Aside from some eye candy this movie is just junk. The eye candy, of course, is in the shape of two very respectable hot rods (which are not on screen long enough), Pamela Tiffin for the guys and Doug McClure for the gals. The pretense is cartoonish. The script is laughable (particularly the two stars in the racing scenes near the end of the movie). And the inability of the producers to realistically focus on any aspect of the 60's culture.
Here we were, just getting into the throes of the Vietnam War (with colleges all over the country boiling over in protest) and two 'college' kids are portrayed as Ricky Nelson letter sweater wearers from the 1950's. Both obviously have very expensive hot rods but no visible means of support (and college was not that inexpensive back then). They drive the hot rods like sports cars (which would have torn them to shreds in no time) but can't figure out the problem when one of them throws a rod (for non-car types reading this it would have been a very visible catastrophe). The girls don't get off scott-free either. Whoever decreed the wearing of dresses, handbags, gloves and Rodeo Drive hairdo's was very out of touch with the America of the mid-60's.
We are treated to a very 1960ish "will she or won't she" when Darren and Tiffin start courting which might as well have been set in the Gay 90's for all its realism.
The final racing scenes reminded me of a poor Elvis movie where the focus is on the driver and not the racing action. "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World" did a far better road racing sequence about the same time and it was a full out comedy. McClure's character continually yells at his driver to overtake his opponent so much that you are hoping the driver stops the car and punches McClure in the nose. And why was McClure in the car to begin with? He serves no purpose.
The only reason anyone would want to watch this potboiler is if you have wondered what happened to the featured Chrysler turbine engined car (which was a real Detroit product). The movie suggests it was the engine of the future but it disappeared almost without notice. The two major reasons were cost of production (it was much more expensive to manufacture than a comparable piston engine) and emissions (it would have not met the then-new standards). And even in the heyday of the American muscle car its gas mileage was poor.
The title "The Lively Set" suggests this movie is about thrills and chills with teenagers chasing a dangerous life. In fact, it is a boring and tedious movie with nothing significant to recommend it.
Here we were, just getting into the throes of the Vietnam War (with colleges all over the country boiling over in protest) and two 'college' kids are portrayed as Ricky Nelson letter sweater wearers from the 1950's. Both obviously have very expensive hot rods but no visible means of support (and college was not that inexpensive back then). They drive the hot rods like sports cars (which would have torn them to shreds in no time) but can't figure out the problem when one of them throws a rod (for non-car types reading this it would have been a very visible catastrophe). The girls don't get off scott-free either. Whoever decreed the wearing of dresses, handbags, gloves and Rodeo Drive hairdo's was very out of touch with the America of the mid-60's.
We are treated to a very 1960ish "will she or won't she" when Darren and Tiffin start courting which might as well have been set in the Gay 90's for all its realism.
The final racing scenes reminded me of a poor Elvis movie where the focus is on the driver and not the racing action. "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World" did a far better road racing sequence about the same time and it was a full out comedy. McClure's character continually yells at his driver to overtake his opponent so much that you are hoping the driver stops the car and punches McClure in the nose. And why was McClure in the car to begin with? He serves no purpose.
The only reason anyone would want to watch this potboiler is if you have wondered what happened to the featured Chrysler turbine engined car (which was a real Detroit product). The movie suggests it was the engine of the future but it disappeared almost without notice. The two major reasons were cost of production (it was much more expensive to manufacture than a comparable piston engine) and emissions (it would have not met the then-new standards). And even in the heyday of the American muscle car its gas mileage was poor.
The title "The Lively Set" suggests this movie is about thrills and chills with teenagers chasing a dangerous life. In fact, it is a boring and tedious movie with nothing significant to recommend it.