Motorcycle Gang (1957 film)

Film by Edward L. Cahn

For the 1994 television film, see Motorcycle Gang (1994 film).

Motorcycle Gang

Directed by| Edward L. Cahn
Written by| Lou Rusoff
Produced by| Alex Gordon
Starring| John Ashley
Music by| Albert Glasser

Production
company

Golden State Productions

Distributed by| American International Pictures (US)
Anglo-Amalgamated (UK)

Release date

* October 22, 1957 (1957-10-22)

Running time

| 79 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $100,000[1]

Motorcycle Gang is a 1957 film which is a semi-remake of Dragstrip Girl. It was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Sorority Girl.[2]

## Cast

[edit]

* Anne Neyland as Terry Lindsay
* Steve Terrell as Randy
* John Ashley as Nick Rogers
* Carl Switzer as Speed
* Raymond Hatton as Uncle Ed
* Russ Bender as Lt. Joe Watson
* Jean Moorhead as Marilyn
* Scott Peters as Hank
* Eddie Kafafian as Jack
* Shirley Falls as Darlene
* Aki Aleong as Cyrus Q. Wong
* Wayne Taylor as Phil

## Production

[edit]

The film was announced in March 1957. Lance Fuller was going to star.[3]

Filming was held up when star John Ashley was drafted into the army. It was shot during two weeks when he was on leave after basic training.[4]

The cast also included former Our Gang star Carl Switzer.[5]

## Reception

[edit]

The Los Angeles Times called it "commendably free of unhealthy sensationalism... tells its unpretentious little moral simply enough."[6]

The Monthly Film Bulletin said the film "without being positively vicious... has its fair share of violence and unpleasantness."[7]

Diabolique magazine claimed Ashley gave the best performance.[8]

## Legacy

[edit]

Film director John Carpenter listed the movie as one of his guilty pleasures. "Good guy teen Steve Terrell vs. cool bad guy teen John Ashley on motorcycles. Anne Neyland has some trouble deciding between them. Carl (Alfalfa) Switzer is the comic relief. Russ Bender tries to help testosterone-fueled teens go straight and narrow. Very cool."[9]

## Theme comparison

[edit]

1950s motorcycle gang interest, showing the same influence of female gentleness upon aimless, male youth, may further be studied in The Wild One.

## See also

[edit]

* List of American films of 1957
* Outlaw biker film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lamont, John (1990). "The John Ashley Filmography". Trash Compactor (Volume 2 No. 5 ed.). p. 26.
2. ^ Sanders, Don and Susan (1997). The American Drive-In Movie Theatre. Motorbooks International. p. 121\. ISBN 0-7603-0425-4.
3. ^ "Film Events". Los Angeles Times. Mar 5, 1957. ProQuest 167105474.
4. ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p. 133
5. ^ Schallert, E. (Aug 10, 1957). "'Seven For Sinners' Due to Match Roman, Horton; Elaine Davis Signed". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 167173023.
6. ^ C, S. (Nov 22, 1957). "Romances of cycle hounds told in film". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 167171207.
7. ^ "Motorcycle Gang". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 25\. 1958. p. 36.
8. ^ Vagg, Stephen (December 2019). "A Hell of a Life: The Nine Lives of John Ashley". Diabolique Magazine.[permanent dead link]
9. ^ Carpenter, J. (1996). "John Carpenter's guilty pleasures". Film Comment. Vol. 32, no. 5\. pp. 50–53\. ProQuest 210277066.

## External links

[edit]

* Motorcycle Gang at IMDb
* Motorcycle Gang at the TCM Movie Database
* Review of film at Variety

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Edward L. Cahn

1930s/1940s|

* The Homicide Squad (1931)
* Law and Order (1932)
* Radio Patrol (1932)
* Afraid to Talk (1932)
* Emergency Call (1933)
* Laughter in Hell (1933)
* Death Drives Through (1935)
* Confidential (1935)
* Bad Guy (1937)
* Redhead (1941)
* The Omaha Trail (1942, uncredited)
* Main Street After Dark (1945)
* Dangerous Partners (1945)
* Born to Speed (1947)
* The Gas House Kids "in Hollywood" (1947)
* The Checkered Coat (1948)
* I Cheated the Law (1949)
* Prejudice (1949)

1950s|

* The Great Plane Robbery (1950)
* Destination Murder (1950)
* Experiment Alcatraz (1950)
* Two-Dollar Bettor (1951)
* Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
* Betrayed Women (1955)
* Silent Fear (1956)
* Girls in Prison (1956)
* The She Creature (1956)
* Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)
* Runaway Daughters (1956)
* Flesh and the Spur (1957)
* Voodoo Woman (1957)
* Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)
* Dragstrip Girl (1957)
* Motorcycle Gang (1957)
* Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
* Jet Attack (1958)
* Suicide Battalion (1958)
* Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
* It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
* Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
* The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
* Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
* Inside the Mafia (1959)
* Invisible Invaders (1959)
* Pier 5, Havana (1959)
* Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
* A Dog's Best Friend (1959)

1960s|

* Vice Raid (1960)
* Cage of Evil (1960)
* Gunfighters of Abilene (1960)
* The Music Box Kid (1960)
* Noose for a Gunman (1960)
* Oklahoma Territory (1960)
* Three Came to Kill (1960)
* Twelve Hours to Kill (1960)
* The Walking Target (1960)
* Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
* Frontier Uprising (1961)
* Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
* Police Dog Story (1961)
* Operation Bottleneck (1961)
* Gun Fight (1961)
* The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
* When the Clock Strikes (1961)
* You Have to Run Fast (1961)
* Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
* Gun Street (1962)
* The Clown and the Kid (1962)
* Incident in an Alley (1962)
* Beauty and the Beast (1962)

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