Fireball 500
| Fireball 500 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | William Asher |
| Produced by |
James H. Nicholson Samuel Z. Arkoff |
| Written by |
William Asher Leo Townsend Burt Topper |
| Starring |
Frankie Avalon Annette Funicello Fabian Chill Wills |
|
Production
company |
American International Pictures
|
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Fireball 500 is a film, blended with the beach party film genre. A vehicle for stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and Fabian, it was one of a string of similar racing films from the 1960s. Written by William Asher and Leo Townsend, and directed by William Asher, it tells the story of Dave Owens (Avalon), a stock car racer forced to run moonshine.
Stock car racer "Fireball" Dave Owens from California goes to race in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he intends on competing against local champ Sonny Leander Fox. Dave beats Leander in a race, impressing the latter's girlfriend, Jane, and the wealthy Martha Brian.
Martha persuades Dave to drive in a cross country night race, not telling him he is in actuality smugging moonshine. Agents from the IRS threaten to send him to prison unless Dave helps them bust the local moonshine ring.
After a driver, Joey, is killed while doing a run, Dave and Leander agree to team up to investigate the accident. They discover it was caused by placing a huge mirror across the road. It turns out that Martha's partner, Charlie Bigg, was responsible for the moonshine and the murder... and tried to kill Dave because he was jealous of Martha's attachment to him.
Dave wins the big race but Leander is injured. Jane helps him recover and Dave drives off into the sunset with Martha.
The movie was part of a conscious attempt on AIP to move away from beach party movies, which were losing popularity, and go towards youth rebellion films such as Fireball 500 and The Wild Angels. AIP executive Deke Heyward said that:
The next big thing for teenage films is protest. Teenagers empathize with protest because they are in revolt against their parents... These films represent a protest against society. These will be moral tales, there will be good guys and bad guys. But we will show the reasons for young people going against the dictates of the establishment.
Stock car racing had already been the subject of Red Line 7000 but this movie would be specifically told from the teenagers point of view.
Fabian signed a multi picture deal with AIP in late 1965 and this was the first movie he made for them. It was shot in early 1966. The "Fireball 500" is a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda, heavily customized by George Barris, with a 1966 Hemi 426 Plymouth engine that develops up to 425 h.p. At one point in the film, the car is referred to as the Batmobile, prompting Frankie Avalon's character to quip, "Yeah, well this was built first." Barris also built the Batmobile for the Batman television show which premiered in January 1966.
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Wikipedia