Φάιερμπολ 500

Daniel3.5

"By the way, I noticed that you have a gaggle of geese following you around. What do you call 'em?""Oh, I call 'em the eager beavers."When rising stock car racer Dave Owens (Frankie Avalon) and his car 'Fireball' arrive in Spartanburg to compete in the racing circuit there and challenge champion Leander Fox (Fabian), he soon catches the eye of wealthy Martha Brian (Julie Parrish), who has her own plans with him. Dave is also smitten with Jane Harris (Annette Funicello), who turns out to be Leander's girlfriend...Fireball 500 is a musical action film co-written and directed by William Asher.After their Beach Party films declined, American International Pictures decided to diversify and try their hand at the very popular racing movies of the time, blending them with their Beach Party formula.This means Fireball 500 also has original songs, a simple romantic storyline, but no bikinis – those are replaced by hot pants. There are no musical guest stars, either, the humor is toned down and the film does attempt to tell a dramatic story.It stars the popular film couple 'Frankie and Annette', the leads of the Beach Party films, another regular, Harvey Lembeck, who's actually terrific when he's not forced to play his tedious comic relief character Von Zipper, as well as teen idol and singer Fabian – who doesn't get a single musical number.The movie's highlight, however, is Julie Parrish, portraying the most interesting character I've seen in any of AIP's films of the time, a sexually confident, unapologetic woman with her own agenda who very much runs the show – until film conventions force her to fall for the male lead and soften, of course.Also, Fireball 500 too often leans on tedious male macho bravado and eye-rolling male posturing, which is especially jarring when lead Avalon does this, after his more wholesome roles in the Beach Party films. And speaking of 'wholesome', it's strange when the character played by Annette Funicello sings a song luring people into her father's 'girlie show.' I really cannot say if this movie is backward or progressive.It's an overall very well made production, with well-staged action and races, and I do commend AIP for trying to evolve their films, but something even better could've come out of it if they had only wanted it.I did enjoy the meta joke about Fireball looking like the Batmobile, though – it was built by George Barris who also customized Batman's car for the 1966 TV show.In conclusion, Fireball 500 is very much a mixed bag, featuring some genuinely great moments and the occasional intriguing character as well as shallow dramatic beats and tedious stereotypes, but it's overall a lot of fun to watch and quite entertaining.

📀 Cammmalot 📀3.0

Cinematic Time Capsule1966 Marathon - Film #25Drivers, Start Your Engines!There they are: forty-four cars in a perfect line on the pace lap for the start of the Fireball 500, with more than 85,000 Beach Party fans in the stands. Out of turn four and into the first act, it’s Frankie Avalon in car number 43. His opening song proves why he deserves the pole position.Coming up right behind him in the 56 car is Annette Funicello. This is their seventh race together, but it’s obvious that in this one, there’s gonna be no beaches, no blankets, and definitely no bingo!Out of the fourth corner comes Fabian wobbling down the track like he’s got a loose third wheel.And there’s Annette bringing out the yellow flag so she can sing a song. The caution light is on. All drivers will hold their positions until the number is over.There’s the green flag, and we’re back to racing! Down into the second act they go.Holy cow, it looks like the plot has suddenly lost control. Outta nowhere, we’ve got moonshine crimes, somber melodrama, and murder! The film slams into the wall and spins down the infield. The tone of the movie is smoking badly now. I don’t know if the script is simply overheating or if something has gone completely wrong with its narrative engine.Here we are on the last lap, and the entire film has gone up in flames. You can see the shock and dismay on everyone’s faces. Obviously, this film’s downer ending has left all 85,000 Beach Party fans very confused and extremely depressed.”I thought you were the kind of man who liked excitement.”Checkered Flag! - A Collection of Auto-Racing Films 🏁Beach Blanket Bingo - Cinematic PlaylistCinematic Time Capsule - 1966 Ranked

Channing Pomeroy2.5

How to Stuff a Wild PlymouthFrankie & Annette trade in their beach-blankets for stock cars. Is there anything sillier than a ’shine-runnin’ Avalon–Funicello vehicle? Yet the friction between their goody-two-shoes personas and the subculture of bootlegging and dirt tracks makes this weird film a lot of fun. What makes it worthwhile now is all the great ‘60s stock car footage of crashing and flipping and burning, a Figure 8 racing scene, and George Barris (the genius behind the Munster’s family vehicle and the still-unsurpassed TV Batmobile) has a lot of fun with a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda for the eponymous Fireball 500 Recommended extra-credit reading: Tom Wolfe’s thrilling evocation of mid-60s NASCAR: “The Last American Hero Is Jimmy Johnson. Yes!” written a year earlier.