Howard's End

I hear that little Ron Howard is doing a race car movie, and I'm all behind that. In his honor, we watched Eat My Dust! (1976).

Howard plays a small town rebel, who steals a hot Mustang from a racetrack to impress a spoiled rich girl and takes her joyriding with their pals. His dad, the sheriff, doesn't exactly chase him, just sort of locks up the people who come in to complain.

Not really much of a plot - more of a romp. Just lots of driving fast around back country California with a bunch of teens piled in the back of a stolen car, plus police cars flipping over or crashing through Chinese restaurants. There's an occasional touch of hippy surrealism, like when the chase stops at a railroad crossing to let three longhairs to go by on a handcar. That's just the way it was in 1976.

It seems that Howard made this for Roger Corman in exchange for the the opportunity to direct his own car chase movie, Grand Theft Auto. This one is just as much fun. Written and directed by Charles B. Griffith,  who wrote Little Shop of Horrors, Bucket of Blood, Death Race 2000 and such like for Corman, really seems to know how to write drive-in flicks for teenagers. So does Corman, obviously. Since Howard pretty much is a teenager, this all works out great. I look forward to seeing Rush.