Chrome and Hot Leather (1971)

Director:

Lee Frost

Writers:

Michael Haynes (writer)
David Neibel (writer)

Release Date:

27 November 1972 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Don't muck around with a Green Beret's Mama! He'll take his chopper and ram it down your throat!

Plot:

A Green Beret returns home from the Vietnam war to find that a gang of murderous bikers has killed his fiancee. He calls on several of his Green Beret buddies to come and help him take revenge on the gang. |

Plot Keywords:

Green Beret | Biker | Motorcycle | Revenge | Independent Film

Cast

William Smith	...	T.J.
Tony Young	...	Mitch
Michael Haynes	...	Casey
Peter Brown	...	Al
Marvin Gaye	...	Jim
Michael Stearns	...	Hank
Kathrine Baumann	...	Susan
Wes Bishop	...	The Sheriff
Herb Jeffries	...	Ned
Bobby Pickett	...	Sweet Willy (as Bob Pickett)
George Carey	...	Lt. Reardon
Marland Proctor	...	Captain Barnes
Ann Marie	...	Helen
Robert Ridgely	...	Sergeant Mack
Lee Parrish	...	NCO Bartender

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality and drug material. (2004 re-rating)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:GP | USA:PG-13 (2004 re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Piru, California, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Cheryl Ladd's first film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Unintentionally Hilarious

The saddest thing about "Chrome and Hot Leather" (1971) is that it could have been a fairly decent film; at least by American International biker film standards. They seem to have had a large budget; at least enough to cast in quantity if not quality; and to outfit their biker gang (Wizards) with Harley's-something that was often beyond the budget of these things.

They had William Smith, the best movie baddie of the day, for their gang leader T.J. and Michael Haynes for the chain-throwing mama slapping Casey. In fact the whole biker thing is handled pretty well by the standards of the early 1970's.

Then they had an extremely young Cheryl Ladd (she looks about 16 although she was 18) and former Miss Ohio and Miss America Runner-Up Kathy Baumann (note the John Havlicek Basketball Camp t-shirt she is wearing). In high school she dated someone I knew and she also looks about the same in this film as she did then. Unfortunately neither actress gets to show much in the way of acting skills or exploitable assets. .

This is one of those movies the Army and Air Force Exchange Service saw fit to show us GI's at posts and bases around with world back in the early 1970's. To us at the time virtually everything military related was unintentionally hilarious, from Peter Brown's non-GI haircut (if it was a paying role couldn't he at least have cut it enough so you could see a portion of his ears) to the moronic combat training. It got laughs from us for months whenever someone brought up the topic. On the other hand what was supposed to be the film's comic relief, sequences of Peter Brown and Company learning to ride motorcycles is funny only to those amused by things totally lame and stupid.

In retrospect the film never had a chance given its director Lee "The Man With Two Heads" Frost and its star, the aging Tony Young. When you look bad in comparison to a non-actor (Marvin Gaye plays Tony's pal) it is time to find another line of work. Young lined up the financing for this baby and hired Frost on the condition he be given the lead. You won't find a more wooden actor than Young, whose character looks like an extremely dour 55 year-old man and is supposed to be the love interest for the two teen actresses.

Several times they appear headed in the self-parody direction (if that is what they had emphasized the film would be a classic) and Smith lets you know that he is playing this thing for laughs. But this tiny attempt at real humor is dwarfed by the unintentional hilarity and the giggles you will get from the many continuity errors that occur throughout the movie.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.