Welcome back to another Forgotten Reels, my update series that celebrates the Silent Films from our cinematic past as well as that amazing snack food known as potato chips. This update is the 1924 Comedy film The Speed Spook, a goofy movie that brought belly laughs to moviegoers as well as brought The Speed Spook driverless car to the big screens that blew the mind of moviegoers. And the chips we have at the snack bar are from Route 11 and you will have to wait until a little later to see what flavor they are. So let’s head on into the Rotten Ink Theater and find our seats as I think it’s time we chat about Silent Films.
The Speed Spook was released on August 30, 1924 and was distributed by East Coast Productions and was directed by Charles Hines with this film being his second feature film. Charles Hines was the brother of actor Johnny Hines who was also in this film as he played the lead character “Blue Streak” Billings. Other actors that made up the cast include Faire Binney, Frank Losee, Edmund Breese and Warner Richmond. The film was a comedy that had a hint of horror to it. When released, it was met with pretty good fanfare and reviews and over the years the film has sadly semi faded into obscurity. Even when it was released on DVD by Alpha Video, the film seems to have not gotten attention. The one thing that does get talked about in this film is the fact that the Ghost Car was being driven by a driver that was out of sight and was super close to the burning hot engine, and car lovers have always seemed to enjoy this modified race car as its very classic. The Speed Spook is a great example of a Horror themed movie that was turned into a comedy as cinema owners as well as studios just didn’t have faith that the scares of the screen would not get push back from moviegoers who back in the 20’s were a little more easy to shock and offend. Another reason that many Silent Film fans say that The Speed Spook is not as remembered as other films from 1924 is that Johnny Hines, who was a comedian was not an innovator but a duplicator and that his gags had been done better by many before and after him, making him lost in the shuffle of the emerging comedian film actor shuffle. But I myself find Johnny Hines to be a pretty funny guy who added his own style to the classic gags of the early vaudeville and talkie films.
The chips for this update was selected by Juliet just for this update as with this film being about a “haunted” car she thought what better chips then one from company Route 11 and we picked the “Sour Cream and Chives” kettle cooked chips to be the ones to go along with this spooky silly silent flick. Route 11 is a company out of Virginia and is a pretty well respected chip company that offers a variety of flavors. Check out the picture below to see the chips in the freshly opened bag.
I am looking forward to watching The Speed Spook as this will be a first time viewing for me, and I would love to see just how funny this film is. And remember I will be grading both the film and the chips on a classic 1-4 star scale. I also want to say on my film ratings I am basing it on a scale that is for silent films only and of all budgets and eras. So sit back in your theater seat, grab yourself some tasty chips and a soda and let’s head to the world of a haunted race car with Alpha Video.
The Speed Spook
Starring: Johnny Hines and Faire Binney Directed: Charles Hines
Not Rated 1924 90min Alpha Video DVD Full Frame
The stands are packed at a motorway as a car race is going on and in the race is “Blue Streak” Billings and he has his fans as they cheer him on to try and win the race, and he does! Chuck Brady is the mechanic and the guy who takes care of the race car and he is happy to see Blue Streak cross the line and get the fanfare and watches as Blue Streak is invited to a big banquet, and Blue Streak lets them know that he and Chuck will not be there as they are leaving for the city of Westwood a place that loves cars and is also the town of his lady. Once in Westwood, the townspeople are very happy to see Blue and Chuck and everyone rushes to shake their hands, and this makes them feel very welcomed and they shake the hands of almost everyone in town! Finally Blue and Chuck make it to Comet Six, the car sales business owned by Betty West and her father is the Sheriff who is running for re-election.
Inside Comet Six Blue is waiting for Betty who has rushed off to change out of her oil covered coveralls and while waiting around Blue finds the shops record keeping book and sees that they are in bad debit! Once Betty comes out of the backroom looking all nice in her dress the pair shyly chat with each other. Blue makes the mistake of asking how business is and after Betty tries to downplay how hard times have been, Blue talks about the dollar being what matters and this upsets her. He then asks how he and Chuck can help as they know cars, she says she has only sold one car and that it keeps breaking down on the main street and how people laugh at the owner for his broken car. And as they are talking Hiram Smith the man Sheriff West is against for the election and the man who bought the lemon of a car is outside and he is not happy. Blue goes outside and looks at the engine of Hiram’s car, he then drives it around the town and as people watch the car has issues and they all laugh at him. And as Hiram leaves Blue lets Betty know that he thinks that Hiram is doing something to the car to make it act up and that he is doing so to ruin Comet Six.
Judd Skerrit is a fellow car salesman and he sees what has happed and the spectacle that Hiram has caused, and he tries his best to block Blue from talking to Betty as it is clear he is also sweet on her. And Blue is able to sneak and ask Betty for a date that night, and she agrees. Late that night Judd dresses up in fancy clothes and heads to the West home himself as young kid buys itching powder that he uses on a cop, and when the cop gives chase the youth slips the package of powder into the pocket of Judd, who arrives to with it still in his pocket, and just on time Blue as well shows up at the West house ready for his date. Judd finds the itching powder in his pocket and sprinkles some on the seat and sticks around as Blue sits on the powder and as Judd talks to Betty, Blue starts itching really bad. And while sitting on the porch Betty brings out a radio and the three listen to some music, as Sheriff West asks for a cushion and Blue gives him his and he as well starts itching and all he wanted to do was read the paper. Sheriff West gives up and gets up as the family dog jumps on the cushion and as well starts itching. And as the night goes on, Judd offers Blue a ride back to his hotel, but Blue tricks Judd by acting like he got into the car and stays to be alone with Betty, Blue promises her that he will put over the Comet Cars in the town. Blue gives Betty a kiss goodnight and he meets back up with Chuck and tells him he is in love and that he has an idea to help get the Comet cars over that will turn the town into a circus.
Two weeks pass and Westwood is being shaken by a driverless car they have called The Speed Spook that has been zipping around town and scaring people. As Speed Spook drives through the townspeople gather around and watch it speed around and Sheriff West is worked up as he wants to stop the car as it’s breaking all types of road rules and speed limits. And many of the townspeople jump into their cars and go after Speed Spook and that includes Judd and the Sheriff who is in a side cart on a motorcycle holding a shotgun. And the chase starts as Speed Spook is zooming around and the others are hot on its heels. But we see that Chuck opens a hidden door that is covered by leaves and plants, and Speed Spook pulls in and looks like it vanished into thin air. And in the hideout we see that the driver of Speed Spook is really Blue as he and Chuck modified the car in order to pull of this hoax. And once they fully hide the car away Chuck gives Blue a ride to the home of Hiram who is hosting a pool party for all the rich and to do people of the town.
At Hiram’s house there is dancing, swimming and everyone is having a great time and Blue is goofily walking around shaking hands and being splashed by water. And Blue hits on an old lady that he mistakes for a younger woman and even passes out and falls into the pool. And once in the pool Blue just swims around and is a announce to many as he just splashes around and ruins many of peoples good time. And even the bratty kid with the itching powder returns and starts shooting his BB Gun and popping peoples pool tubes. While inside Judd is upset that Blue is there and is told to be nice as they need him if Hiram is going to win the election, and the rich old man confirms that he has indeed messed with the car he bought from Betty in order to boost the sells of Judd’s business. While Blue is out of the pool the bratty kid starts shooting him in the butt with the BB Gun and he thinks it’s a young lady by the pool smacking him on the butt, and after the ladies boyfriend gets involved a mishap has them all falling into the pool. Once back out and now inside Judd and Hiram are treating Blue like an old friend offering him drinks and cigars. And when Blue finds out that they want him to help Hiram become the towns new Sheriff he rejects there gifts and pledges his loyalty to Betty and Sheriff West and he storms out of the house. Meanwhile Judd and Hiram are upset but also are coming up with a plan that will help lock Hiram in as the winner of the election as Judd owns a printing press and claims he can just cheat and print out ballots that will have Hiram as the winner. The rich man says let him think it over.
Hiram Smith is starting his Campaign and holds a town meeting the night before election to talk to the towns people and even throw a little party to help push them to vote for him and its packed with people who are supporting Hiram. Meanwhile Blue and Chuck so up to the meeting with mischief on their minds as they use Hiram’s vote for plaques as cheese as they switch them out with the blind sandwich maker so people will eat these disgusting things and blame Hiram. They also use a monkey puppet to distract the man who is running the slide show for Hiram and replace them with slides of cartoons that are making fun of him. Blue then gets the towns people to go outside for real tasty sandwiches brought to them by Sheriff West and as the people head out Hiram gives Judd the green light to rig the election in his favor. As Judd and one of his men race off to the printing press, Blue gets into the Speed Spook and lets out flyers that challenges Sheriff West and the town’s people to try and catch him tomorrow at 3pm!
Judd and his henchman arrive at the printing press and they get to work on trying to print out fake ballots. Meanwhile The Speed Spook pulls up and as Blue looks out of his hidden hatch and notices Judd’s car parked at an old warehouse and gets puzzled and rushes off to change clothes and get his normal car in order to investigate as Blue knows something is not right. When Blue gets their he climbs a tree to open a hatch on the top floor and watches as Judd and his friend are cleaning the print plates, and by accident he drops the challenge flyer for the catch the Speed Spook and Judd reads it and sends his friend outside to look around, and as he leaves Blue drops down from the roof inside and gets into a fist fight with Judd. As the two are wrestling around Judd falls into the press and Blue sees that fake ballot printed on his back, and knows that they are truly up to no good. The henchman runs back in and clubs Blue upside the head and while he is knocked out they tie him up. And Judd and his friend continue to print out the fake ballots.
The next morning Judd has the ballots fixed and tells his friend that while the town is chasing the Speed Spook he will switch the ballots out and then will be the one to capture the driverless car. As they leave they make sure the ropes are still tight on Blue and then they lock him in the warehouse. Once they are gone Blue wiggles around and finds a magnifying glass and uses it and the sun rays to burn the ropes and set himself free, but can not find a way out of the warehouse yet. While in town it’s the final moments of the election and almost all the town has turned out for it, and besides voting they are also all worked up about the chase to capture Speed Spook. Meanwhile back at the warehouse Blue is looking for a way to escape and finds an old army tank and gets it up and running and even takes the printing plate with him to show that Judd was cheating to get Hiram to get elected. And with the tank Blue busts through a bricked wall and sets himself free and starts making his way towards town. Meanwhile Judd’s friend sneaks in and changes out the voting box at the poll while people are outside awaiting the arrival of the Speed Spook. Blue makes it to Chuck and tells him of the plot that’s at play with fake ballots, and then Blue gets into the Speed Spook and says first he has to let Betty West be the one to capture him so that her car sales will go up. As Chuck heads to town in order to alert people of the fraud, Speed Spook as well starts his quest to be caught.
Speed Spook arrives in town with its horn blaring and it’s Betty plus her father in one car given chase, and the other car is being driven by Judd who is working on ways to cheat to catch the car as well as dump the real ballot box. And the chase is going on at high speed and finally Betty is able to force Speed Spook to pullover and both she and her father are shocked when they find that Blue was the driver of the car that was made to look driverless. Blue tells Sheriff West that Judd has the real ballot box in his car and that the one at the poll has been rigged for Hiram to win and they all agree that the road he turned off on must mean he is dumping it into the river to get ride of the evidence. Blue in Speed Spook drives along the railroad tracks to cut off Judd as Sheriff West and Betty wait at the crossroads, and Blue takes a pair of handcuffs with him. Judd makes it to the river and tosses the ballot box in, Blue is able to get ahead of Judd and climb a tree and drop into his car and knock him out with a serious of punches. Blue handcuffs him and wakes Judd up and makes him sit in the driver seat of Speed Spook as he gets into the hidden driver seat and delivers him to the Sheriff.
Back in town Chuck is trying to tell all the towns people of the cheating plan of Judd and Hiram, just then Betty West in her car as well as Speed Spook with Sheriff West and Judd aboard comes pulling in and the townspeople flock to them. Sheriff West then tells the people of Westwood that the real driver of the Speed Spook has done them all a favor by exposing voter fraud, and that all his speed charges have been forgiven. West also makes sure to say that it was his daughter’s car that caught the speedster. He then shows the town that Blue Streak Billings was the driver and the hero of this election. Blue and Judd argue over the charges as the accused says he was framed and never did any of this that he is being accused of. But Blue outsmarts him and rips off Judd’s jacket and shows the ballot that was printed on his shirt when the two fought in the warehouse and this shows the town that Judd was a conman! And all ends well as Blue and Betty in the street next to the Speed Spook share a kiss as a random storm comes rolling in, and then the two get into the speedster and drive off in the rain.
Review: Speed Spook is one of those films that had a very interesting idea back in the golden age of cinema that sadly was not executed as well as the creators wanted it to be. Now let me explain film is named after the driverless car The Speed Spook that is really a hoax that is being pulled off by auto race car driver Blue Steal Billings and oddly enough The Speed Spook element takes a backseat to the over all story as the car rarely shows up in the film, and it’s mostly about Blue Streaks feud with Judd Skerrit who is a sleazy car dealer who is cheating and also going for the same lovely lady as Blue. The Speed Spook car is really cool and the design and look of the car is very neat and is the type of car that classic car lovers will very much enjoy. The story is a little weak and drags in spots as many moments are wasted on long drawn out comedy bits that add nothing to the story, and much time is also spent on the cars just driving around the roads and kicking up dust. With that said some of the comedy bits are funny and Blue Streak is a likable hero who while a goofball is also a slugger who fists fights, drives and out smarts the films baddies. Judd is a creep who tries to not only steal an election and the towns auto sales he also is trying the creep on our heroes lady! And when Judd gets punched in the head several times by Blue after dumping the ballot box in the river had me cheering. Betty West and her father are also good side characters and while they are not flushed out fully they do their part for the film as does Chuck and Hiram. The horror aspect of this film is a sand pebble and it’s mostly a comedy film that turns into an action film as at a certain point the slap stick comedy disappears from the film and it starts taking its self a little more serious. Johnny Hines who plays Blue Streak Billings does a great job and he does some good silly faces and some of his physical comedy is well done with his best bit being the stuff at the pool party. The thing about Speed Spook while it is entertaining and has moments that are great silent cinema stuff, it just kind of is middle of the road and the comedy bits are part of what slows the pace down as an example the bit of Blue shaking hands of everyone in the town of Westwood goes on way to long and even for that time the humor of the wacky handshake was dated and when done so many times in a row the charm it did have wears thin and the comedy aspect flees. I should also note that I like the friendship of Blue and Chuck as they are racetrack teammates and clearly also best friends. The Alpha Video DVD print of this film is pretty good and while it has scratches and such it’s a normal silent film print that has not been digitally remastered. Over all Speed Spook is a good film but not a great silent film that is filled with a cool car, cheesy classic comedy and a sand grain of horror and while over long it still brought the entertainment and laughs.
The Route 11 Sour Cream & Chives are just okay as the chip itself has a good texture and crunch, but the flavor of the sour cream and chives is very light and didn’t pack a huge punch. But with that said sometimes its nice to have a chip that is not just covered with the flavor powder making it all you taste. And to be honest the more of them you eat, the more of the flavor does start to pop out and cover your taste buds. Route 11 is a good chip company and while this is not their best flavor I have had it was still an enjoyable one that made for a tasty movie-watching snack.
Movie: **1/2
Chips: **1/2
I love silent films and after watching Speed Spook for the first time I will say that while it’s a middle of the road film that is not a must see film it really is an interesting film of early car chase cinema. And also when you think about it the film even has elements of crime as the main plot is to stop voter fraud, and also has elements of early haunted object as people of the town of Westwood think that the car is driving on its own or is being driven by a ghost. And while the comedy of the film was your normal slapstick and nothing new, it still packed some humorous moments and I will say I am a fan of the film overall. The Route 11 Sour Cream & Chives potato chips as well were good and not great but was a tasty treat that made for a great snack attack eat. Well the lights are coming on here at the Rotten In Theater as Speed Spook is over and that’s our cue to head out and as we make our way out I would like to inform you all that our next update will be about the classic sitcom Horror Host known as Zombo! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Silent Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! And make sure for the next update to bring a box of Crumble Creature Crackers and some milk.
