Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

GRAND PRIX is on Turner Movie Classics this afternoon, tonight? direct TV.

If you watch it, look at some of the race courses they used to run at like Spa and Nurburgring. Can you imagine racing at places set up like that today? The only race course from the movie that is recognizable today is Monaco. Then again, when that movie came out there was no roll cage requirement for sprint cars either.

Grand Prix, To Please A Lady, The Green Helmet and one other movie about the 32 Indy 500 are on TCM tonight.

Joe

Just over: The Green Helmet!Guys get to go as fast as they want right through the middle of Italian towns on a weekday, with an occasional pit stop at the local bistro to kill off a bottle of vino (no wonder they slam on the brakes every time they hit an olive oil patch). Guys get tossed out of the car and they just leave 'em there for the pickpockets like real racing men would. Hell man, this is competition! Check out the helmet visors. They look like a couple of Orkin guys coming to smoke the rats out of your house. And the bazooms on the hero's wife. Hubba, hubba! Bet me I'd be at home with her while some other shmuck raced around mountain roads with no guard rails. Give me a Vespa and a set of honkers like that to squeeze and that's it for the old racing career. Besides, who needs organized racing when you can drive anywhere you want, anytime, as fast as you like.

Coming up: To Please a Lady where real men light up their Luckies while power sliding through the turns with one hand on the wheel. Driver's stand in the seats at racing speeds and punch each other out while homely school girls clutch their bossoms and watch with glowing admiration. Everybody dies in grinding car crashes!

Oh, I forgot about Barbara Stanwyck. One look at her and it's no wonder the drivers and crews liked to hang out together and share motel rooms.

I do know a thing or two about being hated by the crowd because of winning more than your share of races. I do think when it came to Mike it was more the white pants they hated. Try wearing a pair of those in the Ventura pits.

Oh boy! 150mph midgets. Jeez, things have sure gone downhill. And their tires lasted a whole season.

Walking the track at midnight is always a good thing. Never know where you'll find a soft spot right where you'll be gunning it through the corner. And the chicks! They come out and hang around on the fences waiting to be squeezed. See the water truck going by? Hell, you'll see Jim Naylor out there sprinkling the track at all hours of the night. Little too much water? Don't worry, the Seniors will wheel pack it to perfection.

And after each and every big race the local reporter and I dine to the sounds of a string ensemble at the local IHOP before retiring to the Lazy 8 Motel for some grab-ass.

That's racing!

If you really want to see some modern crazy racing find a tape of the Isle of Man motorcycles races. Over 200mph on streets narrower then an alley in some places!

Joe

First time that I had seen The Green Helmet. I liked it. It was good to watch To Please A Lady again, it had been awhile. TCM deserves some applause. Didn't care much for the Jimmy Cagney movie that followed though. You have to remember those films were made during different times for a different movie audience.

"To Please A Lady " did you notice the size of his race checks when he was competing! purses havent gone up since 1950! Hu?

How quickly everyone forgets Stroker Ace.

And no one has mentioned "Days Of Thunder". But then we were talking about good racing movies weren't we?

Mike Brown

Not exactly a a racing movie but I know wallscraper and Rob will enjoy this!!..LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q71M88B12WA

Kenny

FYI:

Check out this web site about racing movies.

http://www.library.appstate.edu/stockcar/movies.html

Hey is there a website where you can get reproductions of the great posters?

You are right honorable bigfish! Forgot all about the film. Delaney and Bonnie? Get Netflix on the horn. Since we've wandered off from strictly racing films, here's just my plain old favorite car / cult film. Also my favorite car. Jeff Beck owns the back up sister car. The original is gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKcIGPQST9s

Great movie, mine too! I think Warren Oats was way underrated as a actor and he was perfect in this film. Dennis was OK, but James was like a Zombie. I wanted to buy a tape but they wanted a arm and a leg for it. Jeff Beck!, we were just arguing, well it seems like yesterday. Who's better, Clapton, Page or Beck, not much of a argument now is it?

I assume you mean the Mo-par. Me, I had a 55 Chevy street machine 327..red, with a tow bar in front, street slicks, cutouts, jacked up and heading for the IN&OUT on San Bernardino road for some action. All my gear head friends worked at that IN&OUT.

Lets take a trip down Whitier boulevard

Kenny