Nope, not that Speed. Here we have one of Jimmy Stewart's first starring roles. He plays a test driver (sort of a living crash test dummy) for Emery Motors with ambitions to become something more and win the heart of pretty Wendy Barrie. So he designs a new carburetor and works with a rival to make it work before testing it out at the Indianapolis 500.
Jimmy Stewart fans might be a little surprised by this one. This isn't the usual likable guy-next-door Jimmy we all know and love. In fact, he's kind of a jerk at times. But that's the way the character is written so we can't fault Jimmy much for that. It feels like it was written with someone like James Cagney in mind. Weldon Heyburn (who?) plays Jimmy's rival for Wendy Barrie. Ted Healey plays Jimmy's comic relief best friend. The always adorable Una Merkel has a supporting part as an executive at Emery. Pretty surprising to see that, given the time in which this was made. Of course, she's in love with Heyburn's character and wonders aloud if the promotion to executive was worthwhile since it's come between them. But she never gives up her career during the film. There's also some talk at the end about gender fairness as relates to Wendy Barrie's character ("A girl can have horse sense, too!"). So this is pretty forward-thinking for a B picture from 1936.
The movie makes good use of rear projection effects and stock footage. It's interesting stuff if you're an automotive history buff. I liked seeing the old cars, auto factories, and the racing and crash footage. The "Falcon" car that Jimmy drives in the exciting climax was created just for the picture and it's pretty cool. All in all it's a decent movie with a few extras that make it a little more interesting than you might expect.
Jimmy Stewart fans might be a little surprised by this one. This isn't the usual likable guy-next-door Jimmy we all know and love. In fact, he's kind of a jerk at times. But that's the way the character is written so we can't fault Jimmy much for that. It feels like it was written with someone like James Cagney in mind. Weldon Heyburn (who?) plays Jimmy's rival for Wendy Barrie. Ted Healey plays Jimmy's comic relief best friend. The always adorable Una Merkel has a supporting part as an executive at Emery. Pretty surprising to see that, given the time in which this was made. Of course, she's in love with Heyburn's character and wonders aloud if the promotion to executive was worthwhile since it's come between them. But she never gives up her career during the film. There's also some talk at the end about gender fairness as relates to Wendy Barrie's character ("A girl can have horse sense, too!"). So this is pretty forward-thinking for a B picture from 1936.
The movie makes good use of rear projection effects and stock footage. It's interesting stuff if you're an automotive history buff. I liked seeing the old cars, auto factories, and the racing and crash footage. The "Falcon" car that Jimmy drives in the exciting climax was created just for the picture and it's pretty cool. All in all it's a decent movie with a few extras that make it a little more interesting than you might expect.