Such Men Are Dangerous

Racers, The (1955)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely poor racing film about a hot shot driver (Kirk Douglas) who tries to woo a woman (Bella Darvi) while pissing everyone off. Think Champion and take away everything great and you end up with this movie, which is pretty bad from start to finish. I'm really not sure what the point of this thing was but I can say it's the worst Douglas picture that I've seen to date. A lot of the film has various racing scenes, which were boring but they were the best thing about the movie. There's some nice crashes and stunt work but all the dramatic stuff sandwiched between is just deadly dull, lifeless and pointless. Douglas really sleepwalks through his role and it's probably the worst I've ever seen him. I'm not sure what was up with Darvi but she is one of the worst actresses I've seen in a major picture. Her sexy routine was just dreadful. The supporting cast includes Cesar Romero and Lee J. Cobb but neither are given much to do. The film was shown with a 2.55:1 ratio but I had to see it in 2.35:1, which makes for some nice shots but there's no meat with those shots.

This film is much better than the soapy, more recent "Grand Prix," though without the high production values of that film. The off-track drama is kept to a minimum, with Kirk Douglas playing an Italian race driver (without an accompanying accent), with co-racers Gilbert Roland (the devil-may-carefree driver and the retiring Cesar Romero) acquitting their roles in fine shape. The racing, both during real races and simulated, is quite well done. The Grand Prix cars of the late '50s are shown in their glory, with races at Monaco, Monza, Nurburgring and sports cars running the thousand-mile Mille Miglia. Certainly worth your time to watch--it comes up on TCM on occasion, or is available on Netflix.

much more obvious that the actors aren't really driving the cars than in later films like "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix" Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, Lee J. Cobb, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero\\\ Had I never seen "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix", I am pretty sure I would have liked "The Racers" a bit more. This is because these two 1960s racing films have the most incredible cinematography you can imagine--and the stars (Steve McQueen and James Garner) did most of their own driving. Here in "The Racers", however, the scenes of Kirk Douglas and the others are OBVIOUSLY filmed in front of a screen where the race is projected--and this isn't even done terribly well. It looks fake because it is fake.

As far as the plot goes, it's very much like Kirk Douglas' earlier film "Champion". In both, he is so bent on winning that this is all there is to his life--and it obviously alienates those around him. He isn't quite as cut-throat in "The Racers", but he is pretty close. The rest of the movie is pretty much a soap opera-like affair--with Douglas and Bella Darvi in an on-again/off-again love due to his relentless pursuit of victory. It's all very adequate and nothing more. The only reason I saw it is because I try to watch all of Douglas' films I can find--even the supremely adequate ones.

Kirk Douglas plays green upstart on the European racecar circuit, falling in love with pretty French ballerina while clawing his way to the heights of success and celebrity in Monte Carlo. Bella Darvi (a Leslie Caron lookalike) plays the love interest; Lee J. Cobb co-stars as Douglas' team manager, chomping on his stogie and bellowing orders like a drill sergeant. Despite the phony backdrops and back-projection, the noisy track action, the general overacting and all the bad French accents, this is a rousing, enjoyable drama with well-cast Douglas appropriately chewing things up as the arrogant ace. The set-bound stuff is awkward, but director Henry Hathaway keeps a lively pace and Alex North's score is first-rate when it's audible. **1/2 from ****

For The Racers, Kirk Douglas dusts off his character from Champion and gives it a new home in the European Auto Racing Circuit. He also decides, wisely I believe, not to adopt any kind of phony Italian accent in his portrayal of Gino Borgesa, a race car driver who is ruthless in his drive to reach the top of his profession.

Henry Hathaway assembles a very good supporting cast with Lee J. Cobb as the Italian auto manufacturer and fellow drivers Cesar Romero and Gilbert Roland giving a good account of themselves.

This must have been a chore for Douglas to make however because Darryl Zanuck was using this film to showcase his latest mistress, Bella Darvi. The woman made three films this one, Hell and High Water, and The Egyptian before Zanuck gave up.

Poor Bella couldn't act worth anything, but supposedly her other talents were legendary. Her life story would make a fascinating film, much better than The Racers. Bella did look right at home in the various jet setting locales for The Racers. It's where she spent her time and tragically died too young there.

As for The Racers, Kirk simply reprises his role in Champion and goes through the motions. Champion was a far better film. And the ending was no cop out as I believe viewers of The Racers will find to be so.

Good action scenes here. But in the sixties Grand Prix with the advantage of Cinerama would make The Racers outdated on a technical level.