Speed racer Peter Wells crashes his marriage but not his car, his choice between chrome and steel and the soft, supple flesh of his lovely wife. The movie isn’t nearly as interesting as that sentence; it’s a humdrum melodrama without a single noir element. Terence Fisher’s direction is lax, the photography bland, and the editing and back projection lackluster. However, much of the film is stock footage of Formula 1 racing and it includes some awful, deadly crashes and some tense moments on the track. In one crash, the driver is actually catapulted from the car, and I expect it was a fatality!
How this film ended up being included in the Hammer Film Noir set Volume 2 is the real mystery. This is purely a tepid melodrama that has as much energy as a TV soap opera. Peter Wells (Richard Conte) is aging out of his profession but can’t give it up just yet, while his beautiful wife Patricia (Mari Aldon) can’t take the pressure of his life-threatening career any longer. That’s it. That’s the plot. No femme fatale. No Blackmail. No murder. No backstory. Just a lot of stock footage with an announcer telling us which driver is in the lead. This movie crashes and burns on the first lap. Skip it.
Final Grade: (D-)
