Red Line 7000

NASCAR isn’t really my idea of a spectator sport; go fast and turn left for about 300 miles while trying not to crash just personally holds no appeal.  But the world of stock car racing is a perfect fit for director Howard Hawks, who made a career out of films about men with a death wish…and the women who love them.  A racer himself, Hawks had already explored the topic in The Crowd Roars way back in 1932.  But Red Line 7000 (1965) finds him adapting to a burgeoning teen market while balancing machismo and melodrama in equal measure.

Weaving together the emotional hangups of several couples, the film gives James Caan top billing as experienced racer Mike Marsh, an emotionally insecure champ who falls hard for the ex-lover of anothermember of the team, Dan (Skip Ward), who’s desperate to convince Holly (Gail Hire) that she’s not a jinx.  Meanwhile, the new hot shot on the track, Ned (John Robert Crawford) breaks the heart of Julie (Laura Devon), who just happens to be the boss’ little sister.  In between all these emotional crackups there’s some actual racing to be done as the team competes to see who’ll end up in the winner’s circle.

 

With enough characters and camp to fill up full week of a daytime soap opera programming, Red Line 7000might seem like a big departure from Hawks’ classics like The Big Sleep, Red River and Bringing Up Baby.  Even the soundtrack of groovy ‘60s tunes – complete with choreographed dance numbers – makes for a dramatic dive into corny pop culture.  But look close enough and you’ll spot Hawk’s penchant for tough dames attached to misanthropic heroes, their lives played out in a tight circle of fellow professionals, a world too dangerous for the common man (or woman) to understand.

 

There’s a good bit of gender-bending and rampant sexism (every woman stands by their man, even when they shouldn’t), but at least Hawks give the ladies equal time, making their stories just as important as their male counterparts.  As for the cast, only James Caan manages to deliver a modern performance, his mental instability simmering just under the surface.  The actor’s ability to chop dialogue down to its bare essentials makes him a perfect match for Hawks’ style of filmmaking.  And he even looks cool at 170 miles-per-hour!

 

Arrow pulls this one out of the Paramount vault and delivers a great looking Blu-ray with an audio commentary carried over from the old Kino release along with a new interview from assistant director Bruce Kessler and two new visual essays – one focused on Hawks’ tough-as-nails female characters and the other on the film itself.  A reversible sleeve, fold-out poster and collector’s booklet are thrown in as well.

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