The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us. 

MOTORCYCLE GANG (1957)

Run Time: 1:18:00
Producer: American International Pictures
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Writer: Lou Rusoff
Key Cast: Anne Neyland, Steven Terrell, John Ashley

FILM MAKERS

WILD AND WICKED…living with no tomorrow! 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.

The film was remade as part of the anthology series Rebel Highway. A short-lived revival of American International Pictures created and produced by Lou Arkoff, the son of Samuel Z. Arkoff and Debra Hill for the Showtime channel in 1994. The concept was 10-week series of 1950s “drive-in classic” B-movies remade “with a ’90s edge”. The impetus for the series, according to Arkoff was, “what it would be like if you made Rebel Without a Cause today?”.

SUMMARY

“commendably free of unhealthy sensationalism… tells its unpretentious little moral simply enough.” – The Los Angeles Times, 1957

A troublemaker returns to town only to find his old tearaway pals have joined a supervised motorcycle club. Friction erupts between him and the new leader about this goody-goody setup, and about the charms of gang moll Terry.

One overlooked aspect of this film is that the gang calls no particular attention to the fact that it’s co-ed. It’s often easy to forget that there was a time before the Biker flicks of the 1960’s and this is what it looked like, on screen and off. From the hot rod racing ladies of the juvenile delinquent films created by the American Hot Rod Association as PSAs to get 1950’s kids off the streets and onto the track…to the fully patched female members of the 1% clubs…there’s a whole lot of history waiting to be told.

RELATED MEDIA

Read more at Cine Meccanica

Watch the Full film on Cine Meccanica Youtube channel