ianlouisiana Review of Hell Drivers

Hell Drivers (1957)

20/20 hindsight has turned a potboiler into a masterpiece.................

[5/10 · 2 February 2012]

The reputation of "Hell Drivers" has grown with the telling - as it were.Back in 1957 when I saw it at "The Essoldo" cinema in Brighton,neither I nor my mates considered it as anything other than a cheap rather preposterous if enjoyable film that we forgot as soon as we got on the bus home. Without the gift of prophecy who could tell that many of the actors involved would become virtual cult figures to lovers of British Cinema? We certainly couldn't. Over half a century later,it is spoken of almost in awe by people to whom 1957 is as far off as the Regency. But believe me,in the coffee bars of Brightom where the Grammar school boys gathered to discuss the latest Chris Barber or MJQ L.P.,"Hell Drivers" was dismissed with a scornful snort as we lauded the merits of "The Man with the Golden Arm". The speeded up action,the scenery - chewing,the shoddy production values all added up to a clunker in our book. If you'd have told me as I sipped my oh - so - sophisticated frothy coffee that one day it would be regarded as a classic I would have politely laughed and privately doubted your sanity.