Flash and the Firecat (1976)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Directors:

Beverly Sebastian
Ferd Sebastian

Writers:

Beverly Sebastian (writer)
Ferd Sebastian (writer)

Release Date:

September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

They're real good at two things ... one is stealing money.

Plot:

Gang of robbers use dune buggies for their big heist. |

Plot Keywords:

Dune Buggy | Robbery | Chase | Beach | Speed

Cast

Tricia Sembera	...	Flash
Roger Davis	...	Firecat
Richard Kiel	...	Investigator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Newell Alexander	...	Clyde
Henry Bauer	...	2nd Football Player
Philip Bruns		(as Philip Burns)
Owen Bush	...	Vernon
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Jed
Brent Holden	...	Rookie Bob
Gerry Lock	...	Ann Harris
Daniel Morrow	...	1st Football Player
Walley Pauley	...	Bank Guard
Ben Sebastian	...	Boy Given Ticket
Tracy Sebastian	...	Tracy Walley
Joan Shawlee	...	Rose
Charles A. Tamburro	...	Helicopter Pilot
Dub Taylor	...	Sheriff
Link Wyler	...	Deputy

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Norway:16 | USA:PG

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the first chase, you can hear the sound of screeching tires on asphalt, even though the chase was on a dirt road.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in On the Air Live with Captain Midnight (1979)

Not a bad Flash-back to the '70s

I found this video used, for $2.00 and it looked so incredibly cheesy, in a way that only a '70s film can be, I figured it'd be worth the money! And I guess it was. Tricia Sembera is pretty hot, in that '70's kinda way, as 'Flash', the blonde bombshell who loves to drive her dunebuggy in the sandy deserts of Southern California (or was it closer to Bakersfield? I can't be sure about that), while Roger Davis plays 'Firecat', her beau and partner in crime. It's his idea for her to pick up the son of a bank manager and ride him around, buy him a soda, etc. so that Firecat can threaten the banker to give him $30,000 in cash for his release. The boy was never kidnapped, but the manager thought that he had been, so all in all, Firecat walks out of the bank with $33 large, without using a gun and the boy tells his father he met a nice lady who showed him her fancy race-buggy and bought him an orange Fanta! ha ha - The sheriff is hilarious the way he cusses and spews invective to his pathetic underlings who can't seem to be able to catch these two dune-buggy bandits! It starts to resemble a California version of the Dukes of Hazzard after awhile! There's some wrecks & chases and then Richard "Jaws" Kiel shows up, 7 feet tall and really wanting to retrieve that $33,000 from those two, with or without the sheriff's help! Then it starts to get okay. Flash & Firecat find their way to a desert brothel, which operates out of a few trailers, and THIS was the best part of the movie, imo. The ladies are pretty, once again, in that '70's kind of way, and they're enthusiastic, unlike the way real prostitutes would be in real life....the Madam allows them to hole up there till morning light, but Richard Kiel shows up and almost pummels ole Firecat into a pulp, until he get's hit in the face with a stick & is knocked out. Anyway, I won't spoil the ending but I thought the brothel part was the best; there's an old coot there who get's rushed out of his trailer before he can go again twice, so he's mad as hell - it's one of the highlights of the movie! All in all, it's low-budget and the director & writing team (husband & wife?) only did a few other flops in their time; it's also sad to see that Tricia Sembera only did one other movie in 1980 and never made it to TV shows like Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Barnaby Jones, etc. just because she was just as attractive as Shelly Hack was, and SHE made it on Charlie's Angels! So, I'll give this one about a 3 1/2 stars. I doubt it will be out on DVD anytime soon, but you never know!

***1/2