The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)

Director:

Jack Cardiff

Writers:

André Pieyre de Mandiargues (novel)
Ronald Duncan (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

June 1968 (France)

Genre:

Romance

Tagline:

The film sensation of the year!

Plot:

A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.

Plot Keywords:

Lover | Psychedelic | Motorcycle | Freedom | Garage

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Daniel
Marianne Faithfull	...	Rebecca
Roger Mutton	...	Raymond
Marius Goring	...	Rebecca's Father
Catherine Jourdan	...	Catherine
Jean Leduc	...	Jean
Jacques Marin	...	Pump Attendant
André Maranne	...	French Superintendent
Bari Jonson	...	French Customs Officer
Arnold Diamond	...	French Customs Officer
John G. Heller	...	German Customs Officer
Marika Rivera	...	German Waitress
Richard Blake	...	1st Student
Chris Williams	...	2nd Student
Colin West	...	3rd Student
Kit Williams	...	4th Student
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephanie Muldenhall	...	Child (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Cardiff

Writing credits
André Pieyre de Mandiargues		(novel "La Motocyclette")
Ronald Duncan		(screenplay)
Jack Cardiff		(adaptation)
Gillian Freeman		thought sequences dialogue

Produced by
Sacha Kamenka	....	associate producer
Ronan O'Rahilly	....	executive producer
William Sassoon	....	producer

Original Music by
Les Reed

Cinematography by
Jack Cardiff		(photographed by)
René Guissart Jr.		(lighting cameraman) (as René Guissasrt)

Film Editing by
Peter Musgrave

Art Direction by
Jean d'Eaubonne		(as Jean D'Eaubonne)
Russell Hagg

Makeup Department
Bill Griffiths	....	hair stylist
Bunty Phillips	....	makeup artist

Production Management
C.R. Foster-Kemp	....	production manager (as Cecil Foster Kemp)
Stuart Freeman	....	production supervisor
Paul Laffargue	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Hodgetts	....	assistant director
Philippe Lefebvre	....	assistant director (as Phillipe Lefebvre)

Sound Department
John Aldred	....	sound recordist
Robert T. MacPhee	....	sound recordist (as Bob McPhee)
Clive Smith	....	sound editor
Mike Tucker	....	boom operator
Tony Dawe	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Stunts
David Watson	....	stunt arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
John Cardiff	....	camera operator
Peter MacDonald	....	camera operator
Ray Meehan	....	gaffer (as Raymond Meehan)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Suzy Berton	....	wardrobe mistress
Masada Wilmot	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
David Watson	....	color consultant

Music Department
Douglas Gamley	....	conductor

Other crew
Laurie Atkin	....	fantasy color consultant
Doreen McCann	....	production secretary
Eve Wilson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Adel Productions (as Ares Productions)
• Mid-Atlantic Film (Holdings)
• Ares Production
• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1968) (UK) (theatrical)
• Claridge Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Castle Pictures (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• Metrodome Distribution (2001) (UK) (VHS)
• Prism Leisure Corporation (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Redemption Films (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Redemption Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Redemption Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (remastered edition)
• Screencraft Video (1986) (Canada) (video)
• Transvídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Other Companies

• Éditions Gallimard  book publisher (as Editions Gallimard)
• Lanvin  costumes: Miss Faithfull (as Lanvin, Paris)
• Panavision UK  filmed in (as Panavision)
• Shepperton Studios  location
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Girl on a Motorcycle" - UK (poster title (DVD title)), USA (alternative spelling)
"Naked Under Leather" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (cut version) (1969) | USA:X (1968) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Strasbourg, France

Company:

Adel Productions

Trivia:

Marianne Faithfull's gift motorcycle is a Harley Davidson Electra Glide; Alain Delon rides a 750cc Norton Atlas.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In close shots Rebecca and her motorbike stay vertical even going around corners, revealing the fact that she was probably on a trailer being towed behind the camera.

Quotes:

Rebecca:Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Harley-Davidson: The American Motorcycle (1993)

The European "Easy Rider"

Imagine Diana Rigg joining "Easy Rider's" Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda for a ride across France and Germany and you will have a pretty good idea what "Girl on a Motorcycle" looks like. Made one year before "Easy Rider"; this is an amazing 1960's road movie that includes hip camera angles, groovy music, a leather suit and a Harley Super Glide.

While low-budget, it is not a thrown together "B" Movie but a thoughtful existential trip inside the mind of a flawed character who happens to be a sexy woman. On close examination, what appears to be yet another fruitless examination of the mysteries of female discontent is really a more expansive study of the human condition. Rebecca, the main character, illustrates life as a process of choosing between comfortable security and the need for freedom and excitement; a daily struggle with guilt and its consequent self-destructiveness, and the seductive lure of risk. Motivations familiar to almost all serious motorcycle riders.

In voice-over, Marianne Faithful gives us Rebecca's story in a series of flashbacks, with minimal scenes of conventional dialogue. Most of these work very well although there is a ski weekend flashback about midway through the film that looks more like a travel advertisement than a movie scene. And while much of Jack Cardiff's film is beautifully shot, the action sequences are somewhat clumsy looking and obviously low budget. And there is excessive reliance on the Elvis movie technique of projecting moving scenery(shot by the second unit) with the star pretending to be cruising along the road while actually stationary in the studio.

Cardiff was very creative with the editing and came up with some great match cuts, typically used to bring Faithful out of her frequent flashbacks/dreams. In one we see her lover slowing pulling open the zipper of her suit, then the film cuts to the tread of an Army tank moving past the place where she has been napping by her motorcycle.

Cardiff's technique was quite revolutionary at the time as his camera has a love affair with the leather suit , the motorcycle, and Faithful's eyes. His extensive use of very tight shots is extremely effective and the most pleasing thing about the film.

The ending is a bit of a puzzle; after the accident they pull up from the scene to a wide aerial shot and you expect the movie to go out on this shot (copied for "Easy Rider's" ending), which would have been very effective. Instead they cut to a travelogue-like scene of a European village and go to credits after about 60 seconds of this stuff. It serves no purpose other than to deflate any lasting impact.

Faithful is on screen in almost all the scenes and gives a surprisingly good performance. Alain Delon as her lover gets a fair amount of screen time (all in flashbacks). I've not been able to take Delon seriously as an actor since his performance as a character named "Baldy" in Dean Martin's "Texas Across the River" in 1966. Plus I get him confused with Jorge Rivero and his almost identical character "Capt. Pierre Cordona aka Frenchy" in "Rio Lobo". Maybe they are the same person and used two names as a tax dodge.

Both the VHS tape and the DVD include a nice stills gallery and a couple trailers.

All in all I recommend this film. It has thoughtful themes and many well-shot scenes. If you like motorcycles, a sexy body in and out of a leather suit, the most beautiful eyes ever, and cute freckles you should view this film.