The Sweet Ride (1968)
110 mins | Drama | 15 May 1968
Director:
Harvey HartWriter:
Tom MankiewiczProducer:
Joe PasternakCinematographer:
Robert HauserEditor:
Philip W. AndersonProduction Designers:
Jack Martin Smith, Richard DayProduction Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.The 5 Jan 1967 DV announced the film as producer Joe Pasternak’s first for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., to be scripted by Joyce Geller. Pasternak told the 4 May 1967 DV that his production would feature several young contract players from the studio’s “talent school.” The 31 Jul 1967 issue reported that Geller’s replacement, Tom Mankiewicz, received approval on his screenplay from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), despite its adult content. MPAA president Jack Valenti expressed pride in the organization’s “new attitude.” Principal photography began 17 Jul 1967 in Malibu, CA, according to the 19 Jul 1967 Var. Weeks later, a 25 Aug 1967 DV production chart reported a 21 Jul 1967 start date.
The 21 Jun 1967 LAT noted that co-star Corinna Tsopei was a former Miss Universe. Also in the cast were Margaret Blye (20 Jun 1967 LAT); showgirl Margaret White (12 Jul 1967 LAT); Jimmy Barden and John Strasberg (1 Aug 1967 LAT); Damian London (8 Aug 1967 DV); songwriter and record producer Lee Hazelwood (22 Aug 1967 DV); Kevin Coates, son of LAT columnist Paul Coates (28 Aug 1967 DV); Eric Matthews (2 Sep 1967 LAT); Norman Stevans, Berniece Dalton, and Paul Sears (24 Sep 1967 LAT); Monica Peterson and college basketball star Mike Warren (5 Oct 1967 Los Angeles Sentinel). The 12 Oct 1967 Los Angeles Sentinel announced that more than 150 African Americans had been cast in the film, ...
The 5 Jan 1967 DV announced the film as producer Joe Pasternak’s first for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., to be scripted by Joyce Geller. Pasternak told the 4 May 1967 DV that his production would feature several young contract players from the studio’s “talent school.” The 31 Jul 1967 issue reported that Geller’s replacement, Tom Mankiewicz, received approval on his screenplay from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), despite its adult content. MPAA president Jack Valenti expressed pride in the organization’s “new attitude.” Principal photography began 17 Jul 1967 in Malibu, CA, according to the 19 Jul 1967 Var. Weeks later, a 25 Aug 1967 DV production chart reported a 21 Jul 1967 start date.
The 21 Jun 1967 LAT noted that co-star Corinna Tsopei was a former Miss Universe. Also in the cast were Margaret Blye (20 Jun 1967 LAT); showgirl Margaret White (12 Jul 1967 LAT); Jimmy Barden and John Strasberg (1 Aug 1967 LAT); Damian London (8 Aug 1967 DV); songwriter and record producer Lee Hazelwood (22 Aug 1967 DV); Kevin Coates, son of LAT columnist Paul Coates (28 Aug 1967 DV); Eric Matthews (2 Sep 1967 LAT); Norman Stevans, Berniece Dalton, and Paul Sears (24 Sep 1967 LAT); Monica Peterson and college basketball star Mike Warren (5 Oct 1967 Los Angeles Sentinel). The 12 Oct 1967 Los Angeles Sentinel announced that more than 150 African Americans had been cast in the film, in keeping with the studio’s policy of inclusiveness. A news item in the 25 Jul 1967 DV reported that the band, Moby Grape, would appear in a sequence scheduled for 14 Aug 1967. The band was comprised of Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson, Bob Mosley, Skip Spence, and Peter Lewis. The song, written exclusively for the picture, was prerecorded by Columbia Records. An obituary in the 23 Oct 1968 LAT noted that avant-garde filmmaker Peter Gardiner had contributed to the production.
The 15 Sep 1967 LAT reported that the final scenes had been completed several days earlier.
The 15 May 1968 Var announced the film’s release that week in seventeen “key cities.” Openings followed in New York City on 12 Jun 1968, and in Los Angeles, CA, on 26 Jun 1968 to unenthusiastic reviews. While the 28 Jun 1968 LAT described the picture as a good story told badly, the 3 May 1968 DV offered Hell’s Angels’ Bikini Beach Party in Valley of the Dolls Near Peyton Place as a more suitable title.
The near-dead body of a brutally beaten and molested young woman is dumped on a highway in the Malibu Beach area peopled by surfers and drifters. Police investigation reveals that the woman, actress Vicki Cartwright, was dating surfer Denny McGuire, a young wastrel who shares a beach house with Collie Ransom, an aging tennis hustler, and Choo-Choo Burns, an unemployed jazz pianist. At an interrogation conducted by Lieutenant Atkins, Denny explains that he first met Vicki on the beach and that, from the very beginning, their love affair was unstable. Denny later learned that Vicki was trapped professionally and psychologically by Brady Caswell, the producer of her new television series. When Denny asked Vicki to marry him, she insisted that she could not and began lying about her reasons for spending time away from him. Denny's jealousy was further inflamed by the interest taken in Vicki by repugnant cyclist Mr. Clean. Denny eventually learned of her relationship with Caswell; a bitter and vindictive quarrel ensued; and Denny did not see her again until she was brought into the hospital 2 weeks later. After Denny and Collie are released, they learn what really happened on that fateful night: after Vicki had masochistically offered herself to Mr. Clean, she was savagely beaten by Caswell. To avenge Vicki, who is recovering from the attack, Denny assaults Caswell at his home, leaving him bleeding and unconscious. At last recognizing that there must be something more to life, Denny abandons his aimless drifting to work in a Santa Monica hardware ...
The near-dead body of a brutally beaten and molested young woman is dumped on a highway in the Malibu Beach area peopled by surfers and drifters. Police investigation reveals that the woman, actress Vicki Cartwright, was dating surfer Denny McGuire, a young wastrel who shares a beach house with Collie Ransom, an aging tennis hustler, and Choo-Choo Burns, an unemployed jazz pianist. At an interrogation conducted by Lieutenant Atkins, Denny explains that he first met Vicki on the beach and that, from the very beginning, their love affair was unstable. Denny later learned that Vicki was trapped professionally and psychologically by Brady Caswell, the producer of her new television series. When Denny asked Vicki to marry him, she insisted that she could not and began lying about her reasons for spending time away from him. Denny's jealousy was further inflamed by the interest taken in Vicki by repugnant cyclist Mr. Clean. Denny eventually learned of her relationship with Caswell; a bitter and vindictive quarrel ensued; and Denny did not see her again until she was brought into the hospital 2 weeks later. After Denny and Collie are released, they learn what really happened on that fateful night: after Vicki had masochistically offered herself to Mr. Clean, she was savagely beaten by Caswell. To avenge Vicki, who is recovering from the attack, Denny assaults Caswell at his home, leaving him bleeding and unconscious. At last recognizing that there must be something more to life, Denny abandons his aimless drifting to work in a Santa Monica hardware store.
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement AwardTOP SEARCHES
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern ... >>
