Directed by JACK STARRETT Story by RICHARD COMPTON Teleplay by V.A. FURLONG & JEROME WISH Cast WILLIAM SMITH as Angel VALARIE STARRETT as Laurie DANIEL KEMP as Dan Felton GENE SHANE as Ron LEE DeBROUX as Pappy EUGENE CORNELIUS as Space PAUL HARPER as Chic MARGARET MARKOV as Meg Felton ANN FRY as Flo Felton BRIAN RAPP as Felton Child JENNIFER STARRETT as Felton Child JEB ADAMS as Felton Child LOU ROBB as Roger HOMER THURMAN as Elmo AUSTIN ROBERTS as Harry STANFORD MORGAN as Stan RICHARD COMPTON as Ritchie RACHEL ROMEN as Maggie JOY WILKERSON as Estelle WALLY BERNS as Doctor Theme Song Vocalist TAMMY WYNETTE

Angel has broken the biker code selling his story to a  magazine for $10,000.  The money is in a bank in San Francisco waiting for him if he can get to it before some irate gang member does him in.  He's takes flight on his motorcycle accompanied by his long suffering girlfriend Laurie (played by the director's wife).  The best part of this surprisingly good low budget movie is watching the not very sympathetic, male chauvinist, girlfriend abusing, boorish, short-tempered, swaggering Angel turn into a decent, hard-working guy under the influence of the good family man who hires him to work on his bucolic sheep ranch and sweet Laurie who we  quickly realize is either way too good for Angel or sees something precious beneath the swagger.  It's sweet to see how excited he is to get the job.  (We get the impression that like many gang members he's been living off the earnings of a hooker girlfriend.)  Although they are all quite innocent, Bill has more love scenes in this movie then he has in most of his others put together.

Laurie bails Angel out of jail He has the gall to taunt her by asking if she operated "an assembly line" to get the money

They stop for some fast food before hitting the road and are spotted by some gang members.

Trying to get out of town before the gang catches up.

One of the gangs after Angel

They escape by freight train with the gang hot on their heels.  Angel gets his bike on the train in a rather spectacular stunt which is one of only three that in all his movies that William Smith did not do himself.  They ride through the countryside, stopping at an abandoned school house where someone has stored some hay.  After a little pot inspired sex, they spend the night in the hay.

The last of the pot

but not the last of the sex

The little schoolhouse

The next morning, Angel wakes up and Laurie's gone.  She hasn't gone too far.  But until he finds her sitting under a tree, his plaintive calling shows us he would really be lost without her.

They move on to find a conveniently furnished little house for rent (although it isn't' clear that they ever actually rent it).  When they move into the house there's some cute scenes as Laurie tries to achieve some unfamiliar domesticity which Angel polishes his bike and daydreams about the $10,000.  Then Angel displays his more boorish side as he mocks Laurie's efforts.  He snipes at her cooking, he disparages her outfit as Salvation Army and swills down the wine she wanted to have with dinner.  He finally decides he's going to hit the road, unreasonably blaming her for the mess he got them into by selling out his gang.  But when he runs out of gas, he has to come back and they make up.

Daydreaming about his $10,000

Angel is obnoxious and unappreciative of Laurie's attempt to make them a home.

Angel loses his temper when Laurie refuses to take the blame for their being on the run

When his bike runs out of gas, he comes back a little nicer.

When he gets a job on a sheep ranch, Angel is thrilled.  They celebrate at the beach with another love scene.

When Angel fixes up the sheep rancher's old Harley and he and Dan go racing around, Laurie sits around bored.  Angel comes home excited, but Laurie's starts to wonder if she's ready for the straight life.  She hitches a ride with a stranger but at the last minute decides not to turn a trick.

While Laurie is deciding whether she can go straight, Dan is giving Angel an alternative outlook on what constitutes the good life.  As this discussion takes place while they are engaged in the not-so-pleasant task of dipping sheep, Angel is something of a hard sell.  But he softens up around the family dinner table with Dan's wife and four fresh-faced children.  During that dinner there's a little foreshadowing of suspicions to come as Dan catches Angel watching Dan's high school daughter bending over in what passes for a sexy pose.

Philosophizing over the meaning of life while dipping sheep.

At the midday meal, Angel is as curious over this family tableau as the family is over him and his chopper.  Dan has to remind them not to ask  "the boy" too many questions.  [Bill was about 35 when he filmed this movie.]  There is a little foreshadowing of trouble to come here.  Angel glances at young Meg as she bends over at the stove and then sees that Dan has noticed the look.  The studio shot below was apparently intended to be suggestive of that moment but is in fact much more suggestive than the actual scene and, as shown by the different clothes, not taken contemporaneously with the filming of the scene.

Family at dinner

Unaccustomed to the ritual

The loving mother

The inquisitive boy

The fresh-faced teen

Angel comes home from the family experience critical of Laurie who has bought them some clean clothes but forgotten to make supper.  But after smashing her new radio against the wall and general displaying a childish fit of temper, he calms down and they have some more makeup sex.

In the meantime, the gang is doing some mean Three Stooges shtick as they try to figure where to look next for Angel.

They luck out when Dan's incredibly naive daughter Meg goes to a teen hang-out and admires one of their bikes.  When she makes a comment about the bike owned by her Dad's new employee, they know they've struck pay dirt.  But rather than be satisfied with that (and perhaps to establish them as biker scum rather than bikers displaying righteous anger at being betrayed by Angel) they take her back to their camp.  They interrupt her enthusiastic chatter about her plans to be a teacher and an actress to gang rape her.

Meg admires a chopper

And is naively impressed with the rider

Chatting around the campfire

Things go bad

Meg was warned if she "opens her yap" they'll come back after her momma.  .  She is probably too traumatized to speak anyway.  But her girlfriend saw her ride off with someone on a chopper.  Then Dan hears her scream hysterically when Angel leaves off Dan's truck and starts up his bike engine.  He's also seen Angel's picture on the cover of the magazine in his son's room.  He jumps to the conclusion that Angel is the perpetrator, not knowing that Angel has turned an errand for Dan into a chance to pickup his cash but been stuck there with car trouble.  Dan goes after Angel with a shotgun just about the time he discovers Laurie has suffered the same fate as Meg.  The gang taunts him to come out.

They bring her home

Much worse for wear

Her father thinks he knows who did it.

 Laurie also has been victimized by the gang.

When Angel takes on the gang and doesn't seem to be winning, Laurie throws the briefcase of money out into the melee in disgust.  Angel, showing that he hasn't exactly decided to settle for the simple life of a sheep rancher, grabs up a big wad of the money and buries face in it.  One of the enemy gang, apparently about to kill Angel, asks him if if was worth it.  Angel says it was.  As Angel is about to be permanently dispatched, Dan shoots the bad guy.

Down but not out

Still wants the money

Despite the danger

But when Angel tries to thank him, Dan pumps the shotgun, still believing Angel is the one who despoiled his daughter.  It's only when Laurie crawls over to Angel, probably looking similar in condition to his daughter, does Dan start to get the picture.  [For some reason Angel has never mentioned Laurie to Dan.  Maybe he liked his free as a bird image.]

Dan looks ready to shoot

The angry father

Laurie crawls to Angel

NiteOwl Review:  This was a nice little low-budget drive-in flick.  It had more heart than most of the biker movies we've seen in our video group.  Bill looked great, especially after he removed that terrible fake mustache.  They must have done some filming out of sequence.  Otherwise they would have let Bill use his own facial hair which was usually quite attractive.  This movie made no effort to glamorize the biker life style or make them look like misunderstood rebels.