Rob’s Car Movie Review: Drive Hard, Drive Fast (1970)

Along with bell bottoms, shag carpets, and customized vans, the 1970s may be nostalgically remembered for the plethora of car movies, including 1970’s Drive Hard, Drive Fast, that were released during the decade.

Truth be told, many automotive genre films from that time lacked a cohesive plot, concise dialogue, or any semblance of non-wooden acting.

With very few high-brow exceptions, the aim of most of these movies was simply to provide high-speed automotive action, violent car crashes, and the occasional lascivious moment, all designed to titillate car- and girl-obsessed teenage boys.

So which category does Drive Hard, Drive Fast, a movie I personally had never heard of, let alone seen, fall into: the brainless B-movie, or the surprisingly well-crafted actioner?

Join me for this month’s edition of Rob’s Car Movie Review to find out!

A promotional image for Drive Hard, Drive Fast. (Image courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Before we get into the actual review, a bit of history and background are in order. Drive Hard, Drive Fast was a television movie, produced by Public Art Films in association with Universal Television. Developed and produced in 1969 and early 1970, the film was curiously not aired on television until 1973. Accurate details as to why it was shelved for three years have been seemingly lost to history.

Co-written by highly seasoned television scribes, Douglas Heyes and Roy Huggins, the picture was also directed by Heyes, and starred Brian Kelly of Flipper fame, along with Joan Collins, Henry Silva, Karen Ericson, and Joseph Campanella.

In an opening montage, we are introduced to Mark Driscoll (Brian Kelly) piloting a Formula 1 car in an intense race. (Image courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

The plot centers around Mark Driscoll (Kelly), an American Formula 1 race car driver. After qualifying on pole for a race in Mexico City, Driscoll attends an evening party where he makes the acquaintance of Carole Bradley (Collins), a stunningly beautiful and elegant woman from New Orleans.

By the end of the evening, the two are clearly attracted to one another, in spite of the fact that Carole has a husband, Eric (Campanella), a wealthy international art dealer who is away on business. A platonic, though flirty evening spent together at Carole’s palatial Mexican estate is witnessed by Eric’s private security man and fixer, Deek La Costa (Silva), who assumes he has caught the two in flagrante delicto.

Joan Collins as Driscoll’s love interest, Carole Bradley. (Image courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

The next day, as Carole watches on, Driscoll crashes out of the Grand Prix. Unharmed, he volunteers to drive Carole to the U.S. border, so that she can return to New Orleans as previously planned. Unbeknownst to the couple, they are tailed the entire way by La Costa, who has planted a bug in Carole’s car so he can hear their conversations.

On the first night of their drive, an unknown assailant breaks into Driscoll and Carole’s hotel room, assaults Driscoll, and then flees into the night. Driscoll and Carole are flummoxed as to who broke in and why. Shaken, they agree to make a straight shot to the border at dawn, stopping only for essentials.

Deek La Costa, played by Henry Silva, in hot pursuit. (Image courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

During the course of their drive, Driscoll and Carol become aware of the fact that they are being tailed but are unsure of the identity of their pursuer. A chaotic and extended high-speed chase ensues in which Driscoll manages to evade their unknown pursuer, who is in fact La Costa. The pursuit ends when Driscoll nearly collides with a bus full of people, and La Costa drives away.

The couple continues on, crossing the border into the States and reaching New Orleans by nightfall. Upon reaching the city, Driscoll and Carole go their separate ways.

During the course of their drive, Driscoll and Carol become aware that they are being tailed. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

In short order though, Driscoll returns and voices his suspicions, based on uncovered evidence, that the man chasing them was paid to do so by her husband, with the intent of killing her for some unknown reason. Carole steadfastly refutes that hypothesis, insisting that her husband would never do something like that.

After this confrontation, Carole’s stepdaughter, Ellen (Ericson), informs Driscoll that she believes that he was the target of La Costa’s attack, and that she believes that her father, Eric, Carole’s husband, was murdered a couple of months earlier, possibly at Carole’s hand or at least by a plan she hatched.

Karen Ericson as Ellen Bradley, Carole’s stepdaughter. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Driscoll and Ellen agree to work together to find out what is going on, who the actual target is, and who is behind the plot. To do so, they must travel back to Mexico City, where they believe all the answers lie. What they find will astound them.

So, in regards to my original question: is Drive Hard, Drive Fast a brainless B-movie, or a surprisingly well-crafted actioner? Surprisingly, it is neither. Although containing some action elements, the film is essentially a mystery caper, with some elements of romance injected into it, not unlike another film focusing on a Formula 1 driver, 1977’s Bobby Deerfield, starring Al Pacino.

The film reminded quite a bit of Sydney Pollack’s 1977 film about a Formula 1 driver, Bobby Deerfield, starring Al Pacino. (Photo courtesy of Colombia Pictures.)

The movie can also lay claim to being part art film, as some of the aesthetic and stylistic choices made by the director, Douglas Heyes, lend quite a high-brow feel to parts of the film, albeit ones that run in contrast with some melodramatic dialogue and plot points. It’s for sure an interesting and varied mix of elements that make the picture rather unique, and a bit hard to define.

For example, as mentioned the story begins with a Formula 1 race sequence that involves some fairly advanced cinematographic and editorial techniques for the period. It’s clear that Heyes had viewed the Steve McQueen film, Le Mans, quite a few times when determining how he wanted to approach shooting the scene. It’s very well done, though perhaps not quite as good as the McQueen movie, and aptly conveys the speed and thrills of the sport of racing.

Director Douglas Heyes no doubt watched Steve McQueen’s Le Mans when figuring out how to film the movie’s racing and chase sequences. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

The scene is immediately followed however by a gala party sequence, where Driscoll first makes the acquaintance of Carole. Here the film feels more like a soap opera, with some truly sappy dialogue uttered by the characters in a rather stiff fashion.

Merely a few scenes later, the aforementioned caper element is introduced, as we first meet La Costa and witness his surveillance of Carole and Driscoll, which is seemingly for nefarious ends. The movie continues to switch back and forth between these disparate genres, making the movie difficult to embrace in the first act. Once things get going though, Drive Hard, Drive Fast has quite a few pleasures to offer.

The film’s cinematography incorporates extreme “Dutch” angles, and unusual lens choices, especially during the chase sequences. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

As stated earlier, the film’s cinematography is truly excellent, utilizing unusual lens choices, angles, and camera movements throughout. The editing is technically terrific too, with intentional jump cuts and shot overlaps dotting the racing and car chase sequences. The use of sound in said scenes is also very well done, with live recordings of engine noise replacing the canned sound effects that were usually incorporated into films of the period.

The characters are also unusually well-defined for a movie of this type, although some of their background comes via rather expository dialogue. In particular, we learn about Driscoll’s past as a fighter pilot in Korea and Vietnam through a lengthy conversation with Ellen that feels forced and unnatural.

The characters are unusually well defined for a film of this type, although much of their background comes from expository conversations. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Just about the only technical facet of the picture that falls short is the music, and when I say “falls short,” I mean way short. Long, driving montages that seem to last forever cover  truly dreadful folk music, possibly in an attempt to imitate such instances in Easy Rider, but to a much less effective result. The score is also disappointing, consisting mostly of over-dramatic, horn-laden, elevator music.

Back in the plus column though are the movie’s cars. And an eclectic collection they are.

The opening Formula 1 race sequence features the legendary Ferrari 156 “Sharknose.” (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

In addition to the two dozen or so Formula 1 cars that feature in the film’s opening that include genuine examples of the legendary Ferrari 156 “Sharknose” and a Brabham BT-23, we are treated to a good half-dozen rental cars used throughout the movie by Driscoll.

I’d really like to know who he rents from, as his hires consist of a Torred 1970 Challenger convertible, a Silver Pearl Metallic 1967 Corvette Sting Ray, and a pair of ’69 Mustangs in Wimbledon White and Acapulco Blue, the latter looking especially gorgeous.

Driscoll drives a number of cars in the film including this lovely Acapulco Blue 1969 Mustang. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Two genuine rarities, a Canary Yellow 1963 Apollo 3500 GT and a truly stunning ’67 Bizzarini GT 5300 Strada also join the four-wheeled cast.

The former, driven by La Costa in the movie’s first high-speed chase, was an American take on Italian sports cars of the time that was only produced for three model years (1962 through 1964) by Oakland-based International Motor Cars.

The film’s Apollo was an American attempt at producing an Italian exotic car. Only 88 were made. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Much like the De Tomaso Pantera, it featured bodywork designed and produced by an Italian concern, Intermeccanica, and was motivated by an American powertrain, consisting of either a 215 or 300 cubic-inch Buick motor backed by a four-speed manual tranny.

Although not exactly beautiful, the Apollo was indeed exotic and rare, with only 88 examples in total built. How it came to the attention of the vehicle wrangler or director for inclusion in the film, remains a mystery.

In contrast to the Apollo, the Bizarrini was a genuine Italian supercar, albeit one with an American V8. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

The Bizzarini, on the other hand, wasn’t an interpretation of an Italian exotic, but rather a prime example of a genuine supercar from the land of vino and pasta. Designed by a former Ferrari engineer, the 5300 Strada was first produced in 1964, and sold through 1968.

It featured impossibly low-slung, curvaceous bodywork, and not unlike the Pantera and Apollo, featured an American motor, a 327 cubic-inch Chevy small block, good for 365 horses, mounted in a mid-engined configuration. This mill was able to propel the Strada to a then astonishing 174 mph. Bizzarini production was as laconic as that of Ferrari, with a mere 133 cars leaving the Livorno, Tuscany factory in Italy.

Another angle of the exquisite Bizarrini. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Other cars that feature in the movie include a 1969 Chevy Chevelle, a ’53 Chevy Bel-Air, a ’57 Rambler Super 6 Cross Country, and a lovely ’69 Dodge Charger driven by some bad guys.

Despite combining a diverse collection of film genres, Drive Fast, Drive Hard manages to entertain, and at times even titillate owing to its superb camera work and other artistic choices by the director.

Some bad guys pursue Driscoll and Ellen in a ’69 Charger. (Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Media.)

Though it drags at times, such as in the previously referred to driving montages, the movie is nonetheless a good watch, especially to a film and car obsessed fellow like me who marveled at the cutting edge manner in which the racing and pursuit scenes were handled.

Sadly, the film is rather hard to find and watch, as no high resolution DVD or Blu-Ray treatments exist. For this review, I was damned to view it via a very low-res YouTube posting, which accounts for the less-than-stellar photos that accompany this article.

I nonetheless managed to enjoy the movie, and give it six-and-a-half pistons out of ten.

About the author

Rob Finkelman

Rob combined his two great passions of writing and cars; and began authoring columns for several Formula 1 racing websites and Street Muscle Magazine. He is an avid automotive enthusiast with a burgeoning collection of classic and muscle cars.
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