Synopsis:
When the fiancee (Gail Hire) of a very recently deceased NASCAR racer (Anthony Rogers) shows up at the Daytona 500, she soon finds herself romanced by a fellow driver (Skip Ward) whose French soon-to-be-former-girlfriend (Marianna Hill) has arrived with him but ends up falling for Mike (James Caan), a hot-headed driver who can’t stand the idea of Hill having formally been with Ward. Meanwhile, the younger sister (Laura Devon) of the team manager (Norman Alden) becomes smitten with an ambitious farmer-turned-driver (John Robert Crawford).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Car Racing
• Howard Hawks Films
• James Caan Films
• Jealousy
• Love Triangle

Review:
Love triangles, fast driving, and car crashes abound in this fluffy later-life Howard Hawks film, which apparently he himself was disappointed by. According to Stuart Galbraith IV in his review for DVD Talk:

Hawks confessed he thought his own movie was a pretty worthless pile of cow dung. Conversely, Quentin Tarantino sings its praises, and French film critic director Francois Truffaut so loved it that, a dozen years later when he appeared as an actor in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he instantly recognized Teri Garr, not for her ‘70s comedies but for her unbilled extra role as one of four dancing waitresses in Red Line 7000, so well did Truffaut know Hawks’s film.

Of all the then-unknowns, the only actor to become a star was Caan, whose character is — frankly — creepy.

Indeed, the gender and sexual politics at play here are ridiculous (we regularly hear lines like, “C,mon Julie — cut it out; you’re acting like a female.”), leaving one practically sighing at how out-of-date Hawks’s conception of such things was by the mid-’60s. With that said, Hill has good energy:

… and it’s fascinating seeing how much deep-voiced Hire looks like Paula Prentiss (though she literally can’t — and doesn’t — sing worth a lick).

Naturally, most will be interested to watch the (secondary) footage of actual car racing.

Note: Look for George Takei in a small role as a pit technician.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Colorful costumes and sets
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re a Hawks completist.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Time Out Capsule Review
• TV Guide Review
• Village Voice Review
• DVD Talk Review