What to Watch - Ride the Wind (1971)
Ride the Hot Wind (1971)
Dir. Duke Kelly Runtime: 76 minutes
Ride the Hot Wind is a film that attempts to merge the retuning Vietnam veteran trope with the bike-spoliation boom of the late 60s and early 70s with very mixed results. Shot on a shoestring budget on a non-union set, the film stars Tommy Kirk as Captain Gregory Shank, a Vietnam veteran who had been imprisoned by the US Army after being falsely being accused of being responsible for a massacre during the war. He is court marshalled and later released. Back in the state he tries to start fresh, but employers either will not hire the disgraced vet or fire him once they learn of his past.
After a bit of meandering, Shank struggles to maintain relationships and spends the nights fighting in bars for kids. This eventually leads him to become a de facto leader of a local biker gang who end up going on a wild crime spree as the police begin the pursuit and eventually are responsible for the very same actions Captain Shank was charged with.
Ride the Hot Wind is a meandering, slow, and pretty downcast film. There are times where the film is unintentionally funny, but overall, the film is gloomy by nature. It is unsure if it wants to be a political film, or an exploitation film. The script and lines are pretty average to bad, and the acting is not even. If you are interested in this film for the bikes, or biker antics, the first half hour is completely devoid of such content. The remaining 41 minutes you get some bike shots, but not as much as other similarly themed films.
The film was seen by lead Tommy Kirk as Duke Kelly’s attempt to provide a sympathetic dramatization of soldiers returning from war after taking part in or witnessing great atrocities. Kirk does a great job as portraying a bitter, alienated, and unhappy solider sent adrift after being labeled a baby killer.
The film stars Tommy Kirk, a one-time child actor who had a string of films while on contract with Disney including being cast a Joe Hardy in the Hardy Boys as part of the Mickey Mouse Club. He also appeared in Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent-Minded Professor, and more. He frequently appeared as a love interest for Mouseketeer star Annette Funicello.
Kirk’s career with Disney ended when news of his homosexuality threatened to become public after an incident with an underage costar led to him being personally fired by Walt Disney. This would lead Kirk to working in a number of American International beach movies including Pajama Party, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, Bikini World, and more.
After work with American International dried up Kirk filmed two non-SAG films including Ride the Hot Wind which would nearly cost him his SAG membership. Kirk eventually would leave acting for the most part to run his own carpet cleaning business.
The film also co-stars Sherry Bain a veteran of the bike-spoilation genre with credits in The Hard Ride, Wild Riders, and more.