Speedway (1968)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writer:

Phillip Shuken (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Musical

Tagline:

Smooth, fast and in high gear!

Plot:

Poor bookkeeping saddles stock car driver Steve Grayson with a huge bill for back taxes which hampers his ability to continue racing competitively.

Plot Keywords:

Tax | Stock Car | Speedway | Tax Return | Bridal Boquet

Cast

Elvis Presley	...	Steve Grayson
Nancy Sinatra	...	Susan Jacks
Bill Bixby	...	Kenny Donford
Gale Gordon	...	R.W. Hepworth
William Schallert	...	Abel Esterlake
Victoria Paige Meyerink	...	Ellie Esterlake (as Victoria Meyerink)
Ross Hagen	...	Paul Dado
Carl Ballantine	...	Birdie Kebner
Poncie Ponce	...	Juan Medala
Harry Hickox	...	The Cook
Christopher West	...	Billie Jo
Beverly Powers	...	Mary Ann (as Miss Beverly Hills)
Richard Petty	...	Himself
Buddy Baker	...	Himself
Cale Yarborough	...	Himself

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Lowe's Motor Speedway - Speedway Parkway, Concord, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Petula Clark was the first choice for the female lead but she turned it down. Annette Funicello was also briefly considered.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In all the scenes at the hangout, there is a band playing, yet none of the times are any of the guitars plugged in.

Quotes:

Steve Grayson: I'd like to break you in half!
Kenny Donford: If you did, you'd have two very short friends.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

Western Union

Cartoony Elvis hi-jinks without any wit or snap...

Dusty, repetitious stock car comedy-musical with Elvis Presley as the driver being hounded by an IRS agent looking for taxable winnings. According to all the Elvis books I've read, "Speedway" opened with the usual Presley fanfare but died out quickly. Why? With sexy white-blonde Nancy Sinatra as the love-interest, ostensibly rousing locales and races, and the usual quota of songs, this should've been another "Viva Las Vegas". Unfortunately, the two stars are a surprisingly icy match, creating no sparks, and Bill Bixby gets stuck with the agonizing part of the proverbial flunky. The stock car sequences are visually dull and, although director Norman Taurog supplies a few funny comic touches, the film has no life, no pep. It is also curiously anachronistic, playing like something coy from 1963, but this was 1968! No wonder Elvis was so unhappy in Hollywood.