Well Jack Nicholson had nothing on Brando, at least not at this point in his career. In fact, you have to wonder how established actors ever got beyond some of their early roles to make it big considering some of their preliminary efforts in works like this. After this flick most of Nicholson's acting consisted of guesting in a raft of Sixties TV series before breaking out in 1969's "Easy Rider".
This one's sort of a cross between beatnik punk and hot rods from hell. Nicholson's character is gang leader Johnny Varron, and the emphasis is on drinking, speeding, and reckless driving, as Johnny gets all worked up about saving his buddy Dave (Robert Bean) from the clutches of a rather normal teenage girlfriend. Seems that Dave offended the rest of the gang by going chicken instead of ramming head on into a truck going in the opposite direction. Funny, but I sensed a certain wisdom in that course of action.
Of course, Johnny has problems of his own that start coming to a head when the police officer he ran off the road to open the picture dies of his injuries. The circumstances of that accident are recreated once again during an organized race, as Johnny forces another driver off the track with an illegal bump. Most of the rest of the story in between is sort of muddled as Johnny seems to make a half hearted play for Dave's girl (Georgianna Carter) as Dave himself goes missing in action for some reason.
For film fans, there's probably no reason at all to see this except to catch a young Jack Nicholson brooding and playing his top stud role to the hilt. I'd be curious to hear what Nicholson would have to say about his appearance here, certainly thankful I'm sure that for his career, this wouldn't have been as good as it gets.
This one's sort of a cross between beatnik punk and hot rods from hell. Nicholson's character is gang leader Johnny Varron, and the emphasis is on drinking, speeding, and reckless driving, as Johnny gets all worked up about saving his buddy Dave (Robert Bean) from the clutches of a rather normal teenage girlfriend. Seems that Dave offended the rest of the gang by going chicken instead of ramming head on into a truck going in the opposite direction. Funny, but I sensed a certain wisdom in that course of action.
Of course, Johnny has problems of his own that start coming to a head when the police officer he ran off the road to open the picture dies of his injuries. The circumstances of that accident are recreated once again during an organized race, as Johnny forces another driver off the track with an illegal bump. Most of the rest of the story in between is sort of muddled as Johnny seems to make a half hearted play for Dave's girl (Georgianna Carter) as Dave himself goes missing in action for some reason.
For film fans, there's probably no reason at all to see this except to catch a young Jack Nicholson brooding and playing his top stud role to the hilt. I'd be curious to hear what Nicholson would have to say about his appearance here, certainly thankful I'm sure that for his career, this wouldn't have been as good as it gets.