**SPOILERS** Pre "Mister Smith goes to Washington" James Stewart as automobile greasy monkey Terry Martin who's come up with this great invention that would revolutionize the auto industry. Terry inverted this real cool carburetor that can increase the speed of a car, without increasing the gas intake, at least 30%. The trouble is that the super cool carburetor doesn't seem to work in the tests at the Emery Auto Factory that Terry is employed at. It's when hot shot auto engineer Frank Lawson, Weldon Heybrun, shows up at the plant that he finds a way to put Terry's carburetor to work.That's with a horizontal inlet value that he invented that will have the flow of air adjusted to the carburetor's burning of gasoline.
Putting aside all this boring technical stuff about super cool carburetors and horizontal inlet values the film really gets going when pretty Jane Mitchell, Wendy Barrie, shows up on the scene as a publicity agent for the auto company. It's then that both Terry and Frank start knocking themselves out to get Jane to go out on a date with them. It's Frank, in being a collage graduate with an engineering degree, who ends up with Jane making Terry, a self made mechanic, feel a bit down and resentful, of both Jane for turning him down and Frank for ending up with her.
Determined to show that his carburetor is the real deal Terry together with friend and fellow grease monkey Clarence Maxmillian "Gadget" Haggarty, Ted Haley, test the contraception out at the pre trials of the Indianapolis 500 and set a track record with it! It's when later Frank has his horizontal inlet valve installed that the car that Terry & Gadget were driving flips off the track putting gadget into a wheelchair and leaving Terry with a mild brain concussion!
***SPOILERS*** Terry is now given permission from his boss Mr. Dean, Ralph Morgan,to drive the super car Falcon, that's the spitting image of the later Batmobile, in at test drive at the Salt Flats in Utah. As Terry attempts to brake the worlds speed record he almost ends up almost killing himself when the car,that mysteriously caught fire, overturned and almost crushed him to death! With now Frank rushing behind the wheel he drives to the nearest hospital at super speed all the way to L.A with an unconscious Terry as his co-driver. In the end Frank not only saves Terry's life but breaks the world speed record giving Terry, the driver of record, the credit of doing it! And as for Jane it soon comes out that shes the niece of the company's owner Mr. Emery! It was Jane who was influential in getting Terry's carburetor tested and having Frank, who was in on whom she really was, perfect it for him! Terry in the hospital recovering from his injuries begins to realize what a sap he was and makes up for it by letting Jane, whom he had earlier broken up with, kiss him goodnight.
Putting aside all this boring technical stuff about super cool carburetors and horizontal inlet values the film really gets going when pretty Jane Mitchell, Wendy Barrie, shows up on the scene as a publicity agent for the auto company. It's then that both Terry and Frank start knocking themselves out to get Jane to go out on a date with them. It's Frank, in being a collage graduate with an engineering degree, who ends up with Jane making Terry, a self made mechanic, feel a bit down and resentful, of both Jane for turning him down and Frank for ending up with her.
Determined to show that his carburetor is the real deal Terry together with friend and fellow grease monkey Clarence Maxmillian "Gadget" Haggarty, Ted Haley, test the contraception out at the pre trials of the Indianapolis 500 and set a track record with it! It's when later Frank has his horizontal inlet valve installed that the car that Terry & Gadget were driving flips off the track putting gadget into a wheelchair and leaving Terry with a mild brain concussion!
***SPOILERS*** Terry is now given permission from his boss Mr. Dean, Ralph Morgan,to drive the super car Falcon, that's the spitting image of the later Batmobile, in at test drive at the Salt Flats in Utah. As Terry attempts to brake the worlds speed record he almost ends up almost killing himself when the car,that mysteriously caught fire, overturned and almost crushed him to death! With now Frank rushing behind the wheel he drives to the nearest hospital at super speed all the way to L.A with an unconscious Terry as his co-driver. In the end Frank not only saves Terry's life but breaks the world speed record giving Terry, the driver of record, the credit of doing it! And as for Jane it soon comes out that shes the niece of the company's owner Mr. Emery! It was Jane who was influential in getting Terry's carburetor tested and having Frank, who was in on whom she really was, perfect it for him! Terry in the hospital recovering from his injuries begins to realize what a sap he was and makes up for it by letting Jane, whom he had earlier broken up with, kiss him goodnight.