Rebel Highway: Motorcycle Gang

Rebel Highway (1994)
Episode 3: "Motorcycle Gang"
Original Airdate: August 8, 1994 

Jeff and Cheryl cruise down Rebel Highway with Episode #3, "Motorcycle Gang."

Teleplay by Kent Anderson and Laurie McQuillan 
Story by Kent Anderson 
Directed by John Milius 

Starring: 
Gerald McRaney as Cal Morris 
Jake Busey as Jake 
John Cassini as Crab 
Richard Edson as Volker 
Carla Gugino as Leann Morris 
Elan Oberon as Jean Morris 
Marshall Teague as Kincaid 
Robert Miranda as Lawyer 
Gina Mastrogiacomo as Waitress 
Don McManus as Cisco 
Julia McNeal as Vivian 
Pete Antico as Road Pig 
Peter Sherayko as Hanson 

An Arkoff / Hill / Kutner Production 

View the Motorcycle Gang trailer here. 

You can buy Motorcycle Gang on DVD. 

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Our open and close includes clips from the following films/trailers: How to Make a Monster (1958), The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), High School Hellcats (1958), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), The Wild Angels (1966), It Conquered the World (1956), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), and Female Jungle (1955)

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
California here we come. A peaceful family.

(00:11):
A cross country journey and a detour straight to hell.
Didn’t see a motorcycle gang, did you?
Bunch o' real psychopaths. From John Millius,
director of The Wind and the Lion and Red Dawn.
They stalked his family,

(00:32):
“I’m such a bad girl, aren’t I?"
terrorized his wife,
kidnapped his daughter
"i'm gonna take care of you real good."
Now someone is going to pay.

(00:53):
you
you
Gerald McRaney,
Ellen Oberon, Carla Gugino and Jake Busy
just you and me yeah
Motorcycle Gang
we're not talking about actors
we mean a real monster
I brought her back

(01:15):
she'll live and i'll get her another body
I know they're gonna catch me but don't let anyone see me like that! Please!
Doctor, help me!
Biologically speaking it’s of primary importance
that man should want to mate
hey that's right
you don't get all your kicks from surfing do you?
we want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man
and we want to get loaded
you think you're gonna make a slave of the world?

(01:37):
I'll see you in Hell first!
the American International Podcast
are you ready?
this is the American International Podcast
where we are covering the showtime's Rebel Highway series
i'm Jeff Markin and i'm Cheryl Lightfoot
and on this episode we're looking at Motorcycle Gang
Motorcycle Gang aired on August 5th, 1994

(01:59):
it was the third episode in the Rebel Highway series on Showtime
it was written by Laurie McQuillan and Kent Anderson
directed by John Millius and produced by Lou Arkoff, Deborah Hill and Willie Kutner for Drive-in Classics
and Motorcycle Gang stars, Gerald McRaney as Cal Morris,
Jake Busey as Jake, John Cassini as Crab
Richard Edson as Volker

(02:21):
Carla Gugino as Leann Morris
Elan Oberon as Jean Morris
it also stars Marshall Teague as Kincaid, Texas Ranger
Robert Miranda as the lawyer
Gina Mastrogiacomo as the waitress
Don McManus as Cisco
Julia McNeal as Vivian
Pete Antico as Road Pig
and Peter Sherayko as Hanson
and in summary, Motorcycle Gang is set in the 1950s

(02:43):
where Cal Morris and his family are traveling from Texas to California for Cal's new job
and on the way they meet a motorcycle gang
who terrorized the family and kidnapped Cal's daughter Leanne
they take her to Mexico and Cal and his wife pursue them to get her back
so what do you recollect from Motorcycle Gang
1994 which we just watched?
Well the opening we see Carla Gugino dressed in black on skates

(03:05):
carrying a tray of food
she's a car hopper to drive in
and her voiceover is going to tell us the story of
what transpired to make her wear black and become a car hop I guess
She's tougher than she looks
and people wouldn't know that unless they knew her back story
which we are about to find out
Cal Morris is a Gerald McRaney
who I don't know if you ever watched major dad back in the I guess the 80s

(03:27):
I think those the early 90s
Maybe the early 90s yeah
so he is the star of that series
and here he's also former military man
I guess the story was a current military man
anyway so he used to be in
I don't know what branch in the military
I think he would have been a World War II soldier at this point
given his age and the fact that it's the late 50s
Well they said it was the 442nd or 422nd
Yeah but I don't remember what branch that meant

(03:49):
so that's the division
but he and his family are making their final
pack-in to move
Other stuff in a moving van so it's just the family
and they're going to drive there
Yeah he's got a powder of blue Ford
It's really sweet looking
That someone has scribbled the words California
or bust on the back of and he's not exactly thrilled about it
He thinks it makes him look like an okie
in a John Steinbeck novel or movie

(04:11):
So as he's packing his daughter
Leanne is saying goodbye to a friend of hers
bunny and they're sitting in the grass
and looking at a national geographic
Pre-pornography being available everywhere
You would scandalize yourself by looking at pictures of native Africans
in various states of undress
So I was pretty tacky
and just not PC now
but that's what we did back then

(04:33):
shame to say
And here we get a little A.I.P. shout out
Probably the only one in this whole movie I think
Little Easter egg
Bunny's wearing a giant pin with Fabian's face on it
And for luck she gives it to Leanne
Leanne pins it on her shirt
And then it's time to go but Leanne's mom's not there
So Calcens, Leanne out to get her mother
And her mother's busy
She's saying goodbye to a friend of her own

(04:55):
Jerry
And they're all alone saying goodbye
in the most intimate way possible
Not the most intimate way possible
Not the most intimate way possible
Well in this movie
where you don't get too much nudity
I don't think we get any nudity
It's romantic let's call it
They're kissing
This is goodbye forever I guess for them

(05:17):
There's a little affair is about to be over
He gives her a going away present
So I'll figure out lighter
Yeah but there are initials on it
J and J
Gina Jerry
There's a J on either side
Coming so she has to break up for fun
farewell with Jerry to say face
She checks her makeup
Everything's good so she goes out to

(05:39):
meet her daughter
They all pile into the car
And they head out
Gina asks if Cal wants to say goodbye to Jerry
And he does not
So they leave
Goodbye Houston, Texas
Hello Los Angeles, California
So they're barely out of town
Before there's a sort of
They almost hits it

(06:01):
But he doesn't freak out
And Jean wonders why he's not freaking out
But Cal's showing how call me is
In dangerous situations
And that's the point of that scene
And then they have a conversation about how long this trip's gonna be
Apparently this wasn't discussed beforehand
It's gonna be a three day trip
As long as they don't do any sightseeing
But the very next scene has them
Stopping to take a picture of themselves in front of a mountain

(06:23):
So they're already off schedule
I'm sure that was just a brief stop
While they're out there, Leanne notices a motorcycle
Driving by on a distant road
So they get back into the car again
And Cal wants to keep moving
But Jean and Leanne are hungry
And they convince them to pull over
And that is the big mistake that starts everything off
It always is
They never should stop

(06:45):
You just keep going
Pack sandwiches
So they're inside and Jean is drinking a bit
And she asks her husband to dance with her
But he's too sober for that
He leaves, probably use the bathroom or pay the bill or something
And Leanne and her mom talk
And once her dad's away, we see that Leanne is kind of flirting with the cowboy at the counter
She's not flirting but she's eyeing him and he's looking her way too

(07:08):
Well, she's smiling
It's the kind of flirting that a 16 year old girl would do
She's not really trying to get anything going here
But she's pretty, she's very pretty
And he's appreciating her and she likes that
But her mom does not like that
She doesn't want her giving this guy ideas
Leanne is leaving him on
And she wonders where Leanne got her wild streak from
I think she was just taking fashion tips from him

(07:29):
Because he's all in black and in the future
That's what she wears
And her car hot days
But I mean, it's a universal thing that once you've been through trauma
The only color you're allowed to wear is black
So I think that's probably more of the case
There's trauma
Oops, spoiler
Where did he gave the whole synopsis of the movie
Leanne says, well, I learned it by watching you mom
But she doesn't really say it in so many words

(07:50):
She sees the lighter
And I think she knows what that means
And now we have the inciting incident
Calgary turns and they all head back out to the car
And the motorcycle gang is out there
Big tooth, Jake Busy
And three other guys
Jake Busy's character is conveniently named Jake
Oh, thank God, so helpful
He's leaning on the Ford and he compliments Cal on it
As the Morris is piled into the car

(08:12):
He starts flirting with Leanne too
But unlike the cowboy at the counter
She's not very comfortable with his flirting
Not that I blame her
He's leering at her and not a complimentary way
But unfortunately, now he's spotted her
And there's really no help for her
No, the Morris is drive off
And Jake returns to his buddies
And they all decide that Leanne must be in love with them now
And she's some sort of prize that they now have to win

(08:35):
First Jake and the gang go inside the restaurant
Where I guess he's also got something going on with the waitress there
And they're sitting down talking to each other
She's kind of flirting with them
But then he leans in and grabs her and kisses her
And it's really seemed to appreciate that
I don't think that was welcome
Then we go back to the Morris' car
Leanne has seated shotgun
And we don't really see Jean
She must be sleeping in the back

(08:57):
She's out somewhere
She's always tired
And Leanne and her father have a conversation about the move
And how shall Mr. Friend
But she wants a fresh start
She's hoping things will be bigger and better out there
And Cal wants to give that to her
And then we catch up with the motorcycle gang again
They left the restaurant there out in the middle of nowhere
You're gonna feel surrounded by nothing
When their lawyer comes for a meeting
And he's really gonna regret not having this meeting in his office

(09:19):
He has bad news and they don't take it well at all
No, he wants them to do some sort of deal in Mexico
He's gonna give them 500 up front
And then I guess the balance of the 5,000 when they return
But they don't like that deal
They want the money now
They want to pay their expenses
And they don't trust him to give them the money when they get back
And he doesn't trust them either because he pulls on a gun
And as he tries to back away

(09:40):
But he's outnumbered four to one
They slam his arm in the car door
And the gun goes flying
Jake pulls on a knife
And eventually the guy gets stabbed
Then he falls down
And then they start shooting him
With his own gun
With his own gun
And it takes about eight bullets before they finally get a kill shot
Guys cry in the whole time
It's kind of pathetic
It cuts a little bit later

(10:01):
And the body has been discovered
The cops are on the scene
And so is Conque, Texas Ranger
And Cal had seen them
I don't know if you noticed
This was a quick scene, Cal
Sees the cop coming from the other direction
So he's still in the vicinity of where that happened
And now it's time for a stop at night

(10:25):
Driving all night was an in-option
That when you're the only driver
No, sorry, maybe Jean doesn't even have a license
So they stop at a motel and Leanne has her own room
And Cal sees his wife in the bathroom
She's adjusting her teddy
And she comes to a bed in that
And she gets flirty with them
But just when he's finally into it
She shuts him down and says she's tired and has to go to sleep
Cal dutifully turns the lights out

(10:47):
I guess he's probably used to this
But there are others in the motel who are having better luck
Because they wake up Leanne with their moaning
And she goes to the wall and puts her ear against it
Get a little excitement
And then we cut away back out into the middle of nowhere
And we see that Jake is getting lucky too
He's got that waitress from the restaurant
But she's not lucky because almost immediately
He pumps her full of heroin

(11:08):
And she expires
Then when Jake's done, he unites with the rest of his gang
And they start reminiscing about that little girl
They saw at that restaurant
Then they leave
And they had a campfire burning
And they don't extinguish it
Only they can prevent forest fires
Well, they also leave a dead waitress in the car
Well, their sins are mounting up
So next morning, Cal Morris is checking out
And the hotel owner notices that Cal was in the 440 second

(11:31):
Or whichever regiment that was
And so is his son who sadly didn't make it through the war
He shows this picture but Cal doesn't recognize him
And somebody that he knew
I don't know what that's supposed to mean
Did he have traumatic brain injury?
And he just doesn't remember?
Does he not want to remember?
It doesn't matter because regardless, he doesn't have to pay
The hotel owner doesn't have to pay
And he comps him the room
So they hit the road again

(11:53):
Once again, Jean is sleeping
And Leanne is down in the backseat
And gets her father to tell her about when he and her mother got married
And it's totally lame story
He was on leave
They got married
They danced all night
And then he left the next day
Because only a weekend passed
He didn't have a lot of time
The gang rides to a gas station
Advertising roadside attraction
They've got a snake-nade in Medusa
They go in most of them play pool

(12:15):
Crap stays outside to play with the snake
And Jake goes in but he hasn't played pool
Now he robs the place
I mean you saw that coming, I'm sure
He opens up his switchblade
Points at the register
The elderly clerk goes, "You want some candy?"
Jake shakes his head
So the clerk gives him the money
And surprisingly, does not get murdered
The guy is just leave
But before he leaves, Crab, the guy who was looking at the snake

(12:36):
Decides to do a little more and may him
He dumps the snake into the box of baby chicks
That were meant to be fed to the snake one at a time
But instead the snake is now going to feast
Oh that's where I saw the chickens
These are very disgusting people
There's no nuance here, there's no shades
They're just bad
And having done their damage they take off
Little time passes
And the police are taking the gas station-attended statement

(12:58):
As the morris has drive up
The cops say they know who did this
So this gang is known to them
But they're just following on the heels of their crime spree
They're not getting ahead of them at all
Carol wants to find out more but they don't want to talk to him
And unfortunately when they leave, Jake and the gang are watching
So they've been spotted
Now they know their current location
Yeah, they're watching through binoculars

(13:19):
So they're keeping a closer tab on them
They're always going to have the binoculars
But now it's another night which means another motel
And this one has some interesting proprietors
They're beatnicks
If it's more of a beatnick attitude than beatnick in appearance I guess
So we have Cisco, he's a photographer
And Vivian, he was a model
His photography is up on the wall
And they both start flirting with Jean

(13:41):
They ask if she was a model, she's like, well, I post for art classes
But she's very, very flattered by this
They get their key and go to their room
This time it looks like they're all sharing a room
And Jean is really excited to have seen real life beatnicks
"Weren't they cute?" she says
Spotted in the wild, beatnicks
And Leanne asks, what about those guys on the motorcycles?
"Weren't they cute?"
"No."

(14:02):
"They're gangsters!"
Jean explodes, she's not into these guys
With good reason, they look like the trouble that they are
"Yeah, my husband worry ties."
Both she and Cal warner to stay away from those hoods
Don't even think about them
Then it's time to get some dinner
They're going up to the tasty freeze
But Jean's going to stay behind, she's tired
From doing what, who can say?
But she does order a cheeseburger

(14:23):
And fries
So Jean is alone in the room and resting
When there's not on the door
It's Vivian, who says that Cisco would love to get some shots of Jean and her daughter
And give her some shots too
But they're at the tasty freeze so
Jean can just go now and leave a note of where to find her
And she does leave a note which Cal finds when he returns
Went to the beatnicks, cool jazz, wine, come on over

(14:44):
But this isn't Cal scene, so he just sends Leanne to go off alone
And by now Jake has arrived at this hotel
And he sees Leanne going to the other room, unshaparoned
Leanne picks it in the room before going in, and she sees her mother posing
I think in a different movie there would be something else going on here
But she's showing some shoulder
They play it kind of tame I think
Then Leanne goes in to deliver her mother's burger

(15:06):
And Cal waits in his room, kind of bored
He hears the sounds of laughter coming from down the way
Where that little party is going on
And Jake's still in the parking lot
Jake goes over to the car, lifts the hood, and cuts the radiator hose
He ducks out of the way as Cal looks out the window
Cal has found that lighter
Yeah, and he correctly interprets that the J and J

(15:28):
Mean that his wife was cheating on him with Jerry
He probably had suspicions before in that sealed the deal
So next day Cal is polishing the car
I think he's trying to wipe off those words from the back of his trunk
You're going to be telling people your business or you're going
And Vivian and Cisco bid a tender farewell to Jean and Leanne, I guess
And they try to give Cal some vitamins to go

(15:49):
So the morris is leave
Leanne says that those guys were really cool and they're not even married
What? Cal seems very startled to hear this bit of news
Well, it's the 50s and he's a straight lace army veteran
Not surprising, he would feel that way
Meanwhile, Jean is looking through the photos Cisco took last night
We don't get to see them really at all
But they seem a little racy
I would see them as they're thumbing through them

(16:11):
But there's nothing too startling, it's the 50s
There's a lot of shoulder
After Jean passes the photos back to Leanne so she can look at him
Cal hints to Jean that he knows about her affair
And this is about as long as it takes for that car to overheat
So Cal is going to go off to find some water leaving Jean and Leanne to cook in their car under the hot desert sun
Well, what choice do they have? They could all go, I guess

(16:32):
They probably would have been better, but Jean would be too tired
But this gives Jean and Leanne a chance to have a little talk
Girl talk
And they talk about Jerry kind of
Leanne calls her mom out on betraying her father
And then Jean guilt trips Leanne into admitting that they are still friends
She doesn't want any rift between them
She wants to pretend like everything's fine
And I think Leanne gets tired of this

(16:53):
So she just goes off for a walk
She doesn't go far, but she just gets out of the car away from her mom
Meanwhile, we see Cal made it back to that motel
And Cisco and Vivienne have given him a container of water
And Cisco is going to give him a lift back to his car
Well, that's really nice
The gas station would never...
Except on the way Cal has to listen to a beatnik diatribe
I think Cal is really tuning him out, honestly

(17:15):
I did, I didn't write down anything he said
Because it doesn't matter
What matters is that back of the car
The gang has found Jean and Leanne
And they swarm around the car
Leanne is sitting by the side of the road when there's a sound of approaching motorcycles
Jean calls out and locks herself in the car
Well, she tries to get Leanne to run there, but there's no time
So all she can do is lock the door

(17:36):
At least if she were to survive this, she could tell Cal what happened to their daughter
I guess you couldn't interpret that as being a little too self-interested
But I'm sure it's just her survival instincts kicking in
So Crab and Vulker and Ropeig are circling the car
Jake picks up Leanne who's still at the side of the road
And when she starts to struggle, he shows her his knife
And that gets her to calm down a little

(17:58):
He forces her on to the back of his bike and they drive off
Leaving the other three still there, swarming Jean
One of them has a crowbar and is able to smash the window and gang access to the car
They pull Jean out, this is really terrifying scene honestly
All three of them are grabbing at her, she's trying to get away
It looks like rape is imminent
But that's when Cisco drives up in his red triumph convertible

(18:21):
And one of the guys has a chain
And as he's driving by, he swings the chain at the windshield of the triumph
And I think he hits Cal in the passenger seat
I don't know, Cal's thrown from the car, but he's thrown out from the driver's side
I think he was maybe trying to get out right away and the door was open
And once the car got hit, it spun out a little bit
That container of the water comes out first and then Cal falls out

(18:42):
Well, it's good he has the water because he's going to need that later
But that's everything that they need, so Cisco takes off
Maybe he was going to call the cops?
It's not his fight
I don't think he does call the cops because they don't know about this
When we catch up with the cops later
Nope, he still has to give windshield fixed
So the other bikers write off
And Cal goes to his wife and gets her to calm down
Says yes, they took their daughter, but they're going to get her back

(19:04):
Now it's nighttime
And Jake and Leanne are still alone
He stops the motorcycle and decides to reassure her
Saying that he saved her from those other gang members
Which as we know is a flat out lie
She knows it too

(19:25):
They were with you, she says, and he goes, nah
Anyway, we got to get to Mexico before they catch up to us
He's denying reality
Now we're at the police station
Before Cal arrives, we hear some cops talking about how the waitress was found
Pumped full of heroin, her heart almost exploded
And when Cal shows up, he tries to talk to the death sergeant who's on the phone
And just shush his cal and tells him to wait his turn

(19:46):
This is the most exciting thing they've had in this town
Because they've had two murders and things like this just don't happen here
In the back room, we see there's Ranger Concade
There's Concade, Texas Ranger
And a couple of other cops
And they're talking about the crime spree too
And where they think the motorcycle gang is headed now
And Cal sits down and overhears all this
And what he hears is enough for him to
Or go to police and take matters into his own hands

(20:09):
What I think he hears is that they think the gang is going to Mexico
And that's not their jurisdiction
So they have to wait for him to come back
But Cal doesn't have to wait
So I think that's the thought process there
Right, and Cal doesn't have the time to wait
Even if she's still alive, she's been through hell
His daughter is in the hands of a busie
Oh yeah
And that would alarm any parent
So Cal leaves without getting their help

(20:32):
And Concade says that he's seen that man before
But he's not sure where
He doesn't know if he's a crook or a cop or what
But nevermind, they have to head out
And now we're back with Jake and Leanne
And they're on their solo ride
We see lights in the distance and he tells her that's Mexico
And he says he's going to take her there
And not to worry, there they can be free
And sometime later they'll find her parents

(20:54):
I guess to get permission to him, do whatever
And then he kisses her
He looks
He asks if she's cold and he gives her his
Probably smelly jacket
And then they ride off
They reach the border and they'll let right in
Yeah, I guess this is not today
The Border Patrol guy just opens a gate
And it waves everybody in
No questions asked
So they go to a small town

(21:16):
Where Jake asks to speak with Mr. Gortman
They're at a, I think, a restaurant
Called La Fevrita
There's tacos on the menu
There's tacos on the menu
Yeah
And this is where we learn that
Jake is fluent in Spanish
He must have done many deals with these people before
Obviously they're dealing in drugs
Jake has the package and he wants to leave with the heroin
Or something like that

(21:37):
But he's got this white girl on the back of his bike
And that seems to be a bit of concern for all involved
Yeah, Mr. Gortman doesn't like having this green guy here
He thinks that maybe he can't trust Jake now
And he says that she reminds him of one of his own daughters
But then he says he wants her
Well, he wants to send her back home, I think
No, he wants her for himself
Because then Jake says that she's private property

(21:59):
No, Jake knew what they were saying
Jake was telling her that
Oh, well, he told them
Yeah, Jake was misinterpreting on purpose
What they were saying
Because he knew that Leanne had no idea
So he was trying to make it look like he was protecting her again
Oh, right, but I'm saying what he was telling them
That they can't have her
He was genuinely concerned for her

(22:21):
I mean, they don't do anything to help her
So how concerned could they be?
Well, they kind of can't
So anyway, they're going to go to a shed and wait until Mr. Gortman is ready to do business
And the shed kind of gave me fast and furious vibes
It reminded me of the shed where they spent the night in there
Oh, wow, yeah, it is a literal shed
It's not like some quaint little cabin they call the shed
It's just a shed, but there is a bed in there

(22:43):
Unfortunately, or the end
Now Jake's gang rides right through the literal open border
And now we're in the shed
Jake lights a lantern and lays down on that bed
Leanne sits nearby and takes back his jacket
Then he notices her fumbling with her Fabian
Ha, ha, ha, good one Jeff
She didn't really want to sit there, but like she has a choice
Then he tells her to lay down and she has to lay down next to him

(23:04):
She doesn't fight him off when he starts kissing her though
Well, not yet
Then we see that Jake's gang is at La Favirita
Do you know what's happening there?
They too asked for Mr. Gortman
But he's not around this time
I don't even know if it's important, but we know they're all in it together
And at this time the moroses are crossing the border
They were let right into
Those were the days
You didn't even need a passport

(23:25):
Then we're back in the shed
Jake is still kissing Leanne and he's getting a little handsy
How would say he gets more than handsy?
It looks like he's raping her
Well, he gets to the point where he does, he pulls off her jeans
And unzips his
She's struggling, he smacks her
And that's when she grabs Fabian
And she sticks him in the neck with it
We don't have a check-offs revolver here
But we do have a Fabian pin that saves the day

(23:46):
He gets off her, she gets her jeans back on, and runs for it
But she runs prey on the shed into the breast of the gang
Fortunately, her luck is not turned yet
Jake shrieks at them to catch her and they do
This movie is really dark
I mean, it's not like I just noticed it, I just finally wrote it down
Now, Callan Gina have reached the town
They read that restaurant looking for someone who could speak English
Sergeant Lopez is there and he can speak English

(24:08):
She's also the liaison, I guess, for Mr. Gortman
Who's watching from an upper balcony
Call talks to Gortman
He talks through Sergeant Lopez
Well, he asked if Lopez can speak English
And Lopez says yes, so they begin conversing in English
And he's asking about a gang has a gang come through here
And as they talk, Lopez speaks Spanish up to Mr. Gortman
And they're having kind of a private conversation

(24:30):
Not for Cal's ears
Because he only speaks English, well, he doesn't speak Spanish
So they know he's there for the girl
And they don't seem willing to help him, at least not now
But they do mention where they think the gang has taken her in Spanish
Then an English Lopez tells Cal that wait till morning and we can help you then
Cal goes back to his car and before getting in
Thanks them in Spanish for their cooperation

(24:52):
He says enough to let them know that he heard everything and understood it
So now we know Cal is going to the shed
He gets back in the car and tells Jean that they're going to be on their own
And that he's going to need her help that she needs to do what he says when he says
No questions asked
And the next time we see him, he's sharpening his knife on his shovel
There's two weapons

(25:13):
They're back in the shed and the whole gang is there
Broad pig, one of the gang members is shooting up
They're all drinking and drugging and Leanne is an unwilling bystander
And they're pouring beer down her throat
And putting lipstick on her
And there's also a cantina waitress sitting there, just sitting on crab's lap
They kind of bicker about who I guess is going to have her next
I don't think anybody wants her

(25:34):
Bulker decides that he wants some of this fresh meat
He wants some of that clean white thing
He says he's never had a virgin before
And Jake says, oh she's no virgin, she practically raped me
So every accusation is a confession as they say
Maybe she is still a virgin, maybe he didn't actually get to rape her
Meanwhile nobody wants to watch crab get with the Mexican Harlot
So they convince him to take her home

(25:55):
Or go somewhere
So he goes out with the girl only to be met by Cal
And Cal gets him in a chokehold and breaks his neck
So he is down for the count and the Mexican Harlot takes off as well she should
And Cal goes in the shed, it's time to get rid of the rest of them
And it looks like all he has is his shovel
He takes care of Volker first because he's the one who's going after his daughter at the moment

(26:16):
Yeah and they don't swarm him, they don't attack three on one, they do it one at a time
That's what they do in movies
It's a fair fight, except it isn't because that shovel is freaking sharp
It looks like he's shoveled off his kneecap, he gave him a good stab with that
He's not dead but he's down
Then road pick starts swinging a chain and he disarms Cal that shovel
But with his training Cal is better at hand to hand combat

(26:37):
There's some ladder leaning there and he uses the ladder to catch the chain and disarms road pick
Now it's just Cal and Jake, so they fight a little one on one and Cal takes Jake down easily
Break his arm
But road pick sneaks back in
Yeah he grabs a knife that was sticking into the wall
Yeah meanwhile Leanne picks up that shovel and she gets road pig when Jake comes in for a second shot
She clobberes road pig and then Cal leans down and chokes him out

(27:00):
Jake decides that he's gonna run for it, he scrambles out of the shed but Jean is there
And I think she stabs him so maybe she had the knife
Jake is wounded, he tries to get to his motorcycle but he can't mount it and he falls onto the ground
Then we cut to all the bodies being gathered in the shed
Cal pours gasoline over them and Jean provides her a fair later
This is a symbolic moment

(27:21):
She's seen that her husband is the guy for her finally
And by using this lighter to set her daughter's attackers a flame, it signifies a new chapter in their marriage
This movie is so profound
So they go back to their car, this time they don't get through the border quite so easily
The Mexican police are there and the American police and can Kate Texas Ranger are there
And they have a few questions

(27:43):
They want to know what was their business in Mexico, how long they were there
Cal says they were just visiting tourists, they were only there one night
And no, we definitely didn't see or kill any motorcycle gang
Can Kate tells them that he doesn't know how lucky he is
Cal says he's very lucky and he looks at his wife and daughter
And the cops ask him but they're not really asking
Do you play it on staying here long?

(28:04):
And of course the answer is no
He has a job to start in California
And as they drive off Cal and Jean and Leanne agree that they're going to keep this dark secret to themselves
They will never tell anybody what happened
But it's eating Leanne up inside and she wears black now because we're back at that drive-in
Where she's still car hopping
Well I don't think it is eating her up inside
I think she's overcome this

(28:26):
She's found a new strength in this
She's telling us that this was her story
And this is why you might think she looks like a marshmallow but she's secretly tough inside
And she doesn't have nightmares because she doesn't dream
And that everything real leaves a scar
We all have them
And then the song evil by the wild colonial plays us into the credits
And that's the end
So Cheryl this 90's interpretation of motorcycle gang is a lot darker than the 50's version

(28:59):
Yeah, we did just watch that a little while ago
And that was basically about two rival gang members having to race it out to prove one is better than the other
It's so tame compared to this
Well I read that director John Millius never watched the original motorcycle gang
He just took his own interpretation of the title and went a totally different direction with it

(29:21):
Well that's what the assignment of Rebel Highway actually was
Oh yeah it was I'm not complaining I'm not saying he should not have done that
I read an interview that he gave to the LA Times and he said that he imagined the AIP movies
Where people were traveling and they always came across something
Whether it's a zombie apocalypse or giant ants or some kind of human villain
And so that's where you got the genesis of the idea that this family they're your normal typical upright Americans are traveling across country

(29:49):
And out in the desert they come across the worst people in the world
And that was the whole germ of the movie
It's a road movie but it's a scary road movie
And that works because when you're traveling you don't have a home base
You don't have a place to go for protection
And especially when you're out in the desert we live in the desert
And there's long stretches of nothing
There's nobody to help you if something were to go wrong

(30:11):
And this is the 1950s where they didn't have cell phone
No not cell phones they didn't have a gas station like every 20 miles
I traveled across the country several times
And I never was that far from a place where I could stop to get gas
Maybe there's a hotel I've been looking all around me I could see nothing
But I knew something was coming up

(30:32):
But here they're really far away from everything
Well today we had the advantage of GPS and you can look okay
I have 50 miles of gas in my tank and I have 47 miles to the next gas station
I'm just gonna make it
But you don't know in those days what you're gonna make it or not
Because you don't even know where it is
And when they encounter the trouble they had with the car
You know when the radiator blows

(30:53):
I mean that's a terrible thing
That's just a disaster waiting to happen
It's hot, they're in the desert
There's nobody around, there's no guarantees
There's nobody around, I don't know how far they were out of town
But Cal had to walk that entire way and leave his women folk alone
Where anything could have happened to them
It brings back how very vulnerable we are

(31:14):
Even now we're still vulnerable out there on the road
But back then it was even worse
You were more remote from everything
So that really adds to the tension and the suspense in this movie
Yeah I read this in an op-sus and I thought
That sounds pretty good
But I think it's not the original
Yeah, I definitely think that as movies go
This is a more cohesive and compelling film than the original was

(31:37):
So I definitely feel like this is an upgrade
Even though I liked motorcycle gang from 1957
I enjoyed it but that's just because it was kind of spunky dumb fun
And this is not dumb, it's not fun
It's genuinely frightening
I think it was hampered by the budget somewhat though
Because it feels like a made for TV movie
Oh yeah, it definitely does, it doesn't have that theatrical

(32:00):
But I think with more money he definitely could have made it so
He could have got some better actors
And I think the production values would have been higher
And we would have seen that on screen
They had $1.3 million for every movie in this series
I'm not sure who did the score for this
But even the music, it sounded very made for TV
Honestly, until the final credits played

(32:21):
It was the first time I even noticed there was a song playing
And there were plenty of songs in this movie
But it didn't really reach my consciousness until the credits were playing
I didn't notice the score when they were coming into town
And it's dark for voting music
But it sounded a little canned
Do you think there's a moral to this story?
Don't stop for lunch
That's advice. I say the moral is

(32:42):
Except any momentos you're offered as a going away gift
Well that's also advice, isn't it?
No, you should always be armed with something
Whether it's a shovel or a Fabian pin
Don't go out there allowing people
Fabian pin and later are both gifts
They both came in handy
We don't know where the shovel came from
That was just there
They just had that trunk because it's probably hard to get shovels in California

(33:03):
Well, if you're driving through the desert
And you get stuck in the sand
Maybe you have to dig yourself out, I don't know
Maybe I should have a shovel in my car
Next time I go to California
I'll regret not having it for shadowing that
What do you think of the cast in this movie?
It was easy to buy
Major dad as an army guy
And Jake Busy as a sleazy motorcycle guy
And then I go on to play sex machine in the TV version of from Destill Dawn

(33:27):
Oh right, I forgot that
This movie kind of reminds me of that too
The trip to Mexico
Everything bad happens
And a very young Carlo Gagino is here
I think she's really good in this movie
But I like her a lot
I can't think of anything that I haven't liked her in
She's a great actress
And I like that they gave her a lot of agency
Where she wasn't just a victim

(33:49):
She fought back twice
It was just disturbing knowing she's just a little younger than me today
So seeing her that young made me feel really really old
Well if it's any consolation, she is also really really old now
If that's what you call old
I know she's my age now
So seeing her that young man, I was that young back then
Oh yeah
Which means that time has passed

(34:11):
Oh no, I've aged
Yeah that's 31 years ago
There are people who are alive today who weren't even born then
There was another familiar face
Recognizing Richard Edson as vulgar
His face was very familiar
He had a noticeable part in
Good morning Vietnam, a small part in how are the duck
But he's probably most remembered for a movie
Where I don't think he had any lines
But he was one of the valets who stole

(34:33):
Cameron's Porsche in Paris Spuiler's Day Off
Yeah that's it
That's where I know him from
Like I said his face was familiar
That's awesome
I didn't recognize Elan Oberon at all
She was Jean
And she was on IMDb
No, apparently she's sung a song in this movie
She's on the soundtrack as performing one of the songs
A lot of times when a cast member is created with a song

(34:55):
It's something that's seen like maybe two lines of or something
Like I said, I was completely untouched by the music in this movie until the very end
So I'm just telling you what I read
I just have one bit of trivia from this movie
There was an earthquake just before filming was to begin
The January 17th, 1994
Northridge earthquake
Interrupted their shooting plans

(35:17):
And Milius said that he
Of all the directors for this project
Chosed the hardest to reach locations
And then that was compounded by them having an earthquake to deal with too
Oh I don't think we mentioned it yet
But Milius's first directorial effort
Was Dillinger for AIP
So it kind of came full circle for him
Yeah as I understand how these assignments came out
For directors to take on these AIP titles

(35:41):
It was kind of a free for all like who wants to do this and they took volunteers
Who wants to do this will give you a 1.3 million dollar budget at 12 day schedule to shoot
And a crew
So John Milius must have been one of those first 10 to raise his hand
He was nominated for an Academy Award for the Apocalypse Now screenplay
And he directed red dawn and Conan the Barbarian
So he said an interesting career

(36:03):
Yeah he was actually slumming doing this film
Oh yeah definitely
But I think he elevated it a lot
And he said he could tell that the movie isn't being done by some hack
He knows what he's doing
Yeah we still have quite a few of these to go
And I haven't seen very many at all of these rebel highway films
So I'm looking forward to the rest
So I kind of looking forward to see how this ranks among the others

(36:25):
But this is probably one of the higher tier ones I'd say so far
So for motorcycle gang variety
Wrote that scriptors Kent Anderson and Laurie McClendon leave no emotional stone unturned
While incorporating action in proper doses
The combination keeps the pick moving as quickly as Cal's car on Route 66
The character development that takes place through dialogue
As the trio moves along the interstate is top notch stuff
With closeted skeletons and unfulfilled dreams

(36:47):
Revealed in a manner that should strike home with viewers
But then I read an interview that John Milius rewrote the script
So I don't know if we can totally credit Kent and Laurie
He said he always rewrite scripts for his movies
So we've heard a contemporary review from variety on motorcycle gang
What are your thoughts today?
Well, I think I already said that I'd really like this movie
It wasn't what I was expecting because I still felt like there'd be a little more of the AIP movie in it

(37:13):
And it's just a scary movie
It reminds me of many horror films that I've seen
Where a bunch of kids or a family are driving along
And then they encounter the wrong people
And then the rest of the movie is just them being terrorized
And that's what's happening here
So it feels more like a horror movie
Or at least a horror suspense kind of movie
Than a rebel without a cause motorcycle writer kind of movie

(37:35):
In the original motorcycle gang, the movie was about the people who rode the motorcycles
And here it's not about them
Now we're taking focus away from them
They're the antagonists for sure
But we don't know anything about them
There's nothing nuanced about them
They're just the bad guys
The movie's about the family
The dynamics between them
All the secrets that they have

(37:57):
And how they're discovered
And that's where the focus is
And I kind of like that better honestly
They're people that you can see yourself being
You can imagine yourself in their shoes
You want them to succeed
You're on their side
I think that it was a really good choice to make the gang the enemy
And not really worry about them so much
And keep all the focus inside the car
And everything that's going on with them

(38:19):
And giving Gerald McRainey his hero moment in Carla Gagino
And even Elon over on too
They get to strike back at this gang
And they repair their family unit
So I think that was a really wise choice
And made for more gripping viewing
And I would give it an A
What do you think?
I think you're right that there's really no other choice here
But to make the gang the villains in the story

(38:41):
I can't see an episode of Rebel Highway
Called Motorcycle Gang
Focusing on the motorcycle gang
It just doesn't seem to fit
At least not in a more modern society
It didn't really fit in the 50s
Tactically but...
No... There we were...
Yeah, those kids were bad but they weren't...
Bad, bad
I said this movie felt like I made for TV movie
And it is and I don't mean that to say that it's a bad thing

(39:03):
It's just that's what it felt like
But there have been a lot of TV movies
With horror elements that are really
Well remembered today
And this is just kind of an intense
Drama thriller with some scary things happening
And it's because
Something happening to your family is
Probably a great fear for many people
If something happens to your family
That's the one thing

(39:25):
You don't want more than anything else
They're the most precious thing in the world to you
Well, it should be your loved ones
Your children, your spouse
And while I didn't see the Fabian pin stabbing coming
I did see the later being featured
A mile away
I saw the Fabian pin coming
I was surprised she didn't stab him in the previous scene
But I gave the original motorcycle gang an A
And I can't give this a lower rating than that

(39:47):
So I'm gonna give this one an A as well
This was a good Rebel Highway
I'm afraid they're not all gonna be good
But we'll find out
And now that the episode's almost over
Now would be a good time to check out our website
It's aippod.com
There we have information on the movies that we've covered
Visual elements like trailers, posters, lobby cards
A way to contact us if you want to find out more about the podcaster

(40:09):
Let us know how you feel
And while you're there, check out our store
You might find something you like
That's aippod.com
So that's what we've got on episode three
This is the American International Podcast
I'm Jeff Markin and I'm Cheryl Lightfoot
And we'll meet you at the drive-in
Follow the American International Podcast on Instagram
And Letterbox @aip_pod

(40:31):
And on Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast
The American International Podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin
A man whose mind is distorted by hatred
And Cheryl Lightfoot
A girl hungry for too many things
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment Network

(41:03):
[Music]