In my original review of this film, I mistakenly referred to the vehicle's owner as "Jake Jacobs". Somehow, I got Mr. Jacobs confused with his partner and friend, Mr. Pete Chapouris, for which I apologize to both gentlemen.It should be noted that Mr. Chapouris is the builder of "The California Kid" and he is also a well-known and respected hot-rodder out of California.(The original coupe is on display at "Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts", in Peculiar, MO, under the care of Mr. Jerry Slover. According to reports, the "California Kid" and its stable mate, "Jake's Coupe" have been driven more than 250,000 miles since their original construction as hot-rods).

Martin Sheen's brother (in this case, truly it is, in real life) is killed by a local sheriff, who enjoys pushing speeders off a cliff 2 miles from the state line.Martin drives a beautiful sports car, with "The California Kid" painted on the side, hence the name of the movie.This movie has at least 5 times where no words are spoken for several minutes, an interesting feature.Young Nick Nolte does a good job, especially after his brother drives off that infamous cliff. Stuart Margolin plays an understated role as a deputy sheriff. And Michelle (Mamas and the Papas) Phillips does an OK job as a waitress.This is a satisfying movie.

In 1958, Clarksberg was a famous speed trap town. Much revenue was generated by the Sheriff's Department catching speeders. The ones who tried to outrun the Sheriff? Well, that gave the Sheriff a chance to push them off the Clarksberg Curve with his Plymouth cruiser. For example, in the beginning of the movie, a couple of servicemen on leave trying to get back to base on time are pushed off to their deaths, if I recall correctly. Then one day, a stranger drove into town. Possibly the coolest hot rodder in the world. Michael McCord. Even his name is a car name, as in McCord gaskets. In possibly the ultimate hot rod. A black flamed '34 Ford coupe. The colors of death, evil and hellfire. He gets picked up for speeding by the Sheriff on purpose. He checks out the lay of the land. He is the brother of one of the Sheriff's victims. He knows how his brother died. The Clarksberg government is all in favor of the Sheriff. There's only one way to get justice served for the killing of his brother and to fix things so "this ain't a-ever gonna happen again to anyone": recreate the chase and settle the contest hot-rodder style to the death. He goes out to the Curve and practices. The Sheriff knows McCord knows. The race begins... This is a movie to be remembered by anyone who ever tried to master maneuvering on a certain stretch of road.

For those of us Baby Boomers who arrived too late on the scene to appreciate James Dean et. al., Martin Sheen showed us The Way in this great feature.The premise is easy enough: cool hood meets small town sheriff and All-Hell ensues, but the nuts and bolts of this movie enthrall the car nut in all of us. No, this isn't Casablanca, nor is it great Literature, but it IS a serious movie about cars, rebellion, and the genius that is Martin Sheen.Enjoy this and appreciate it for what it is, and for what Martin will become. I loved this movie growing up as a teen in the 70's, and you will too.