In my initial kickoff-intro to the Theatre of the Less Obvious posts, I mentioned that while I was focusing on obscure or forgotten car-related movies, there was also going to be some nostalgia mixed in with my choices, and I also mentioned that a few of the films I wanted to profile were not theatrical releases, but rather made-for-TV movies. For our 11th installment, we come to the first of these features that qualify under all those parameters.
Context is important here, in two respects. First: most gearheads are aware that the 1970’s and early 80’s were “the golden age of the car chase!” More movies were made in that era showcasing spectacular stunt driving and wrecks than at any time before or after. Sure, there are great car chases in movies from the 90s and later, but for sheer volume, nothing can match that period between roughly 1970-1985, and this applies to both domestic and foreign films. The theme became so popular that it migrated to television, and Americans of my generation grew up with shows like “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “CHiPs,” which featured car chases, crashes, and stunts in nearly every weekly episode. Second: the same era was also “the golden age of the Made-for-TV movie.” Some excellent films were made for the small screen in the ‘70s, many of which won awards and are still highly regarded today.
Speedtrap is admittedly not one of those films, but while hardly a “great” movie, it is extremely entertaining, and features some awesome stunt driving! One of the things that makes it cool is that the story is a mystery, another genre I’m extremely fond of! A mystery featuring car chases and crashes?! I’m in the front row!
This is where the nostalgia comes in: I distinctly remember watching Speedtrap when it debuted in 1977 when I was a lad of 6. I watched it with my mom and dad in our first house in Temple City, CA, so I first saw it in black and white, since that was all we had for a TV until we got our first big Zenith console color set in 1978. Within the first 5 minutes, 6-year-old me was shocked and horrified at the sight of a gorgeous and rare Jensen Interceptor coupe being savagely destroyed in a police chase, because back in those days you rarely saw such expensive cars wasted in movies with TV budgets! That thrilling chase grabbed my attention and held it through the rest of the movie!
The story is set in Phx AZ, where the movie was actually filmed, and centers on a series of brazen high-end vehicle thefts by a mysterious criminal the press has dubbed “The Roadrunner.” The thief can steal any car at any time no matter how well protected it is, and he leads the police on reckless high-speed chases, often badly damaging the stolen goods in the process, as if he doesn’t care a whit about the condition of the cars he’s stealing. The police rightly feel like they are being toyed with, and that the thefts are about something other than just financial gain; whoever “The Roadrunner” is, he seems more interested in making a statement about what he can get away with than in the monetary reward of the stolen cars. In addition to being a crack driver, The Roadrunner is also equipped with a sophisticated electronic device that can jam the airwaves during pursuit, preventing the cops from being able to communicate on their radios while a chase is in progress, making it impossible for them to coordinate their attempts to stop the thief.
Unsatisfied with the inability of the police to stop the car-nage, insurance companies hire private detective Pete Novick (Joe Don Baker) to augment the cops’ efforts. Novick is your archetypal rebel character of the era: a loose cannon who follows no rules, and butts heads with the police captain from the moment he arrives on the scene. Fortunately, he has an ally in police-babe “Nifty” Nolan (Tyne Daly), and the two team up to solve the crimes. After a long investigation with false leads, psychics, the mafia, and police corruption, Novick and Nolan at last unravel the identity of the thief, and while you may figure it out watching it as an adult today, 6-year-old me was floored when the reveal finally came!
Despite the fun (if very far-fetched) plot, what we’re here for is the car chases, and boy-howdy, does this one ever deliver; some of the stunt driving in this movie is terrific! There was no CG in 1977, and there’s very little “trick photography” here either; those cars are really flying, and there are dozens of impressive multi-car pileups and jumps to rival anything else you’ve seen! The penultimate chase between a C3 Corvette and a Mercedes W111 sedan is a must-see! All this makes the plot, the acting, and even the music just window-dressing: it’s worth watching for the car stunts alone!
That said, the kitsch value here is almost a sensory overload! In every way, Speedtrap is quintessential late 70’s fare: scored with all the groovy wah-wah fuzz you could ask for and punctuated with a soul-disco soundtrack featuring songs by Dianna Marchal (who probably should have been bigger than she was), it has that funky rebellious vibe that was the hallmark of its era; this is the kind of film that you just know Quentin Tarantino watched as a kid just like I did, and no doubt drew inspiration from for films like Death Proof and Jackie Brown. Two of the songs in the movie were actually released as the A/B sides of a 45 RPM single, and that’s a record I’d love to own, but it’s best to hear them in the movie, as they provide the perfect score for the ‘70s car chase experience! You get all the tropes of the era: the rebel tough guys with the “hearts of gold”, the gritty street scenes, the dialog heavy with threats and attitude and finger pointing: all the corn from the shows you loved as a kid is here, and remember: all those car crashes are just fun and games; no one ever actually gets injured in any of those wrecks!
Anyone who is a fan of the original Gone In 60 Seconds is sure to like this one as well. Speedtrap never runs out of gas, keeping the pedal to the metal for the entirety of its vibrantly right-on runtime; its pure 70’s grindhouse fun. It’s no work of art so it’s not too surprising that it’s been forgotten in the passage of time, but for fans of mid-20th century “car-sploitation” culture, it definitely deserves a screening! This “Golden Age of the car chase” was the crucible your humble blogger was raised in! I loved movies like this as a kid (I often watched them with Matchboxes and Hot Wheels in-hand so I could re-enact the stunts with my toys), and even if they seem dated and cheesy by today’s standards, they were a vibrant part of America’s love affair with the car, and I feel privileged to have been there! So fasten that seatbelt and hold onto that grab bar; just like the Roadrunner says in the first line of dialog: “Waaaatch Ouuuuuut!”
SO, Where can you see it?
As of this writing, Speedtrap is readily available to watch for free from several sources. There are currently 2 uploads of it on YouTube: the better quality one is shown in the original English but has Dutch subtitles, but this is easily ignored if you don’t speak Dutch. A slightly rougher VHS rip without the subtitles is from an early American TV rebroadcast from 1979, and this one is especially fun because its complete with period commercials, which I would watch just for that! However, if you don’t want either of those distractions, it is currently available on free streaming service Tubi. This is also a VHS rip, but its uncut and the quality is as decent as it’s ever likely to get: unsurprisingly, this movie hasn’t been “digitally remastered.”
Watch Speedtrap (1977) – Free Movies | Tubi (tubitv.com)
ENJOY, FELLOW GEARHEADS
BONUS MATERIAL! The single A/B sides from the movie:
Another great write up and and I could see you with a side job as a movie critic. The thought you put into these is impressive! This looks like one to add to the list for sure!!!