Hells Angels on Wheels (1967)

Director:

Richard Rush

Writer:

R. Wright Campbell (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The shattering true story of the Hells Angels of Northern California

Plot:

At first gas station attendant Poet is happy when the rockers gang "Hell's Angels" finally accepts him...

Plot Keywords:

Gas Station Attendant | Gas Station | Murder | Melodrama | Brawl

Cast

Adam Roarke	...	Buddy
Jack Nicholson	...	Poet
Sabrina Scharf	...	Shill
Jana Taylor	...	Abigale
Richard Anders	...	Bull
John Garwood	...	Jocko
Mireille Machu	...	Pearl (as I.J. Jefferson)
James Oliver	...	Darrell 'Gypsy' Whitman
Jack Starrett	...	Sgt. Bingham
Bruno VeSota	...	Episcopal Priest (as Bruno Vesota)
Bob Kelljan	...	Artist (as Robert Kelljan)
Kathryn Harrow	...	Lori
John 'Bud' Cardos		(as Bud Cardos)
Tex Hall
Gary Littlejohn	...	Moley
The Oakland Hells Angels		(as The Hells Angels of Oakland)
The Hells Angels of San Francisco
The Hells Angels of Daly City
The Hells Angels of Richmond
The Nomads of Sacramento California
Sonny Barger	...	President of the Hells Angels
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Allen	...	Dr. Carstairs
Corri Burt	...	Michelle
Leonard Corman	...	Dr. Kopek
C. Dumas	...	Plainclothes Officer
Mark Elliot	...	Axton
Christine Farish	...	Karen
Robert Fausak	...	Policeman
Virgil Frye	...	Biker
Robert Huber	...	SWAT Officer
Mark Kjelle	...	Plainclothes Officer
Roger E. Lake	...	Biker
Kevin Long	...	SWAT Officer
Barbara Patterson	...	Mrs. Levitt
Nino Rigali	...	Det. Kruger
Bob Sacchetti	...	Man in Black
Tex Tuttle	...	Truck Driver
Dirty Denny	...	Biker (uncredited)
Randee Lynne Jensen	...	Extra (uncredited)
Paul Wilmoth	...	Biker (uncredited)
Rod Wilmoth	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Rush

Writing credits
R. Wright Campbell		(screenplay)

Produced by
Joe Solomon	....	producer

Original Music by
Stu Phillips

Cinematography by
László Kovács		(director of photography) (as Leslie Kovacs)

Film Editing by
William Martin

Art Direction by
Jeremy Kay		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Wally Moon

Makeup Department
Louis Lane	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Igo Kantor	....	post-production supervisor
Paul Lewis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Willard Kirkham	....	first assistant director
Bruce Satterlee	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Sam Kopetzky	....	boom operator
John Post	....	sound effects editor
Le Roy Robbins	....	sound mixer (as Leroy Robbins)
Robert Glenn	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Gary Kent	....	stunt coordinator
Charles Bail	....	stunts (uncredited)
John 'Bud' Cardos	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bobby Clark	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Littlejohn	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hal Needham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Robles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Don L. Carstensen	....	gaffer (as Don Carstensen)
Foster K. Denker	....	grip (as Foster Denker)
James R. Field	....	gaffer (as James Field)
John Oliver	....	grip
Bill Pecchi	....	key grip
Frank Ruttencutter	....	assistant camera
Peter Sorel	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Dirty Denny	....	casting associate (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Roy Vanderleelie	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Stu Phillips	....	conductor

Other crew
Sonny Barger	....	technical advisor
Joyce King	....	script supervisor
Sheila Scott	....	production secretary
Tommy Thomas	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Fanfare Films

Distributors

• U.S. Films (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1968) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (1968) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Best Buy Movie GmbH (BBM) (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (????) (Australia) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• EMS (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Magnetic Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min | Australia:94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | UK:15 (DVD rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:R (1967-1977) | USA:X (re-rating) (1977) | Iceland:16 | USA:Approved | West Germany:18 (nf) | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) (1968) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | Germany:18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Company:

Fanfare Films

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Camera operator shadow visible when Poet tosses a Madcap into the toilet in the girl's bathroom during the bar fight.

Quotes:

Buddy:I tell you what to think and when to think!
Poet:Don't tell me anything man, I'm not a member of your private army.
Buddy:Well then Get out!
Poet:I don't need you, and I don't need your rules or your uniform man.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 42nd Street Forever: Blu-ray Edition (2012) (V)

Soundtrack:

Study in Motion #1

Good for a laugh, but not much more

This one is shelved in the 'cult' section of my favorite independent video rental shop, and for good reason. It's ludicrous!

Jack Nicholson is 'Poet,' a bad-ass gas-station attendant who gets fired after mouthing off at a customer and then rides off with the Hell's Angels, chasing after a piece of the macho life and a shot at making it with Shill (Sabrina Scharf), who rides bitch behind club chapter president Buddy (Adam Roarke), the king bad-ass of them all.

A confessed example of the B-movie 'exploitation' genre, 'Hell's Angels on Wheels' plays on every possible cliché: chair-smashing barroom brawls, bikers harassing carnival-goers and helpless drivers, cops harassing the bikers, heavy drinking and smoking of the evil weed by the violent Angels, etc. It's all too hilarious to be believed. The acting is adequate--Jack is great as Poet, making the most out of the stilted, silly dialogue, and Adam Roarke, a B-movie leading man if there ever was one, seems to be relishing every bit of his character's corny, macho posturing. Sabrina Schraff as Shill is a tough, sexy leading lady, though her hip outfits and perfectly coiffed bouffant don't much fit the look and style of an actual biker chick, even in 1967. As a matter of fact, the whole gang is a little too clean and well-groomed to resemble actual motorcycle outlaws, and the soundtrack consists of some of the most hilariously bad sixties-era 'muzak' you'll ever hear. Real Angels wouldn't be caught dead listening to such crappy pap.

The film is most interesting for its trivia value: Included are brief appearances by a host of actual Hell's Angels led by Sonny Barger, who to this day remains President of the infamous motorcycle gang. Apparently the Angels traded the use of their name and insignia for a cameo and a mention in the credits (though one wonders if they would have agreed to do so had they seen the film's final cut beforehand). Sabrina Schraff, the main love interest, was a former Playboy Bunny and later appeared in 'Easyrider', which, of course, also featured Jack Nicholson in his breakout role. Schraff, interestingly enough, went on to become a California state senator.

This is a silly little time capsule--a nice example of the sixties-era exploitation flick and a reasonable indicator of the widespread paranoia surrounding the motorcycle gang phenomena popularized in the early sixties. The Angels obviously enjoy being romanticized as fun-loving but fierce rebels against mainstream culture in the tradition of the frontier outlaws of the nineteenth century and the gangsters of the roaring twenties, but trust me, this movie is no history lesson.