Jerry Thurston column
The famous film celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, so it’s time for a rewatch, or indeed a first viewing, of a project that brought motorcycle sport to the public’s attention like nothing ever before.
While being aware of this seminal 1971 film for years, I had never seen it. Finally though, having stumbled across the entire thing on YouTube, I sat down to watch it and have corrected this omission in my motorcycling education.
Of course, this is not a film about classic motorcycling – at the time, the machines blasting across the screen were new. It’s odd to think that the latest machines seen in the pictures are now approaching half a century old, so, yes, today it’s about classic motorcycles.
Why was it so good? Simply because it was a well filmed and serious look at the sport, without the unnecessary silliness associated with previous productions. Before this, it appeared that there was an unwritten rule for narration. Anything that looked remotely dangerous, like when a bike was getting squirrely or out of control, would immediately have the narrator breaking into slightly uncomfortable and definitely unfunny pseudo-comedy mode, spouting “Woah chap, hold that horse” or the like.
Its more serious and wide-ranging coverage of motorcycle sport wasn’t the key to its universal popularity though. The film’s success weapon was that it featured then superstar actor Steve McQueen.
This was not a multi-million dollar movie – it cost around $300,000, when the 1971 Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, reputedly cost around $7.5 million. So, far from being featured as an A-list actor, McQueen was merely an enthusiastic amateur participant in motorcycle sport. I get the feeling that he was involved just for the heck of it; after all, in the events in which he rode he was just another rider, having a great day out with other like-minded individuals, kicking back and being just ‘Steve,’ as was sign-written on the back of his helmet. Indeed, far from being paid for his appearance, his own production company put up some of the cash to make it.
Although being classed as an amateur, it is common knowledge that McQueen was a handy rider, good enough to be selected for the American ISDT team in 1964, famously lugging a big Triumph twin around East Germany… That he often rode with his ISDT team-mate and long-time friend Bud Ekins, a Californian Triumph dealer and stunt-man, is also widely known; inevitably, Ekins turns up in the film too.
While it’s natural that the camera would linger on the A-list star as he charged across the Californian scrub in desert events, or competed in the relatively new and exciting motocross races, the film-makers didn’t reserve their praise for just him, as contemporary flat track hero Mert Lawwill and the evergreen desert enduro rider Malcolm Smith (among others) warrant plenty of screen time. The real heroes, however, will remain the hundreds of, as they put it of… “Average Joes, out for a day’s excitement”.
It’s interesting to note that, despite this film being made in a time when advertising still might occasionally suggest that a wife would be delighted with a vacuum cleaner for a Christmas present, they don’t make any big thing of the many female riders… While they mention in passing the ‘desert daisies,’ a group of all female desert racers, they don’t make a huge fuss. We can learn from this as even today I still see captions that can’t resist pointing out that the rider in the picture isn’t a bloke... While modern in many aspects, some things have changed since 1971. I winced at the pile of burning tyres in the pristine desert, fired to provide a smoke beacon for the riders to head to!
Noticeable too is how ‘American’ the movie is. Some of the disciplines featured in the film are peculiar to the continent – take flat track racing, so basically speedway on 750cc Harley-Davidsons on a mile of track rather than a few hundred yards… “120mph and flick it left” says the commentator, and they do. It’s spectacular, even without considering the comparatively crude suspension and tyre technology of the time.
Outstanding for me is the motocross footage. It’s not my favoured sport but I really appreciate the skill. The production team managing to capture in slow motion what bikes and bodies go through; the riders were brave indeed as in 1971 all you had between you and crushed vertebra was a 4.50 section tyre and four-inches of suspension travel. Although modern tracks have become more extreme as suspension technology has advanced, they were fairly tricky even then.
The drag racing sequence is amazing and all too short. Unfared and uncomplicated, these light machines are the epitome of performance… Wind in the revs on your nitro methane burning Triumph, BSA, Norton, Harley, or whatever you fancy and dump the clutch. Feet up, cling on and hope the four-inch M&H slick stops spinning sometime before the end of the quarter mile…
If you haven’t seen it… you should. I suggest on any Sunday afternoon.
“Of course, this is not a film about classic motorcycling – at the time, the machines blasting across the screen were new.”