crosses the border into Mexico, and keep going.

We get a battle of the sexes - rough truck driver/wanted criminal vs. rich girl sports car racer. We get speedy sports cars zooming around California hills. We get footage of an actual race - Pebble Beach, apparently - which saves Corman some money while adding real thrills.

The racing looks fun - the opening credits show cars zooming around the roads above Malibu (I guess), but I couldn't figure out why they kept pulling off the road to stop and get going again. Oh, I get it, they're skidding off the road. That's different.

I'd call it a well-made B-movie with cool cars. I wonder what the remake is like?