Classic Films

[Railbird]

as some of you know we fire up some vintage racefilms every Thursday night through the winter months at the Flag Room in the BrickYard Crossing Inn (the old speedway motel).

Nov. 4 we are going to be showing the Steve McQueen classic "LeMans" unedited with a great tape from one of the early sixties Nassau Speedweeks as a warmup.

6:30p warmup

7:00p feature

[Cam]

I may just be there for that!

[RichK]

Railbird, if this is going on during the holiday season, I'll be there for at least one Thursday.

[RichK]

Any films of board track racing? SPEED showed footage during the Miami CART race, and it was amazing to see how fast those guys were going in the '20s. I didn't know there were many films of that era.

[Railbird]

Something new every week.

Last night saw crowd participation ala "Mystery Science Theater" as we viewed "The Crowd Roars" with Jimmy Cagney as the infamous Joe Greer.

fast woman and dangerous cars, not to mention the pit side flasks.

I may change my handle to "Spud Conners".

This week will have a short subject covering the '65 Nassau Speedweeks followed by arguably the greatest racig flick of all time.

Lemans

"the only way to get a 917 to fit inside your VCR


Katzin uses alternative communication methods such as body language, and long racing sequences, to convey meaning in a manner all too easy to shrug off as lack of dialogue, excusing it as Katzin becoming carried away. no. this movie is about racing, and racing alone. Katzin makes an especially strong push towards bringing to light, if you will, the night and day of a race car driver. that is, off, and on the track. as McQueen said, "everything else is just waiting". the sentiment and drive of that statement is driven home by the entire film.
some people complain about a supposedly shoddy sub-plot attempting to tie the story together, but in fact what happens during the course of the film, as it were, is an emphasis upon how focused a race car driver must be. intrusion, even for a second, can and will result in harrowing shunts, even death. as for the shoddy sub-plot, there is no room in the waiting life of a race car driver for complications or commitments. racing has no equal, and the spartan life of the drivers portrayed indicates the amount that they push their lives away. for some, racing is life. others do not race."

"Le Mans is the perfect movie for race fans


Made in 1971, Le Mans with Steve McQueen still offers the best racing footage captured on film before or since. This is THE movie for racing fans, bar none. The cars, vintage Porsche and Ferrari sports racers, are some of the most beautiful and stylish ever made, and the camera lovingly lingers on all their graceful curves and vicious corners. The racing footage is top notch, with stomach churning speed, and bruising corners rushing at you at all times. This movie really gives the sensation of racing around a twisting circuit to the viewer. The only downside to the average viewer is that the film was obviously made for the race fan at heart, because the story outside of the race drama is relatively thin. But for the racing fan, hey, who cares! This is a movie about THE RACE. The side stories about the drivers outside their cars is even intrusive sometimes, which is a mistake. The narrative should have only been about the hazzards of racing, not the stress of romance! C'mon! Steve McQueen in a Porsche 917! Fun and fast. Nobody has done it better to date, which is too bad. If you love speed, but your only experience with racing movies is 'Days of Thunder', you owe it to yourself to see 'Le Mans'."

"A Never-to-be-duplicated accomplishment!!

Today, a film like Le Mans could probably never be made. It really took the insistent passion of Steve Mcqueen to bring the blunt, terrifying beauty of sports car racing to the screen. Though the movie proved once and for all that mainstream audiences simply have no interest in reality-based racing films, for lovers of the "golden age" of sports car racing, this film is pure treasure. The sights, the sounds (The spine-chilling scream of a Porsche 917 changing gears at 8000 RPM; can you ever get over it once you've heard it?) and the gut emotions that racing cars ilicit are right there to have and hold, as in no other film, ever. It is certain that McQueen the racer made this film for us, the race fans. Though a commercial flop, it may well be his most honest, and personal, film"


108 minutes running time


we'll be heading home by 9p

Stop on by

[Lizzerd]

Sigh... What "Driven" could have been in capable hands. Sigh...

[chop456]

Show "Redline 7000!" starring James Caan and George Takei, and I'm there. :D

[Railbird]

Correction:

The date will be Thursday November 6.


and yes Chop, such "classics" as Redline 7000 are penciled in.

but this week is reserved for one of the greatest.

[JT265]

Wish I could make it 'Bird. Ain't no better than LeMans. :thumbup:

[EDwardo]

Is "Big Wheels" on the list? Mickey Rooney stars.
There is another old racing movie but the name escapes me. I think it had Randolph Scott in it and in the Grand finale he drives the road race blind, being signalled when to turn by his side kicks' whistles. My crap digital cable was showing no info during the time slot so I never caught the name.

Now, neither of these films is what anyone might consider a good movie but I found them entertaining. Sometimes a film is so bad and pathetic it rises (or drops) to the level of camp. I especially got a kick out of both films using s 5 or 6 second clip over and over again.

Anyway, your screening sounds like fun, but I rarely drive more than 5 miles to see a movie and that would leave 600 miles short of yours!

[Railbird]

"The Big Wheel" is definately on the short list, as is "To Please a Lady".

The movie you referred to is titled "Burn 'em up O'Conner" and will get the full "MST" treatment sometime in the next few weeks.

Dennis O'Keefe as Jerry O'Conner

Evil team doctor bent on revenge concocts a way to temporarily blind the drivers. Foiled by tractor driving friends with amazing whistling skills, not to mention an uncanny ability run from turn to turn ahead of his buddy.

It doesn't get a hell of a lot better than that.

[EDwardo]

Originally posted by Railbird
"The Big Wheel" is definately on the short list, as is "To Please a Lady".

The movie you referred to is titled "Burn 'em up O'Conner" and will get the full "MST" treatment sometime in the next few weeks.

Dennis O'Keefe as Jerry O'Conner

Evil team doctor bent on revenge concocts a way to temporarily blind the drivers. Foiled by tractor driving friends with amazing whistling skills, not to mention an uncanny ability run from turn to turn ahead of his buddy.

It doesn't get a hell of a lot better than that.

I have run across Big Wheel several times over the years but I can't believe that it took 50 years for me to experience Burn em up Conner! I think both films would be a candidate for a racing version of Mystery Science fiction theater!

[mapguy]

When is 'Driven' going to be shown?

[Railbird]

When is 'Driven' going to be shown?


well it could be shown at anytime really

but I would just as soon it be held back 30 or 40 years to let age turn the atrocities into humor and me into a cadaver.

[Eagle104]

:laugh:

[mapguy]

I think I should have put a :D at the end of my post.

[Cam]

Fun Night! :)

[Spicoli]

I'd like to join in, but TG's goons are prolly still after me.:saywhat:

[SteveH]

RB, is it possible to post a schedule of films, especially during the upcoming holiday season? I've got some unused vacation and I might just use a few days to watch a race film at the Flag Room. And I've got a copy of Driven on DVD, if you need one. Never been watched!

[Railbird]

is it possible to post a schedule of films,


That's kinda hard to do in any sort of longe range manner Steve.

Often times even the best laid plans get postponed by a late arriving "one off" tape or a "Special" night honoring something like a recent passing or an unexpected visitor.

Right now the sched is pretty fluid with only the PRI weekend crowd sending me email requests for "old Indy stuff" Dec 4th.

The holidays usually bring in big crowds of displaced fans making their annual pilgrimage to the old speedplant, but this year may be a tad different with Christmas falling on Thursday.

Email or pm me with the dates you will be around and the stuff you might like to see and I'll see what we can do or at least tell you what's on the agenda.

"The Race of Two Worlds" is going to be shown sometime in the next few weeks and shouldn't be missed by anyone wanting to see what "the split" was all about circa late fifties.

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/images/indy3.jpg

Stirling Moss in a hotrod Maserati on the Monza banks

But

for this week

Our feature event is:

The Blonde Comet!

Starring:

Virginia Vale and Robert Kent

With

Barney freakin' Oldfield!

[Railbird]

This weeks program will lean toward the fifties/sixties Indy era to entertain our out-of-town PRI visitors.

The library of the Flag Room will bracket the wonderful "On the Pole" documentory about Eddies Sachs' 1960 month of May. This is a TV classic co produced/directed by Robert Drew (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/drewrobert/drewrobert.htm)
and Richard Leacock (http://www.richardleacock.com/) in the "Candid Drama/Cinema Verite" style of hand held camera which was way cool back before MTV made it an annoying effect. This is one of the best racing documentaries you'll ever see.

as always:

Warmups at 6:30

Green Flag at 7:00

[Railbird]

Classic preview of this week's offering by my old buddy, and world class curmugeon, mac miller:



How can we top Barney Oldfield in the "Blonde Comet" or Rory Calhoun & "The Skipper" in "Thunder In Carolina"?????? Well, Stop by Thursday night and find out!........... We're bringing in "The Racers"!! Academy award quality performances by the swashbuckling Kirk Douglas, the debonair Cesar Romero, the very cool Gilbert Roland and the cranky but lovable team manager, Lee J. Cobb........... This week's featured love interest is worth the price of admission (free) all by herself, the beautiful Bella Darvi!!!

See famous actors pretending to be Italians!..... See Italians pretending to be actors!....... See great mid fifties Maserati sports and GP cars pretending to be Boranno sports and GP cars!......... See some of the worst special effects crashes in cinema history and one of the greatest "lines" ever spoken in a racing film (I spit in your crankcase!).............. See animal lover, Kirk Douglas, destroy his very cool HMW sports car at Monaco!........... See them race the Mille Miglia, Monaco and all of the great old GP tracks of the world with no guardrails!...... See the usual greed & ambition, superstitions & cliches', racin', wreckin', and romancin'................ AND SEE IT ALL IN COLOR!!!!!!!

Before there was "Grand Prix", there was "THE RACERS"


MCMLV
Be There or Be Square





http://www.motorsportcollector.com/VIDtheracers.jpeg

[Lizzerd]

Dang it, 'bird. Sometimes I wish that just one of my league bowling nights wasn't on a Thursday. If I can round up a sub, would they kick me out for wearing a Champ Car shirt?

[Railbird]

Well Lizzerd, while we do try to leave the politics at the door during the Thursday Night Film Follies, I'd be a pretty thirsty racefan if Champcar shirts were banned from the Flag Room.

[Racewriter]

Bird, good to meet you, and sorry I didn't get to spend more time with you. Although, the 'other' regulars kept me more than entertained...:D:D:D

Speakin' of politics, I was wearing my BY400 shirt.;)

[Lizzerd]

Originally posted by Railbird
Well Lizzerd, while we do try to leave the politics at the door during the Thursday Night Film Follies, I'd be a pretty thirsty racefan if Champcar shirts were banned from the Flag Room.

Was just kidding really, 'bird. I don't like to stand out in a crowd. I would like to meet some of the people who keep me entertained, though. Keep us posted on the what's showing, and I'll find that sub some night.

[Cam]

Crap! I forgot!! I was at 38th and Meridian at arounf 7:00........ Dammit! :flame:

[Railbird]

Friday night special racefans!

with Christmas falling on Thursday we've decided to move racefilm night to my favorite night of the year.

The day after freakin Christmas!!!

This Friday night we will be featuring "The Race of Two Worlds"


THat's right boys and girls, Monzanapolis.

Will the nancy boys show up?

Will the Novis run?

Will that cigar smokin' always jokin' Jimmy Bryan chase hundred dollar bills?

Will Sterling drive the hot rod Maserati?

Will Fangio hand it over to Foyt?


all these questions, and many more, will be answered over semi cold beer in the shadow of the South East Vista.

Warm ups at 6:30

Green Flag at 7:00

Friday! 12/26/03