a5c7b9f00b Stock car racer Tommy Callahan is forced to join Pete Madsen&#39;s thrill circus after his blackouts cause a fatal accident that gets him thrown off the circuit. He shows Pete&#39;s daughter Francie and her boyfriend Eddie Sands everything he knows about driving. Eddie takes up with Tommy&#39;s girl Annie Blaine after winning the first time out. They become fierce rivals by the next race, during which Tommy remembers driving over his brother with a go-kart and Eddie hits the wall. Sure, the story is trite and Warren Berlinger is embarrassingly bad, but &quot;Thunder Alley&quot; manages to be a fairly decent flick. Credit Richard Rush (&quot;The Stunt Man&quot;) for getting pretty good performances from Annette Funicello and Fabian. Diane McBain is always good,is Jan Murray. Maureen Arthur gives the movie a poignant edgethe bubbleheaded &quot;Babe,&quot; who can&#39;t really grasp the tragedy which has just taken place around her.<br/><br/>The stock racing scenes are pretty good, but never really integrate into the story, due to AIP&#39;s unwillingness to match the color and resolution.<br/><br/>Annette does a surprisingly good version of &quot;What&#39;s a Girl to Do.&quot; Couldn&#39;t believe she could really sing. Annette also demonstrate some comedic skills which, sadly, neither AIP or Disney ever really put to full use.<br/><br/>This is one of AIP&#39;s better efforts. I saw it on FLIX, which, apparently has the extended version which includes Annette&#39;s song. Racing enthusiast Fabian (as Tommy Callahan) smokes, drinks, and suffers blackouts while juggling feelings for alluring brunette Annette Funicello (as Francie Madsen) and blonde mainstay Diane McBain (as Annie Blaine). Complicating matters are Ms. Funicello&#39;s boozy race car boyfriend Warren Berlinger (as Eddie Sands), and her father Jan Murray (as Pete Madsen), who encourages the reckless drivers. Funicello&#39;s cow-eyed performance is sometimes enjoyable; however, her drunken driving scene is unnerving. &quot;Thunder Alley&quot; provides marginally more NASCAR excitement than its predecessor, &quot;Fireball 500&quot; (1966) *; be warned, it isn&#39;t much. A wild party scene, featuring some mild strip tease, is the film&#39;s low highlight.
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