The Fast and The Furious
directed by John Ireland
written by Jean Howell, Jerome Odlum
based on a story by Roger Corman
starring John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Jean Howell, Marshall Bradford, Larry Thor, Lou Faraday, Bruce Carlisle, Bruno VeSota
A trucker named Frank Webster (Ireland) is charged with running another trucker off the road and killing him. He is sent to prison and manages to break out and finds himself on the run. He reaches a small diner where he is accosted by Bob Nielson, also a truck driver, and manages to knock him out. He grabs Connie Adair and forces himself into her car where he takes off just ahead of a major manhunt in his honor.
The film focuses on the way that Connie turns from professing to loathing Webster to loving him. It’s a predictable plot device and it never quite heats the film up to a considerable degree. It’s obvious they are going to get together and there is no mystery to it. Webster just kisses her early on and that is that. She isn’t even stunned by the kiss and seems to take it as part of her captivity. Of course she warms up to her captor almost immediately so whatever tension might have been brought between them is quickly demolished and it’s to the film’s detriment.
All that happens is that the pair drive to a great street race and Webster drives in it in order to lay low and avoid the police. That’s really it as far as plot. There is no conflicts, no terrors, and nothing particularly pressing throughout the rest of the film. It’s focus is one dimensional and it doesn’t quite manage to keep the attention of the audience altogether. The race isn’t terribly exciting and the relationship is typical so there is nothing to get worked up over.
The real joy in this film is Dorothy Malone. She has a Grace Kelly quality to her and looks quite good all roughed up. Webster has his way with Connie-- shoving her onto the ground, picking her up hard by the arm, and she seems to enjoy this type of treatment. He even ties her hands, completing the slave-master relationship that develops between them. Webster is very hard with Connie and treats her with disdain before forcing himself on her early on in the film. He literally takes her and she’s perfectly willing to give herself up. She’s fairly weak throughout the film and this is made concrete after Webster locks her in a barn. She meekly cries out for help for quite a while before finally hitting on the idea to set the barn on fire in the hopes that someone will see it smoldering and rescue her. She seems to be the type who is always in the need of such rescuing and incapable of doing much her self although it is mentioned that she is something of a race car driver herself. All that is thrown out the window in this film as she appears to be trapped for much of the film.
Yes, the trapped woman totally at the mercy of a seemingly dangerous man who may or may not be a heartless killer is a staple of this genre. They are sweet natured, essentially meek, and unable to force their way out of their dire situation. The only option is to succumb to the man’s gristly charm and further become but another trophy he has accumulated along his particular hard path. He is a ravisher and she knows this. She also knows she shouldn’t give in because by doing so she might be putting herself in acute danger. Still, she is unable to prevent the inevitable from sweeping her away so she does what comes naturally to any woman when put in such a situation. She allows herself to be subdued and captured by a man who is possibly capable of some exceedingly shifty business.
John Ireland plays Webster with a knowingness that informs his character with a sense of purpose. It is always clear that Webster is in control of every situation, especially when it has to do with Connie. Webster is a confident man who is determined to escape the slick hand of justice and it is apparent that he’s willing for much of the film to take Connie down with him as far as he goes. He knows he has her and that she clings to him tenaciously and will not let go. It certainly helps him as he scrambles away from the authorities who seem to have an ubiquitous presence in this film. They appear at every turn and Webster is forced into a position where he must keep his eye firmly on his goal lest he lose his most precious commodity–his freedom.
Overall, this film has a gritty style and possesses a considerable amount of energy throughout. It doesn’t maintain a proper tension between the two leads which manages to grind the film down. There are no mysteries in this film as it drives forth toward only one conclusion that is predictable and possibly necessary for the narrative. Still, the film doesn’t work and the results aren’t vital enough to sustain it’s promise. It’s generic and none-too-stylistic although Dorothy Malone is worth looking at, particularly when she is being roughhoused and reduced to her primal, carnal core. Connie is all flesh and her button-up presentation has a definitive erotic appeal.
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