''The Wild Ride'' is a 1960 American film directed by

Harvey Berman Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Harvey (play), ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most imp ...

and starring

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

as a rebellious punk named Johnny, of the Beat generation, who spends his days as an amateur dirt track driver in between partying and troublemaking. It was released by

Filmgroup The Filmgroup was a production and distribution company founded by filmmakers Roger Corman and Gene Corman in 1959. Corman used it to make and distribute his own movies, as opposed to ones he was making for American International Pictures. (The rea ...

as a double feature with ''

The Girl in Lovers Lane ''The Girl in Lovers' Lane'' is a 1960 American film directed by Charles R. Rondeau following the adventures of two drifters who get involved with the residents of the little town of Sherman. The working title of the film was ''The Young and the D ...

''.The film has become part of the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

and is considered by some to be a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Plot

A rebellious punk of the beat generation spends his days as an amateur dirt track driver in between partying and troublemaking. He eventually kills a police officer, kidnaps his buddy's girlfriend, and sees his friend's life end in tragedy.

Re-cut version

In 1999, ''The Wild Ride'' was re-edited with new footage that makes the original film a long flashback sequence. Running 88 minutes and titled ''Velocity'', the new scenes feature Jack Nicholson impersonator Joe Richards playing an older version of the character originally played by Nicholson, as well as performances by Jorge Garcia,

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...

, and Dick Miller.

Cast

as Johnny Varron * Georgianna Carter as Nancy *Robert Bean as Dave *Carol Bigby as Joyce *John Bologni as Barny *Gary Espinosa as Cliff *Judith Tresize as Ann *Wesley Marie Tackitt *Sydene Wallace *Donna Dabney *Garry Korpi *Leonard Williams *John Holden *Raymond O'Day *Carl Vicknair as Police Officer #1

Production

The executive producer on the film was

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. Harvey Berman was a high school drama teacher in northern California who had gone to the UCLA drama school with some friends of Corman. He decided to make a film during the summer in and around

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Bay ...

using some of his high school drama class students in the cast and crew and sending a few Hollywood professionals to work with them. One of these was Jack Nicholson. Corman later wrote "this is one of the little pictures I remember with pleasure; it turned out very well."Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p. 138

References

External links