The Fast and the Furious (1954)

A trucker framed for murder breaks out of jail, takes a young woman hostage, and enters her sports car in cross-border road race hoping to get to Mexico before the police catch him.

Directors:

John Ireland, Edward Sampson (as Edwards Sampson)

Writers:

Jerome Odlum (screenplay), Jean Howell (screenplay)

Stars:

John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruce Carlisle

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Ireland	...	Frank Webster
Dorothy Malone	...	Connie Adair
Bruce Carlisle	...	Faber
Iris Adrian	...	Wilma Belding - Waitress
Marshall Bradford	...	Mr. Hillman - Race Marshal
Bruno VeSota	...	Bob Nielson - Truck Driver (as Bruno Ve Sota)
Byrd Holland	...	Doctor
Larry Thor	...	Detective Sergeant
Henry Rowland	...	Faraday - Motorist in Park
Jean Howell	...	Sally Phillips
Dick Pinner	...	State Trooper (as Richard Pinner)
Robin Morse	...	Gas Station Attendant
Lou Place	...	Det. Faraday
'Snub' Pollard	...	Park Caretaker (as Snub Pollard)

Storyline

A man wrongly imprisoned for murder breaks out of jail. He wants to clear his name, but with the police pursuing him, he's forced to take a beautiful young woman, driving a fast sports car, hostage and slip into a cross-border sports car race to try to make it to Mexico before the police get him.

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Plot Keywords:

teensploitation | psychotronic film | held at gunpoint | hot wiring a car | police detective | 

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Taglines:

High speed Excitement! When a Wanted Man -- Meets a Wanting Woman!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der rasende Teufel

Filming Locations:

Saddle Peak Lodge - 419 Cold Canyon Drive, Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$66,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palo Alto Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Roger Corman doubled as one of the race drivers, and got so caught up in the race that he forgot he wasn't supposed to "win" it; he wound up beating star John Ireland across the finish line, resulting in another take being shot in which Ireland won the race.

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Goofs

In the early part of the race, the announcer in the grandstand gives detailed accounts of the racing action long after the cars would have been out of his view.

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Quotes

Connie Adair: You can't prove your innocent running away.
Frank Webster: I can't prove it dead.

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Connections

Featured in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

User Reviews

Decent, but not what I'd hoped.

John Ireland plays a man who escaped from prison and is trying to make his way to freedom in Mexico. Along the way, he takes a hostage (Dorothy Malone) and steals her car. Most of the movie consists of this journey together to freedom.

When I saw that John Ireland starred in this film, I made extra sure to see it as he's one of my favorite "unknown" actors from Hollywood in the 40s and 50s. I love his films because he was a great Film Noir star--kind of ugly and tough--exactly what you'd expect for the genre where "pretty boys" are unwelcome. However, while this film has a few Film Noir qualities (after all, it's about a man wanted for murder), it really isn't exactly Noir and Ireland's character lacks the delicious evilness that I'd hoped to see. While tough and full of snappy dialog, his character is just too likable and the plot too upbeat to be considered Noir by us purists. In addition, having Malone and Ireland fall in love was just wrong--making no sense and thereby damaged the film's sense of realism--something imperative to have in Noir. Plus, all the grainy stock footage of auto races just seemed cheap and out of place. As a result of all these factors, I was very disappointed and so would be other fans of Noir and it's a low budget time-passer and unfortunately not much else.