User Reviews

Story of a fast getaway car used in simple armed robberies of cafes with sizeable cash on hand for check cashing patrons makes a familiar plot with a hit-and-run fatality. The dragnet of the robbers tightens, after each hold-up, especially after the driver kills a pedestrian, not even slowing down afterward. Dan solicits help from local hot-rod enthusiasts, narrowing it to the perpetrators, who bypass a roadblock to head home for a fatal shootout for the ex-con brother as the race car brother is cuffed and put in the squad. Watchable, well-acted, as Dan, Dorsey, Larrabee all help catch the murderers after chasing about the area, along the officer firing as his roadblock was voided. I do not know where the supercharger ever was on the vehicle used, as I could see an eight cylinder engine, equipped with dual quads clearly visible with twin chrome air filters and near-straight pipes, no charger attached. The important thing is the bad guys were apprehended or shot dead by the HP.

Exciting and fast-paced (even for Highway Patrol) plot has a robber (recently released from prison) and his impressionable auto mechanic brother heisting joints around a certain area where they live. Mechanic Harry (Joel Smith) isn't comfortable much with his long-term con brother, Tommy's (Gordon Lacy) need to rob diners and such for a large sum (at a particular time payroll checks run through these establishments), but there's a vicarious thrill he gets when his motor is so "supercharged" and powerful the black convertible hot rod can outrun the police. When they are responsible for the horrifying hit-and-run of the wife of a couple married for 30 years (the husband was changing a tire and she had no time to get out of the way because the hot rod was speeding at around 100), Chief Dan Matthews (Broderick Crawford) and his California Highway Patrol will work as hard as possible to find and catch them. Vehicular manslaughter eventually leads to a patrolling cop engaging gunfire with Tommy as Harry puts his feet to the pedal while the hot pursuit of the hot rod commences. Those familiar with this show know that a lot of dialogue and plot development (probably an hour's worth) gets squeezed into the running time of thirty minutes, so the cast talks fast and the investigation into the crimes speeds by about as fast as Harry's hot rod. I like the urgency of the plot, though, especially after a woman is run through and killed, to take these guys off the streets before harm can befall others.

**SPOILERS** Yeah, I think it's an Olds engine, too. VERY possibly, a Studebaker, with a caddie intake and dual fours. Nobody worth his salt would ever think it had any supercharger on it. Looks more like two small Carter four barrels. This is still in the days when street rodding was just beginning to get a real market for speed parts. In my town, there were two Rod Clubs, and all any cop would have to do was ask about a car, and any one of the members could probably identify it.

Good sound effects, and a really sweet little Rod. Like a lot of them, once a guy had removed the top, it could be a real bear to get working again. I think this one just had a nice cover made up to cover the area between the seats and the rear deck. It also did not have a stock windshield; no place for a top to be secured, and of course, no side windows; looks good, though. No doubt that a small bucket like that would really move with that much muscle powering it. One thing that was real; the kid driving it would grind a little gear when he shifted. Probably a home made shifter, and shot synchros in the gearbox. Interesting to note that he was missing one hubcap.

I halfway expected the kid and his brother to die in a flaming smashup, but Harry pulled on Dan, blazing guns, and that was that. Good episode, fast moving. The kid's gonna get all the weight for robbery, fleeing to avoid, and Motor Vehicle Homicide. His hot rod days are gonna be long past when he finally gets out of the pen. Tough bein' a creep, ain't it?

Crawford scrambles here.

His feet are nimble.

His ideas are solid.

His hunches are good.

Finally all these things plus a stupid criminal who goes too far manage to get a hot rod overpowered. In this case, the mind is quicker than the speed.

It takes 3 robberies for the famous highway patrol to bring in the culprits. The robbers know where the money is, and they have the speed to pull off the jobs. Trouble is they don't know whose after them.

Solid outing. Great 1950's hot rod and it out runs those big old patrol cars and dusts them. Trouble is the rod can't stop until they get caught.

The episode opens with two young men in a hot rod speeding down a beautiful country road lined with majestic trees. The two are brothers, Harry the ex-con and Tommy an expert auto mechanic. Tommy has super charged the hot rod which can now reach 130 miles an hour. The brothers rob a number of local restaurants where payroll checks are cashed and therefore have a lot of money on hand. With the help of the president of the local hot rod club, Mathews is able to determine who owns the hot rod. The relationship between the brothers is interesting. All Harry wants is ever more money and all Tommy really wants is to drive his hot rod. Tommy wants to quit the robbing but Harry wants to do one last job. Harry gets his wish - the "last job" ends in their getting caught. The photography in this series is often exceptional. There is an absolutely horrific scene where the brothers hit and kill a woman with their speeding hot rod. Harry is annoyed at the "stupid" woman for stepping into their path. Now that's cold.

This episode set a new record for implausible plots with Dan somehow divining exactly the information needed to catch the criminals.

The first time is when an officer says the victim heard a loud hollow roar from the getaway car. The officer barely finishes when Dan blurts out "supercharger!" There is nothing in the exhaust sound that differentiates a supercharged engine from any other souped engine. It is the exhaust system that determines the sound. Beyond that, just hearing someone say the exhaust was loud is not enough information to declare the car is supercharged. By the way, the car was NOT supercharged even though it was claimed to be.

Then he looks at the map and with no information points out the town to which they fled after both robberies, having road blocks set, which surprise, surprise, just happens to be correct.

He must have extrordinary ESP to be able determine all those things. The police work bears no resemblance to anything like real police work. Dan is ridiculously insightful to the point of being right in all his assumptions. If I could rate this atrcity zero stars, I would.