Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Mystery Movies: THE SAVAGE RIDERS (1973) and TORNADO ON WHEELS (?)



THE SAVAGE RIDERS was submitted to the MPAA in 1973 (by Pioneer World Distributors) and received an R rating, but we have nothing for TORNADO ON WHEELS. We're hoping one of these turns out to be the elusive MOTORCYCLE MASSACRE.


6 comments:

lady gugugaagaa said...

Fireball Jungle is dynamite show by the guy who made Shanty Tramp. Someone do a feature on Fireball Jungle!

Screen 13 said...

Here's some good news, and not so good news.

I think I caught the "Tornado." There was a CARA mention of the film on it's website as well as a Boxoffice MPAA rating announcement in it's Oct. 1, 1973 issue (Page 10 in the Boxoffice Vault presentation). The company who brought the film in to be rated was the Dallas Film Exchange.

For the not-so-hot news, it's G.

To close this finding with at least an interesting G-Rated trivia note, Ray Dennis Steckler's Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters was also rated for the same report.

Mike Mac said...

Anyone who wants to solve the mystery of The Savage Riders should be at the excellent Skyline Drive-in, Shelbyville, IN, at around 1:30 in the very early morning on Sunday, August 2.

Why? Well, the Skyline has a weekly event called "Drive-Insanity", which they describe as "an added third feature representing a crazy retro film from the Golden Age of the Drive-in Theater!" A few hours ago, I noticed that this week's Drive-Insanity offering is none other than.... The Savage Riders!

I contacted the Skyline via Facebook, and they responded in fairly short order, confirming that they will be showing a 35mm print. They didn't offer any more clues, but in a way, I'm glad, since I hope to be there myself to unmask the true identity of The Savage Riders as it unfolds on the screen.

I have no idea what this will turn out to be, but I will post another comment as soon as I have any additional info.



http://www.theskylinedrivein.com/

http://www.theskylinedrivein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1A-A-Drive-in-Insanity-movie-adA-FINAL.jpg

Mikey said...

It's a great drive-in Mike Mac. I will be there as well this Sunday morning. Can't wait to finally see this "lost" film.

Mike Mac said...

Movie started at 1:50; North American Pictures presents Savage Riders, starring Robert Harvey, Dennis M. Enright, Chuck Wells, Susan Sanders; Music by Don Preston and Robert Harvey; Produced and Directed by Jack Genero; missed the other names. More to follow....

Mike Mac said...

This most definitely was not Motorcycle Massacre, unfortunately.

The movie stopped from 2:33 or 2:34 until 2:36 for a reel change, and it ended at 3:12-13 (I didn't check my phone for the time until a few minutes after the movie ended), so the running time was plus or minus 80 minutes.

Other cast names from the opening credits I didn't include in the earlier post: Rick Livert, and Carlo Ronzini (not so certain about that one).

A few cast names I caught in the end credits: Jill Leonard, Roger Jordan, Jean Pierre Dorleac, Rick Lutz, James Cowan, and (maybe, not so certain about this one) Vittorio Regino.

The color was pretty much faded, but the print wasn't all that splicey, except for the first few minutes, and one time later on, maybe around a reel change- but even then, it wasn't that bad.

There wasn't a great deal of nudity, but it almost certainly was enough for an R back then. The violence was mostly/entirely at a PG level, and I didn't notice the number of F-bombs, if there were any to begin with. Fairly mild for an R, overall.

The basic plot: A San Francisco biker gang, the Frisco Savages, learn that Hollywood producer Max Green is making a biker movie, "The Bloody Bikers", and they decide that they should be in the movie, since they are the real thing. So they head off to LA, picking up two other people en route. Once in LA, they learn that everything about Hollywood is, like, totally phony, man....

This had a verrrrrrry low- budget look to it. I was not the least bit surprised when I looked up the director on the IMDb and found that most (if not all) of his other movies were XXX.

I'll try to add a more detailed plot summary some time in the next few days, whenever I can; too tired to do so now.