VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P131
one of Hollywood's top directors,
Roger Smith (Margret's real-life
husband), motorcycles and sex
appeal should have made for a
pretty good combination.
The young sport of motocross
nets some significant 1970s
screen time, and even C.C gets
a chance to do it in the dirt on a
Kawasaki Bighorn. Most of these
segments clearly involved a
stuntman, but Namath is actually
riding a chopped H-D in several
scenes. Margret (whose name
in the movie is also "Ann") joins
him, not as a passenger, but
riding her own minicycle along
-
side C.C. on his chopper. An avid
motorcyclist, she could've easily
swapped rides with Joe Willie.
Fans have had 55 years to
have viewed C.C. and Company
but in the spirit of good sports
-
manship, consider this a spoiler
alert. C.C. and his gang, The
Heads, have had a nasty and
bitter split from one another,
and Ryder now finds a new life
with his wealthy girlfriend. This
doesn't sit well with Moon, the
gang's leader, who then kidnaps
Ann and demands a $1000
ransom for her release. There
is a little more backstory to that
one, but we will get right to the
movie's climax, which involves
an odd flat track race of sorts:
choppers on a high school
track-and-field complex, C.C. vs.
Moon. The winner walks away
with a very pretty redhead!
"As you watch this movie,"
Schneiders wrote, "you become
aware that some bits are a little
too much, even for this type of
movie. The hero of these plots
is usually a good-guy type who
somehow becomes involved with
a gang of thoroughly despicable
motorcyclists. But Joe Namath
is a 7-foot choir boy with an Iowa
corn grin that won't quit. The few
bits of deviltry that he gets into
are more reminiscent of Huck
Finn than Marlon Brando."
The theory of the suspen
-
sion of disbelief is a pact made
between the folks in the theater
seats and the moviemaker. We
will pay our fee to enter your
imagination, set aside some
conventional wisdom and play
along, so long as there are hot
chicks, handsome dudes and
cool vintage motorcycles (some
of which will, of course, burst into
flames after even a minor crash)
to keep us entertained. One of
the film's craziest premises takes
place before the movie begins,
and that is the fact that an NFL
team allowed its star quarterback
to even ride a motorcycle, some
-
thing that is prohibited under
most pro contracts today.
Maybe Namath's own contract
stated as such. But C.C. Ryder
makes his own rules, as Ann
discovered early on in the film.
Mystified by the dichotomy of
a handsome and kind man who
has saddled up with a gang of
cycle toughs, Ann wants to know,
"What are you looking for?" "If
I knew that," Ryder retorts, "I
wouldn't be looking now, would
I?" Loving, brawling and bus
-
tin' it up—all to an excellent
soundtrack, by the way. Toss
in a cool chopper and a snappy
Kawi Bighorn. If C.C. still hasn't
found what he's looking for, it's
probably something he shouldn't
have anyway.
CN
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The movie starred the famous
quarterback, Joe Namath.
