The Hard Ride (1971)

While in Vietnam, a GI promises his dying buddy that he'll take care of his motorcycle, "Baby", when he gets back home. After his discharge, he meets up with his dead friend's girlfriend, ... See full summary »

Director:

Burt Topper

Writer:

Burt Topper

Stars:

Robert Fuller, Sherry Bain, Tony Russel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Fuller	...	Phil
Sherry Bain	...	Sheryl
Tony Russel	...	Big Red
William Bonner	...	Grady
Marshall Reed	...	Father Tom
Mikel Angel	...	Ralls
Biff Elliot	...	Mike
Albert Cole	...	Mooch (as Al Cole)
Phyllis Selznick	...	Rita
R.L. Armstrong	...	Jason
Robert Swan	...	Ted
Larry Eisley	...	Rice
Frank Charolla	...	Meyers
Herman Rudin	...	Little Horse
Ford Lile	...	Floyd

Storyline

While in Vietnam, a GI promises his dying buddy that he'll take care of his motorcycle, "Baby", when he gets back home. After his discharge, he meets up with his dead friend's girlfriend, gets the bike, and then runs into trouble from some other bikers who don't like the idea of his having the motorcycle or the girl.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam war veteran | bikersploitation | outlaw biker | marijuana | beer | 

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Taglines:

Some machines are too hot for any man to handle.

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fabian makes a cameo appearance as the Police Officer (uncredited) who stops Phil (Robert Fuller) and Sheryl (Sherry Bain) on the chopper so he can check out the custom chopper, aka "Baby" . Fabian was a popular swinging teen idol and hit rock-n-roll singer during the 50's and 60's.

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Connections

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 3 (1996)

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Soundtracks

Let The Music Play
Written by Harley Hatcher
Sung by Harley Hatcher (as Paul Wibier)

User Reviews

Guilty of Excess Taste

One of the few motorcycle themed films that tried for something different than the usual approach, and largely failed because of it. Most of these biker gang films were action films with an occasional dose of romance (or more likely, pure lust), to fill the time between scenes of rumbles or long rides across the California desert. This is really a romantic drama with occasional action scenes to break up the emoting. Clearly, this is the wrong approach to take in a motorcycle film, "Easy Rider" aside.

Robert Fuller (of "Emergency" and many other roles) is a Vietnam vet who returns home. His buddy Lenny has left him his totally tricked out cycle and he is supposed to take charge of it and bring his "friend" Big Red to Lenny's funeral. Fuller hooks up with Lenny's ex-squeeze Cheryl, and goes in search of Big Red. He also runs afoul of a local bike gang and a few pill popping punks in a beat-up hot rod (some kind of super obscure car that I could not recognize...I think it was a foreign number, possibly a Hillman). Plenty of time is spent on long romantic rides and deep philosophical discussions...all to the detriment of the viewer.

If you're making a motorcycle gang film, you've got to let the sleaze come to the fore. Sure, there were some fights, conflicts, tension, and menacing, dirty, unshaven bikers on view here. So I can't rate this film TOO low. But, overall, I'd have to say: guys, nice try, but, it didn't work out how you hoped it would. Some people may like the change of pace here, but for me, I felt somewhat disappointed.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1972 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Bury an Angel

Filming Locations:

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Burwalt Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Movielab)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1