Cool Hot Rod A (1953)

★★★★★ · And cool hot rods they are! · autoguy · 2003-07-04

A very good effort with some excellent street footage. Has the cheesy classic bubbly flute music for the score. Description: "The Cool Hot Rod" Produced in 1952, a Sid Davis Production. made in association with Hot Rod magazine no less! Also involved was Socony-Vacuum (Mobilgas). Filmed in Inglewood, CA, with the help of the local police and two of the car clubs in that area. The post WWII hot rod hobby was becoming a menace on the highways! This film was meant to steer the wayward youths away from terrorizing the public streets and becoming responsible drivers. These confused youths need to…

★★★★★ · Hey, that's my dad! · ppwalshie · 2011-02-15

Bill Bowers was played by my dad, Marvin "Mickey" Riding. He was 18 at the time and this was his first, and only, acting gig. It was a pretty big deal for him to film the movie and and go to Indy, all the way from Inglewood, CA. My mom also appeared in some of the scenes as an extra. This is the only movie I have of him at any age, since we did not own a movie camera, so it is very poignant for me to watch. He passed away in 1999. Thanks to the Archive for preserving it and sharing.

★★★★ · Hot-Rodding for Dummies · Christine Hennig · 2004-08-29

Bill Bowers, a teen would-be hot-rodder, moves with his family to a new town that he thinks is full of squares who drive like old ladies. He is prepared to educate them in the ways of hot-rodding, which to him means driving like a maniac a la Dick York in Last Date, but he is actually the one who gets reeducated. The town has an organized hot-rod club that requires passing a driver education course, the cars passing a rigorous safety inspection, six months of driving without getting a single ticket, and passing a reliability test as just some of its requirements for membership. Then…

★★★★ · Dangerous drivers are saved by Tom Hanks! · Spuzz · 2003-08-06

In this Sid Davis production, a young boy new to the town, is puzled by why the kids don't accept him and his hotrodding ways. When he tries to get all the kids impressed by talking about it, they all turn away in disgust. Rather then parking one night in a abandoned business and listening to Kenny Loggins and dancing in protest, he actually goes to the kids an learns why the kids act in such a square fashion. One of the town kids you see, was killed while trying to beat a train. So Tom Hanks (yes, Tom Hanks, that's the character's name) arranges a hot rod track to be made. All the kids are…