Johnny Hines was dealt with briefly in Walter Kerr's important reference work 'The Silent Clowns'. His inclusion in that book is justified, but a brief mention is all he deserves. Hines was a third-string comedian in the great days of silent comedy. He tended to play brash go-getters in the Harold Lloyd mould ... but Lloyd was distinguished by his hornrimmed eyeglasses, whereas Johnny Hines's only distinguishing trait was a slightly Oriental cast to his facial features. Hines's films were brisk and funny, but he never did anything that wasn't done better by Harold Lloyd, Wallace Reid, Raymond Griffith or several other comedians of this period.
Many of Hines's films were directed by his brother Charles, an untalented hack who would never have become a director if not for the family relationship. Most of their collaborations consisted of arbitrary gag sequences, hung on a thin premise and strung out to feature length. 'The Speed Spook' is slightly better than their typical output ... due to an unusual premise, a plot that was more linear than usual for a Hines film, and some peppy dialogue scripted by veteran title-card writer Ralph Spence.
Johnny plays 'Blue Streak' Billings, an auto racer who breezes through the town of Westwood, where the local sheriff is standing for re-election. His opponent is shifty politician Hiram Smith. Meanwhile, the town seems to be haunted (in Scooby-Doo fashion) by a weird grey car with a white squiggle on its flank. What's so weird about this car? Well, it has no driver. It races through town at unlawful speeds, turns corners sharply, and disappears abruptly in broad daylight. Where does it go? Where does it come from? How does it manoeuvre with no driver? The townspeople are demanding that Sheriff West solve the mystery.
SPOILERS COMING, BUT NOT SPOILING MUCH. Inevitably, Johnny gets involved. Inevitably, the sheriff has a beautiful daughter ... played by bland unattractive oddly-named untalented Faire Binney. Much of this movie is extremely predictable. What keeps us watching is our eagerness to learn how the car (the 'speed spook') is controlled, and who's controlling it, and why. The eventual answers are unconvincing and disappointing. If you've read 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow', you'll watch this movie with a sense of deja vu.
I said that 'The Speed Spook' is one of Johnny Hines's better films, but that's not saying much. I'll rate this forgettable movie 5 out of 10.
Many of Hines's films were directed by his brother Charles, an untalented hack who would never have become a director if not for the family relationship. Most of their collaborations consisted of arbitrary gag sequences, hung on a thin premise and strung out to feature length. 'The Speed Spook' is slightly better than their typical output ... due to an unusual premise, a plot that was more linear than usual for a Hines film, and some peppy dialogue scripted by veteran title-card writer Ralph Spence.
Johnny plays 'Blue Streak' Billings, an auto racer who breezes through the town of Westwood, where the local sheriff is standing for re-election. His opponent is shifty politician Hiram Smith. Meanwhile, the town seems to be haunted (in Scooby-Doo fashion) by a weird grey car with a white squiggle on its flank. What's so weird about this car? Well, it has no driver. It races through town at unlawful speeds, turns corners sharply, and disappears abruptly in broad daylight. Where does it go? Where does it come from? How does it manoeuvre with no driver? The townspeople are demanding that Sheriff West solve the mystery.
SPOILERS COMING, BUT NOT SPOILING MUCH. Inevitably, Johnny gets involved. Inevitably, the sheriff has a beautiful daughter ... played by bland unattractive oddly-named untalented Faire Binney. Much of this movie is extremely predictable. What keeps us watching is our eagerness to learn how the car (the 'speed spook') is controlled, and who's controlling it, and why. The eventual answers are unconvincing and disappointing. If you've read 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow', you'll watch this movie with a sense of deja vu.
I said that 'The Speed Spook' is one of Johnny Hines's better films, but that's not saying much. I'll rate this forgettable movie 5 out of 10.
