There's Always A Motorcycle: Harold and Maude
https://youtu.be/tdU5wUS1G-o
Not all films are Biker Flicks… But a hell of a lot have motorcycles in them!
There’s Always A Motorcycle is a new Vintagent series of compiled clips from moto centric cinema.
HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971)
Run Time: 1:31:00
Producer: Paramount Pictures
Director: Hal Ashby
Writer: Colin Higgins
Key Cast: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles
FILM MAKERS
"I was born in Ogden, Utah, the last of four children. Mom and Dad divorced when I was five or six. Dad killed himself when I was 12. I struggled toward growing up, like others, totally confused. Married and divorced twice before I made it to 21. Hitchhiked to Los Angeles when I was 17. Had about 50 or 60 jobs up to the time I was working as a Multilith operator at good old Republic Studios." - Hal Ashby
Ashby was always a maverick and a contrary person and success proved difficult for Ashby to handle. He became unreliable due to his dependence on drugs and a reclusive lifestyle. He began taking too much time in post production on his films and had a couple of his later projects taken away from him to be edited by others. He tried to straighten himself out, but in the 1980s, he was considered by many to be unemployable. Just when he felt he was turning a corner in his life, he developed cancer that spread to his liver and colon. He died on December 27, 1988. Because he did not have a set visual style, many mistake this for no style at all. His career is not discussed as often as the careers of some of his contemporaries. - Read more at IMDB
"The film will tell you what to do."
UCLA film school student Colin Higgins wrote Harold and Maude as his master's thesis. While working as producer Edward Lewis's pool boy, Higgins showed the script to Lewis's wife, Mildred. Mildred was so impressed that she got Edward to give it to Stanley Jaffe at Paramount. Higgins sold the script with the understanding that he would direct the film, but he was told he was not ready after tests he shot proved unsatisfactory to the studio heads. Ashby said that he would only commit to directing the film after getting Higgins' blessing, and took Higgins on as a co-producer so he could watch and learn from him on the set. Higgins went on to direct several hits including '9 to 5' and 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'.
Watch: Hal (2018) - Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s, but is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott’s exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight. Watch the Trailer. Rent the full film on Apple TV or Youtube.
Read: Being Hal Ashby: Life of A Hollywood Rebel, by Nick Dawson (2009)
SUMMARY
"They were meant to be. But exactly what they were meant to be is not quite clear."
With the idiosyncratic American fable Harold and Maude, countercultural director Hal Ashby fashioned what would become the cult classic of its era. Working from a script by Colin Higgins, Ashby tells the story of the emotional and romantic bond between a death-obsessed young man (Bud Cort) from a wealthy family and a devil-may-care, bohemian octogenarian (Ruth Gordon). Equal parts gallows humor and romantic innocence, Harold and Maude dissolves the line between darkness and light along with the ones that separate people by class, gender, and age, and it features indelible performances and a remarkable soundtrack by Cat Stevens. Watch Harold and Maude (1971) on Pluto for Free!
“It’s as funny as a burning orphanage.” - Variety review, 1971
The motorcycle in the film is a 1969 Moto Guzzi V7 Police Special. In a 50th anniversary article about the film in Variety, Producer Charles Mulvehill recounts a fateful day on set. "Truthfully, the movie was challenging to pull off. We have the scene with the motorcycle cop where they’re replanting a tree. They’re pulled over by a motorcycle cop who at the end of the scene gets back on his bike and heads off down the road. And he had forgotten to put his kickstand up on the bike, he went flying off. Luckily he wasn’t seriously hurt, but it was bad enough that he couldn’t do the role. So that that’s when I asked Tom Skerritt, a friend of ours, if he’d do it as a cameo. And he played the motorcycle cop and he did a terrific job."
RELATED MEDIA
Bud Cort, Who Starred in 1971’s ‘Harold and Maude,’ Dies at 77 - NY Times, 2/11/26
YOUR hearse? YEARSE! - my love letter to Harold and Maude (2011) at Cine Meccanica
The Vintagent Selects: Joey Dunlop Special
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GgC3T6b5XY
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
BETWEEN THE HEDGES: JOEY DUNLOP SPECIAL - ISLE OF MAN TT RACES (2025)
Run Time: 25:00
A Film By: TT+
Narrator: John Hogan
Key Cast: Joey Dunlop, John McGuinness, James Whitman
FILM MAKERS
The ultimate test of man and machine… The hardest race on the planet… The greatest motor-sporting event in the world. For as long as men and women have been competing at the Isle of Man TT Races, people have been trying to explain just how special it truly is. Between The Hedges takes us into the fascinating world of the TT Races, with some of the greatest road racers of all-time talking through this truly unique event.
Watch all four seasons of Between The Hedges HERE.
SUMMARY
The award-winning Between the Hedges returns with a powerful special episode dedicated to ‘Yer Maun’ Joey Dunlop OBE. Featuring special guests and exclusive insights, the episode reflects on his remarkable legacy and takes a deep dive into his final TT appearance in 2000, 25 years on.
RELATED MEDIA
TT Rewind: 30 Year Race Archive - Watch Free!
The Vintagent Selects: Southbound Episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxomHtQm2sc
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
SOUTHBOUND EPISODE 2 (2025)
Run Time: 1:27:58
A Film By: Danny McGee, Jonah Levine
Key Cast: Danny McGee, Jonah Levine, Jesse Evers
FILM MAKERS
In February of 2023 two friends and I set out on the biggest adventure of our lives - riding off road motorcycles from LA to the southern tip of South America, riding one month per year until we get there. In episode 1 we rode from Los Angeles to the border of Guatemala. This year we're picking back up where we left off riding through the entirety of Central America including Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Danny Mcgee
SUMMARY
Southbound is our story of riding motorcycles from the US to the southern tip of South America. In episode 1 we rode over 4000 miles from LA to the border of Guatemala in southern Mexico. This year we're pushing further south through Central America to Panama City. Southbound Episode 2 screened at the 2026 PDX Motorcycle Film Festival.
Watch The Full Film: Southbound Episode 2 (2025)
RELATED MEDIA
Watch the trailer: Southbound Episode 1 (2024)
Watch the full film: Southbound Episode 1 (2024)
The Vintagent Selects: Why We Wrench
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q_6mAVvleo
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
WHY WE WRENCH (2022)
Run Time: 6:36
A Film By: Chris Ironhardt
Key Cast: Triumph Bonneville
FILM MAKERS
Colorado Based Motorcyclist & Storyteller. Capturing & sharing motorcycle journeys, motorcycle maintenance, and various other adventures.
SUMMARY
A short film on the benefits of performing your own motorcycle maintenance. When I purchased my first motorcycle six years ago, I had no mechanical experience. I have since performed all of the maintenance (valve adjustment, fork oil change, oil changes, brake pads/fluid, tire changes, etc.) and made upgrades (indicators, rear fender, headlight lowering, etc) to my Triumph Bonneville - all thanks to the Haynes Owner's Manual and the University of Trial & Error. - Chris Ironhardt
RELATED MEDIA
Instagram: @chrisironhardt
The Vintagent Trailers: Dirt Track Dickie
https://vimeo.com/1114976704
The Vintagent Trailers: A preview of our favorite feature films out there.
DIRT TRACK DICKIE (2025)
Run Time: TBD
Producer: The Vintagent
A Film By: Brent E. Deal, Eyedeal Pictures
Cinematographer: Leonard Alexander
Key Cast: Richard Vincent
FILM MAKERS
Today is the late Richard Vincent's birthday, and by chance, a film I produced about him, Dirt Track Dickie, will premiere at the PDX Motorcycle Film Festival on Jan 30-31 2026. My nephew Brent Deal directed, another nephew Leonard Alexander shot it, and I'm interviewed throughout, filling in the gaps in Richard's story. I hear from David Martinez, who has two films in the Festival (Slowly Going Faster and Rally Kats, that both nights are totally sold out. - Paul d'Orleans
Be sure we'll keep you posted on this film!
SUMMARY
In 1965, Richard 'Dickie' Vincent was a teenage flat track phenom, destined for motorcycle racing glory. Then the Vietnam draft pulled him off the circuit and onto the battlefield, changing everything. Fifty years later, Dickie is back in the saddle, chasing the race that time, and the war stole from him. The question is: Can his spirit push a body and a rusty Velocette motorcycle, both of which have been weathered and forgotten for over half a century?
RELATED MEDIA
Watch another film about our friend Richard Vincent The Ended Summer (2017) directed by David Martinez and produced by The Vintagent.
The Vintagent Ads: Kodak Kodacolor VR
https://youtu.be/uOJZHCFXkos
The Vintagent Ads: The campaigns that sold us.
KODAK KODACOLOR VR (1985)
Run Time: 1:00
Producer: Kodak
Agency: J. Walter Thompson
Key Cast: America
FILM MAKERS
In 1880, a young hobbyist photographer and school dropout named George Eastman became one of the first to successfully manufacture dry plates commercially in the United States. With the slogan "you press the button, we do the rest," Eastman put the first simple camera into the hands of a world of consumers. The Eastman Kodak Company was formed in 1892 and dominated photography for the 20th century through innovations like roll film (1889) and the Brownie camera (1900), making snapshots a mass phenomenon. Though a leader in film and technology (even for Hollywood), Kodak struggled to adapt to the digital age, filing for bankruptcy in 2012 but later restructuring and diversifying into advanced materials and pharmaceuticals. Today, Just as Eastman had a goal to make photography 'as convenient as the pencil,' Kodak continues to expand the ways images touch people's daily lives.
J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was the legendary advertising agency behind many of Kodak's most iconic campaigns. Building the brand into a household name by focusing on capturing life's emotional moments. They coined phrases like the "Kodak Moment," and leveraged the brand's recognizable yellow color for decades. JWT's work helped cement Kodak's cultural status through memorable advertising for print, radio, and TV, creating emotional connections with consumers. After 66 years, the long-standing partnership ended in 1997.
The iconic Kodak "Kodacolor" commercials of the 1970's and 80's featured the line "because time goes by" (or variations like "the times of your life"). Most famously using Paul Anka's song "Times of Your Life" to evoke nostalgia for captured memories. Emphasizing memories in color.
Kodacolor VR (Vari-Granularity) was a popular series of color negative films from Kodak, and marked Kodak's shift to T-Grain emulsions, featuring tabular silver halide crystals for finer grain, increased sharpness, and enhanced color saturation especially at higher speeds, and better performance in low light. Though discontinued, vintage Kodacolor VR films are still sought after by film photographers for their distinctive look, often found expired but still usable. Its iconic look has even inspired digital presets (like Lightroom presets) and film simulation recipes, particularly for Fujifilm cameras.
SUMMARY
YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE—ON A KODAK?
MOTORCYCLES ARE BACK ON PRIME-time television. Not in a series or a-made-for-television movie, but in commercials, and not just in commercials for motorcycles; several advertisers outside of the motorcycle industry are using bikes in their campaigns to hawk their non-motorcycle-related wares. And amazingly, some of these “outsiders” are doing a better job of selling motorcycling than the motorcycle industry itself is doing.
Undoubtedly the best commercial in this genre is the one for Kodak film in which a clean-cut young man travels around the country on a Harley to “find America.” The agency responsible for this commercial says that the response has been both overwhelming and positive, which is easy to believe: it's difficult not to identify with any ad that has such a warm, upbeat mood. It blends positive images of patriotism, brotherhood. and apple-pie with the journey of man and machine.
Read more: Cameron Bussard for Cycle World, August 1, 1985
*Thanks to Reader Rob H. for sending this gem of a motorcycle ad to us! Have one to suggest? Shoot me a line corinna@thevintagent.com
RELATED MEDIA
Moto Movie Facts: The Bikeriders (2023) was shot of Kodak 35mm film. Read all about it HERE.
The Vintagent Trailers: Motorcycle Moment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRReI7PGUvU
The Vintagent Trailers: A preview of our favorite feature films out there.
MOTORCYCLE MOMENT (2025)
Run Time: 6:00
Producer: Harrod Blank, Les Blank Films
Director: Les Blank
Editor: Ben Abrams
Key Cast: Bill Robertson
FILM MAKERS
Les Blank (1935-2013) was an internationally renowned, independent filmmaker, whose poetic work offers intimate, idiosyncratic glimpses into the lives, culture, and music of the passionate people at the periphery of American society. Blank is perhaps best known for his feature-length Burden of Dreams (1982), documenting the chaotic production of fellow director, and friend, Werner Herzog’s 1982 film “Fitzcarraldo” in the jungles of South America. Roger Ebert called Burden of Dreams, “…one of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie.” Another of Blank’s best-loved works is Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980), a seminal food film featuring culinary pioneer Alice Waters, and the Gilroy Garlic Festival. This film, notorious for its mouthwateringness, was initially shown in “Aromaround” with garlic simultaneously roasted in-theater...
Prior to Les Blank’s death, in April of 2013, the non profit “Les Blank Films Inc.” was created and son Harrod Blank, a filmmaker in his own right, became the organization’s president. Since his father’s passing, Harrod Blank has been working with a talented team of post-production experts to remaster several of Les’s most popular films. Harrod also has plans for a biography about his father, (tentatively titled, “Les Blank: A Quiet Revelation.” - Read more at LesBlankFilms.com
SUMMARY
In 1964, Legendary Bay Area filmmaker Les Blank filmed 45 minutes of motorcycles for a documentary film that was never completed. Before his death in 2013, he asked his son Harrod Blank to cut the footage to the music of The 13th Floor Elevators. Edited by Ben Abrams, this film captures the vastness of the American West at a time when the motorcycle was the ultimate in highway adventure.
Motorcycle Moment premiered in 2025 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. The film is currently on the film festival circuit and is not yet available to watch online. Stay tuned!
*Moto Movie Trivia: Harrod posted recently to his Instagram "Many people do not know but Les Blank was a camera man on the film Easy Rider (1969) and shot the mushroom scene in the cemetery."
RELATED MEDIA
'A decade after his death, Bay Area director's lost film gets a second life' - Read the article at SF Gate
Read an in depth interview with Les Blank by BYOD via YouTube video.
The Vintagent Selects: La Petite Moto Rouge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdb5Eqa-BUc
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
LA PETIT MOTO ROUGE (2024)
Run Time: 5:11
Producer: Motive Visuals
Director: Hugo Bordes
Editor: Kelly Blatz
Key Cast: Évangéline Bastide-Blatz
FILM MAKERS
French director Hugo Bordes gets behind the lens for a deeply personal film featuring French motorcyclist, Evangeline Bastide-Blatz.
SUMMARY
"At a moment of my life where I really needed to find myself, motorcycles were just the perfect key for me. I really just discovered myself when I started riding. It became a part of my identity. Suddenly, I was one. It’s a personal love letter to motorcycles, which has helped shape who I am today.” - Evangeline Bastide-Blatz
RELATED MEDIA
Évangéline Bastide-Blatz: IG La Petite Moto Rouge
Filmmaker Website
There's Always A Motorcycle: Unmade Beds
https://youtu.be/OTXPRszUTkQ
There's Always A Motorcycle: Not all films are Biker Flicks… But a hell of a lot have motorcycles in them!
UNMADE BEDS (1976)
Run Time: 1:17:00
A Film By: Amos Poe
Writer: Amos Poe, Paul Bray
Key Cast: Duncan Hannah, Eric Mitchell, Kitty Sondern
FILM MAKERS
‘There’s Always A Motorcycle’ is a new Vintagent series of compiled clips from moto centric cinema.
On December 25th, 2025 we lost a brilliant artist and avid rider. Below is the biography of Amos Poe written by Paul d'Orleans in 2014 when Amos joined The Motorcycle Film Festival (RIP) judging panel. I founded The MFF in 2013. I couldn't have done it without Paul, who became the festival's host and spirit guide. As with all of his picks, I was in awe of his connections and have him to thank for so many enduring friends all these years later. Amos was one. - Corinna Mantlo
Widely and wildly admired as a filmmaker, writer and producer, Amos Poe is a founding father of Punk, No Wave, and Indie American Cinema. The New York Times has called Amos Poe a “pioneering indie filmmaker.” One of the first punk filmmakers, he co-directed the cult classic “The Blank Generation” (1976)— a quintessential snapshot of New York’s DIY spirit. Poe’s successive films—”The Foreigner” (1978) and “Subway Riders” (1981)—landed him squarely within the No Wave Cinema movement. During this time Poe directed the public access television cable show “TV Party”. Eddie Cockrell of The American Film Institute summed it up in a nutshell: “Amos Poe is not afraid to simultaneously challenge and move an audience. Seldom, if ever, in American cinema has a sensibility of such avantgarde and seemingly pessimistic tastes produced films of such compassion and reflection.”
Poe continues to teach screenwriting, directing and production at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His full filmography and current works are found at amospoe.com. When he found out about the Motorcycle Film Festival Poe responded, “Let’s see, the technical term would be—’holy shit!, YES!!’ Combining my two favorite activities, filmmaking and riding, yes!” When not planning his next film, a re-imagining of “Easy Rider as a feminist allegory, Poe can be found riding “Black Bonnie” his 2012 Triumph Bonneville. Meet Amos in his own words.
What does Amos have to say about Unmade Beds? Watch a Q&A with him following a screening at the Roxy Cinema New York in 2023.
SUMMARY
Unmade Beds is a 1976 American independent No Wave film directed by Amos Poe starring Duncan Hannah, Eric Mitchell, Patti Astor, Kitty Sondern, and Debbie Harry. The black and white film was shot by Vincente Galindez in the style of guerrilla filmmaking with available light in a car, in city parks and on the streets of New York City on a shoestring budget with a small cast and crew. Unmade Beds was heavily influenced by the films of the French New Wave, particularly Breathless[2] but contains ironic post-punk wooden dialogue during conversations that lack natural expressiveness, as in the films of Andy Warhol. The soundtrack consists mainly of jazzy or modern classical or romantic solo piano music performed by Ivan Kral.
Rico (aka Little Rico) (played by artist Duncan Hannah) is a bored hard drinking photographer in New York City dreaming of living in Paris and constantly looking for love and an artistic reality to fulfill his French fantasy. He thinks of his camera as a gun, which he loads with bullets of film. He has a few encounters with women before he is shot when asking a stranger on the street where he can find Angel (also the name of his dead dog) because he owed a sum of French francs to vague criminal associates. At which point Paul Orsalino (played by Eric Mitchell) and Jeanne Moreau (played by Patti Astor) take over the plot of this aimless film with a love scene followed by a flashback sequence that includes Rico. The film ends in flashback mode with a series of still black and white photos of Rico and Paul, with their dialogue and romantic sombre piano music on the soundtrack. Then a final return to film, with Rico whistling and singing One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) and Jeanne and Paul over-the-top pretending to be a gangster on an East Village, Manhattan fire escape.
Watch the FILM TRAILER And the FULL FILM on YouTube.
RELATED MEDIA
Filmmaker Magazine: Read more about Amos Poe and "Amosville"
Amos Poe And No Wave Cinema - Screening series at Metrograph January 3-19, 2026
There's Always A Motorcycle: The Bad News Bears
https://youtu.be/Dm-tkjZ9dtw
Not all films are Biker Flicks… But a hell of a lot have motorcycles in them!
THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976)
Run Time: 1:42:00
Producer: Paramount Pictures
Director: Michael Ritchie
Writer: Bill Lancaster
Key Cast: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow
FILM MAKERS
There’s Always A Motorcycle is a new Vintagent series of compiled clips from moto centric cinema.
"I got a Harley-Davidson. Does that turn you on? Harley Davidson."
In November, the Kelly Leak bike blew up the internet. Actor Jackie Earle Haley who had his first role as a talented juvenile delinquent in The Bad News Bears, was presented with a fully restored 1975 AMF Harley Davidson Z90, to celebrate next year’s Bad News Bears 50th anniversary. It was believed that this was the actual bike he rode in the film, but unfortunately, it turned out that the bike wasn't the actual bike, but instead an homage replica. In the end Haley did not accept the bike, but it reminded us all of the impression that that 'lil motorcycle left on us!
Fun fact: It was a Honda XR75 was used as stunt double to do wheelies.
SUMMARY
...together they make it happen!
An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.
In 1976, Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic pool cleaner and former minor-league baseball pitcher, accepts a secretive cash payment from lawyer Bob Whitewood to coach his son Toby's youth baseball league expansion team, the Bears. The team is made up of unskilled players, formed as a settlement to a lawsuit brought against the league for excluding such players from other teams. Shunned by the more competitive teams (and their competitive parents and coaches), the Bears are considered outsiders and the least talented team in the Southern California league.
Buttermaker makes little effort to help the boys improve, accomplishing nothing before their first game except for finding a sponsor to provide uniforms. He forfeits the opening game after the Bears allow 26 runs without recording an out.
With the entire team wanting to quit due to the humiliation of their first loss, Buttermaker begins to take his coaching more seriously, teaching basics like hitting, fielding and sliding. In addition, he recruits two unlikely prospects: sharp-tongued Amanda Whurlitzer, the 11-year-old daughter of Buttermaker's former girlfriend and a skilled pitcher (trained by Buttermaker when she was younger); and the local cigarette-smoking, loan-sharking, Harley-Davidson-riding troublemaker Kelly Leak, who is also the best athlete in the area but has been excluded from playing in the past due to his juvenile delinquency. With Amanda and Kelly on board, the team gains confidence and they begin to win. The strained past relationship between Buttermaker and Amanda is revealed as the team improves.
Eventually, the Bears make it to the championship game opposite the top-notch Yankees, who are coached by aggressive, competitive Roy Turner. As the game progresses, tensions rise between the teams and the coaches, as Buttermaker and Turner engage in ruthless behavior toward each other and the players in their fervor to win the game. But when Turner strikes his son Joey, the pitcher, for ignoring his orders and intentionally throwing at the batter Mike Engelberg's head, Joey retaliates by holding on to a comebacker until the Bears runner scores, then walks off the field.
Buttermaker realizes that he, too, has placed too much emphasis on winning, and puts in his bench-warmers to allow everyone to play. The Bears lose in the end, but despite Buttermaker's move, they nearly win the game. After the trophy award ceremony, Buttermaker gives the team beer, which they spray on each other in a celebration as if they had won, telling the Yankees "where [they] can put their championship trophy".
RELATED MEDIA
Watch the Trailer
Watch the FULL FILM on YouTube
The Vintagent Ads: Rainier Beer: The Motorcycle Spot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAs8SpisWwU
The Vintagent Ads: The campaigns that sold us.
RAINIER BEER: THE MOTORCYCLE SPOT (1979)
Run Time: 0:30
A Film By: Rainier Beer, Heckler-Bowker
Key Cast: Randy Chase
FILM MAKERS
For many years, advertising was held in contempt.
Rainier Beer was born in Seattle in 1878. Throughout the 1900s, Rainier became a regional powerhouse in the West Coast beer world. In 1954, the iconic Rainier “R” sign was raised above the brewery and became a landmark of the Seattle skyline. The 1970's brought a brilliant ad campaign of creative, whimsical short films by advertising firm Heckler-Bowker. One of the most memorable being "The Motorcycle Spot". The brewery closed in 1999, and Pabst Brewing Company acquired the brand, moving production out of state for a time, however Local brewing returned in 2016 with a retro recipe and the classic "R" sign was restored to the Seattle skyline, once again cementing its legacy.
In 2024, the documentary 'Rainier: A Beer Odyssey' debuted at the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival. An epic story of the classic beer ads that help define the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s. Using hundreds of hours of original outtakes spanning over 50 years of Rainier Beer's history. It is the definitive story of the television commercials that changed advertising as we know it forever. Watch the restored version of this ad, which doubled as a teaser for the documentary.
Watch the official documentary film trailer and visit www.rainierbeermovie.com for more information, merchandise (including a t-shirt of the motorcycle ad), and upcoming screenings in 2025/26.
SUMMARY
The most perfect ad I've ever seen.
Ed Leimbacher was the lead writer-producer of Rainier Beer ads between 1973 and 1985. Below is an excerpt from his blog, focusing on "The Motorcycle Spot".
"I want to focus on a few TV ads that gave me some extra pleasure, or headaches, or both. The Motorcycle Spot, for example, really was the all-Northwest all-time favorite. Very simple: camera looking down a straight back-country road, nothing in sight, then gradually a spot becoming a motorcycle coming straight at the camera, passing close, flash-pan to follow it tailing off toward a looming Mount Rainier—and all the while the shifting gears have been keening/singing, distantly at first, then louder and louder, "Raaaaiiiii-niiieeeerrrr… (zoom by and receding sound) Beeeeerrrrrr…"
Looked amazingly simple, but of course there was much going on behind the scene. Building the soundtrack, for example, we found that we could not stretch the words out over the full 30 seconds, had to settle for 20-plus to be understandable—which meant the visuals had to not show any bike at first. Then trying to capture the actual motorcycle shot we found that we could not pan fast enough as the bike passed, so we had to make a hidden cut during the pan. And neither the weather nor the motorcycle itself cooperated at first—we had to go out filming on three different days to get the bike actually operating properly, at a time when Mount Rainier was also visible!
And, finally, I had the perfect visual tagline to be supered over the end-of-spot receding bike: "Geared for Thirst." But neither Heckler nor the Rainier people were willing to give up the bland accepted slogan "Mountain Fresh to Go," so my tag never appeared. Anyone reading this now has the real scoop of what should have been shown!" - Ed Leimbacher
*Who came up with the idea for the motorcycle spot? Clay Eals knows! He wrote about it for The Oregonian newspaper back in 1979. Turns out it was a couple of students paid 500!. When Clay saw the documentary, he contacted filmmaker Isaac Olsen, who now plans to feature them in a sequel focusing on the motorcycle spot. Stay tuned! Read more here.
RELATED MEDIA
IG @rainierbeermovie
The Vintagent Classics: Detonation! Violent Riders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFvPkY0L8yE
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
DETONATION! VIOLENT RIDERS aka BAKUHATSU! BOSO ZOKU (1975)
Run Time: 1:26:00
Producer: Toei Tokyo
Director: Teruo Ishii
Writer: Teruo Ishii, Isao Matsumoto
Key Cast: Shin'ichi Chiba (Sonny Chiba), Kôichi Iwaki, Tomoko Ai
FILM MAKERS
Detonation: Violent Riders is the first installment in Toei’s series of bosozoku biker gang films. Toei started producing films in 1953 and established itself as a major producer of Japanese B-movies through the 80's. Bosozoku gangs received notable media attention in the 1970’s as newspapers and magazines cashed in with the phenomena and even took it out of its original frame. Toei was quick to smell easy box office revenue as the bosozoku hysteria provided an opportunity to combine their established cinematic formulas with a current and talked about real life phenomena. Much like with karate films, director Teruo Ishii got assigned to the job despite his lack of interest for the genre.
SUMMARY
Wild-hearted mechanic boy Iwaki falls in love with the innocent but gang tied Michiko.
Leather up and get ready for the ride of your lives, in this high-octane biker movie from Toei by cult director Teruo Ishii (Horrors of Malformed Men) with a cast headed by the return of Sonny Chiba!
Iwaki (Koichi Iwaki) is a motorbike mechanic with big dreams of racing professionally. Then temptation arrives in the shapely form of Mayumi (Junko Matsudaira), the wild and free lover of Mitsuda (Yusuke Natsu), the leader of the Red Rose Gang, a pack of speed freaks tearing up the town. Iwaki meanwhile has his sights set on the sweet and innocent Michiko (Tomoko Ai), but any potential romance is hampered by her overprotective brother Tsugami (Sonny Chiba) and Mitsuda’s bullish plans to make Michiko his own trophy. Does Iwaki take the straight and narrow option, or opt for a more dangerous road? - 88 Films
RELATED MEDIA
Buy the newly released, limited edition Blu Ray release including English subtitles, and extra features at 88 Films!
There's Always A Motorcycle: Devils Three
https://youtu.be/WXp2RrfF134
There's Always A Motorcycle: Not all films are Biker Flicks… But a hell of a lot have motorcycles in them!
DEVILS THREE aka MEAN BUSINESS aka PAY OR DIE (1979)
Run Time: 1:32:00
Director: Bobby A. Suarez
Writer: Dick Adair, Bobby A. Suarez, Joseph Zucchero
Key Cast: Marrie Lee, Franco Guerrero, Florence Carvajal
FILM MAKERS
‘There’s Always A Motorcycle’ is a new Vintagent series of compiled clips from moto centric cinema. Devils Three (1979) aka Mean Business aka Pay Or Die “The martial arts adventure that’ll karate your funnybone!” An underworld kingpin’s daughter is kidnapped by his own men. So, he calls in Cleopatra Wong, a beautiful karate queen. She brings a team with her. A 300+ pound psychic and a transgender woman.
*Clips edited by Corinna Mantlo for The Vintagent
SUMMARY
“Karate Babes Will Look And Laugh While Killer Thugs Are Chopped In Half”
"Good God, this movie really is insane. Drive-in distributors tried their best to get mainstream crowds to see this under a multitude of titles like Mean Business, Devils Three, and Pay or Die, including a brief VHS release as part of Sybil Danning's Adventure Video line, but this is so far out there it would take years of cult movie awareness and a massive fan base for stars like Weng Weng to give this any kind of understandable context. Lee is a real pleasure to watch as always; perky, pretty, and shockingly gung ho about performing her own stunts (even swinging straight through a giant ass window), she could have easily gone on to a longer action career had she chosen to stick around beyond this and the other Cleopatra Wong adventure, Dynamite Johnson. Guerrero's performance will probably annoy some p.c. audiences today, but it's actually still pretty transgressive to see an openly gay character beating the crap out of bigger, stronger criminals. Then there's Carvajal, who's so exaggerated you'd have to be a real spoilsport to be offended. It's stupid, ridiculous, and probably not a very good film at all, but if you're in the right frame of mind, it's also very, very entertaining. And there's a funky disco theme, too..." - Read more at Mondo Digital
RELATED MEDIA
Watch the FULL FILM on YouTube
The Vintagent Selects: Maker by Nature - Storik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSOmToiIfQU
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
MAKER BY NATURE - STORIK (2025)
Run Time: 6:29
A Film By: Hoxton Moto
Key Cast: Storik
FILM MAKERS
Hoxton Moto is a film production company that produces films about all aspects of motorcycling and the occasional hot rod for its YouTube channel. As well as making films for their channel, they also get their hands dirty and build bikes which have been exhibited at the Bike Shed Show, Revolution Show (Hastings) and get regular features in magazines and on-line sites.
SUMMARY
STORIK specialises in Fine Engineering and Coachbuilding using traditional and modern techniques for the restoration or modification of vintage & classic motorcycles, aircraft and cars. This film is about Laurent Amann, owner of Storik. Laurent has a passion for motorcycles, design and engineering. He has developed an extraordinary skill for producing elegant sculptural fabrication, which is seen throughout his work.
RELATED MEDIA
Watch more Hoxton Moto films on their Youtube channel,
The Vintagent Selects: Rally Kats
https://vimeo.com/1133209902
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
RALLY KATS (2025)
Run Time: 12:45
A Film By: David Martinez
Editor: Anais Bernard
Key Cast: Kat Diamond Kiyonaga, Mitsushiro Kiyonaga, Olivier Touron
FILM MAKERS
I started photographing at an early age as a way to explore the world — chasing light, people, and places that sparked my curiosity. That instinct for storytelling has guided me ever since, evolving from still photography into a growing focus on filmmaking.
I’m based in Los Angeles and split my time between California and Mexico, drawing inspiration from both cultures and landscapes. As an avid surfer, the rhythm of the ocean shapes how I see and move through the world — from the quality of light on the water to the way time slows down in certain moments. That sensibility flows naturally into my visual work.
What began as a solitary pursuit has become a deeply collaborative process, and I value the way many voices, experiences, and places come together to create a single frame or sequence. I’m drawn to minimalism — not as an aesthetic, but as a way of thinking. For me, every choice matters: the way I light a scene, compose an image, or shape a narrative. It’s about removing what isn’t essential to reveal what truly is.
Whether working on a photograph or a film, my goal is the same: to create work that feels honest, intentional, and alive. - David Martinez
*David has several films in The Vintagent Film Archive including Slowly Going Faster (2025), Vincent Black Lightning (2022), Baja Scrambler (2020), and Summer Ride (2017).
SUMMARY
Rally Kats follows Kiyo and Kat, a Japanese couple united by their love of 1940s–’50s American culture and the romance of the open road. In 2025, they take on the Transamerica Endurance Rally, riding from the East Coast to the West Coast on century-old motorcycles Kat on a 1910 Thor, Kiyo on a 1919 Excelsior. Their journey becomes a test of resilience, craftsmanship, and devotion as they chase beauty, freedom, and the American dream across time and distance.
RELATED MEDIAA
Enter the TransAmerican Motorcycle Endurance Run 2027
David Martinez website
The Vintagent Classics: God Speed You! Black Emperor
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
GOD SPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR (1976)
Run Time: 1:30:00
A Film By: Mitsuo Yanagimachi
Key Cast: The Boys in ‘Black Emperor’ of the Shinjuku Branch
FILM MAKERS
God Speed You! Black Emperor (ゴッド・スピード・ユー! Black Emperor) is an independently produced debut documentary film by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi. Shot in black-and-white 16mm over two years and completed in 1976. Until then, Yanagimachi had been working as a production assistant at Toei Company [giants of the industry] and would move on as a filmmaker with a commitment to the causes of the disillusioned and disadvantaged.
The film’s sympathies lie with the fledgling members of Black Emperor’s Shinjuku branch, and sets its longest scenes in the claustrophobic interiors that house these youths: tiny apartments, overstuffed family restaurants, rehabilitative spaces for delinquents. In these brightly lit chambers, the young recruits sit still, heads bowed, scrutinized by their parents and peers... The film does not ask “why” the Bosozoku are the way they are— it simply takes the time to see what they see and hear what they hear. Facing an overwhelmingly sensationalized, essentialized phenomenon, this approach yielded remarkable results. - Read more at Sabukaru
The Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor named themselves after the film.
SUMMARY
A fascinating portrait of teen alienation and youthful rebellion in late 1970s urban Japan.
In the 1970's Japan saw the rise of a motorcycling movement called the Bōsōzoku, which drew the interest of the media. The movie follows a member of the motorcycle club, and his interaction with his parents after he gets in trouble with the police.
RELATED MEDIA
Watch the FULL FILM for free (passable yet not great subtitles)
By the DVD with English subtitles
The Vintagent Selects: The Last Jackpiner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIyf49pNn4M&t=2s
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
THE LAST JACKPINER (2024)
Run Time: 25:54
A Film By: Cody Wisenbaker, Tucker Epp, Dan Morse
Cinematography: Tucker Epp, Cody Wisenbaker
Key Cast: Dan Morse
FILM MAKERS
This Project was a collaboration between Tucker Epp, Dan Morse, and Cody Wisenbaker. Everything was filmed on the Sony FX3 and graded in Davinci Resolve using Mark Bone's LUTS. This was a super awesome run-n-gun film. The only two lenses used on this Project were the Sigma 24-70 2.8 and the Sony 70-200 4.0
SUMMARY
The love for film and dirt bikes come together in this documentary. Follow the history of a particular bike that paid tribute to a man who helped transform dirt biking in North America, John Penton. To find out more, visit https://www.pentonusa.org/.
RELATED MEDIA
Cody Wisenbaker Youtube Channel
The Vintagent Ads: Go Well Go Shell
https://youtu.be/ecHziy1KCO0
The Vintagent Ads: The campaigns that sold us.
GO WELL GO SHELL (1991)
Run Time: 1:30
Producer: George Patterson agency, Shell Company of Australia
Key Cast: Mark Myers as Steve McQueen
FILM MAKERS
"This week Shell launched a new advertising campaign to strengthen consumer perceptions of the company as the largest petrol retailer in Australia. It was created by the George Patterson agency and revives the theme 'Go well go Shell', which was last used in the early 1980s. The campaign is designed to claw back some of the ground Shell has lost to its rivals, particularly BP Australia, since early last year.
Two very different television commercials form the first phase of the campaign. One is set in the future, with a giant high-tech petrol station floating in space, and the other recreates a scene from the 1950s movie The Great Escape. Both promote Shell's role as the leading petrol retailer. To ensure motorists get the message, Shell will spend an estimated $6 million on media advertising during the next 12 months." - Financial Times, 1991
SUMMARY
Go Well Go Shell, is the first installment in a new series at the Vintagent. Ads: The campaigns that sold us! Motorcycles have been used since the beginning in advertising because well, cool sells, and motorcycles have always been cool. Steve McQueen jumping a barb-wire fence in The Great Escape...not much gets cooler than that.
RELATED MEDIA
Read More: Financial Times, 1991
Mark Myers on being a Steve McQueen Lookalike in the ad, and others.
Watch The Great Escape (1963)
