Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

secondtake Speed (1936)This movie has a small bit of historic interest for reasons that don't make it a very good movie. First of all this is James Stewart's first official leading role. As he commented once, he got lots of small parts in big movies, and in this on he got a big part in a small movie. The movie is small because it's low budget and rather poorly written (both in its plot and its dialog). Secondly, there are scenes of early (1935) Indy 500 racing. The most surprising part of this is having two people in each car, a driver and a mechanic who kept the systems going at their peak (or just keep them going at all in some cases). This allows for some pretty corny scenes where one of the people in one car will make faces or gestures to someone in another car (as they are cruising at 140 mph). If you like Stewart you'll like him here despite the various limitations. He plays Terry Martin, whose love of racing at a track leads eventually to his going after a land speed record in a bizarre car with a giant fin for stabilization. (This was a special vehicle supplied by Chrysler for the shoot, not quite the real deal.) Of course this leads to a crisis and then the woman of the story, played with lackluster but reasonable ease by Una Merkel, gets her chance to win the hero's heart. This gives nothing away, believe me. It's all in lights from the get go.A better movie, if still not even slightly brilliant, is certainly the 1950 Clark Cable movie with Barbara Stanwyck in the leading female role (and with a far more empowering part for a woman) , "To Please a Lady." And if you really want to round this out, the Paul Newman movie from 1969 called "Winning" is another faltering attempt at making this scene work on screen. Maybe if all three were played simultaneously on three screens you could get the roar and some interesting plots mixing together well. Individually they make for some fun moments and lots of stalling and pits stops. The actors, at least, are stars that hold their own in each case."Speed" is never slow, but that's not the same thing as getting any kind of checkered flag. Watch as filler.

wes-connors "Emery Motors" cars are being tested by race-car driver James Stewart (as Terry Martin). Although he should be wounded in the opening crash, Mr. Stewart emerges from a car unscathed. He must be invulnerable. "Woman drivers" make Stewart nervous, so he takes the driver's seat to show arriving publicist Wendy Barrie (as Jane Mitchell) how cars are created on an assembly line. "A whole lot of man and a while lot of machine make a whole lot of automobile," Stewart explains...From the engineering department, Weldon Heyburn (as Frank Lawson) also likes showing Ms. Barrie around the factory. He doesn't seem to notice the loving glances being thrown around by Una Merkel (as "Jo" Sanderson). Stewart gets his new carburetor in shape for the "Indianapolis 500" with help from comic sidekick Ted Healy (as "Gadget" Haggerty). "Speed" amounts to little more than stock footage and juvenile romance. In the end, Stewart learns "a girl can have horse sense too." *** Speed (5/8/36) Edwin L. Marin ~ James Stewart, Wendy Barrie, Weldon Heyburn, Una Merkel

blanche-2 If one is asked to name the top 10 actors of the classic era, certain names always show up: Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and James Stewart. Before Stewart became a megastar, though, he acted his way through small roles in big films - Rose-Marie, Born to Dance, Small Town Girl, Wife vs. Secretary, and a big role in a B film, Speed (1936). At 70 minutes, one wouldn't think it would be too long, but it is.Speed is the story of a young man, Terry Martin (Stewart) who is the chief car tester for an automobile company. He has invented a carburetor which has not been refined or tested yet, but he has high hopes for it. A young woman, Jane Mitchell (Wendie Barrie), arrives there to work in publicity, and both Terry and an engineer in the company, Frank (Weldon Heyburn) are interested in her. When Frank is assigned to work on the carburetor with Terry, Terry isn't happy about it. And when he asks Jane to a dance and she refuses, saying she has too much work to do, and shows up with Frank (she's doing him a favor), then Terry is really unhappy and resentful.Ultimately the company decides to enter the finished carburetor in the Indianapolis 500 race, even though Terry isn't satisfied that it's ready.Lots and lots of racetrack footage, with Stewart playing a guy with a chip on his shoulder about his background. Una Merkel has the role of a secretary who has become an executive and is in love with Frank. "I wonder," she says with a sigh, "if a woman should rise too high." Yeah, it's the '30s all right.I love James Stewart and I really believed I could watch him in anything. This film is certainly of interest to see how he was brought along in his career, but that's about it.

bkoganbing I've always been curious about this since someone never got the bright idea to release it on video to capitalize on the success of Keanu Reeve's film with the same title. After viewing it, I think it was to save James Stewart's reputation.This Speed is a modest B picture actioner about a test car racedriver who is a bit of a fathead. For reasons not explained in the film, he has a problem with design engineers who have an education. But he's got an eye for Wendy Barrie from the publicity department and so does Weldon Heyburn the engineer who has roused Jimmy Stewart's ire.That thin romantic plot is fattened out with newsreel scenes from the automobile plant and from racetracks. Stewart is involved with a nasty crash that almost kills his pal Ted Healy who as the sidekick has the best part in this film.Since it didn't cost much and played the bottom half of doublebills, I'm sure Speed recouped its cost for MGM. But today it wouldn't make the made for TV grade.