Word: hardeman
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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KATHERINE ROSS, decked out in plushy '30s garb, unsuspectingly climbs the stairs of Hardeman Manor. A lavish wedding reception is in full swing downstairs, and she has been sent to fetch her new father-in-law, Loren Hardeman (Laurence Olivier), who is late in coming down. Softly calling his name, she opens the door to his room and freezes. So does the audience. Propped up against the side of the bed is a petite French maid, her skirt over her head and her legs wrapped around the greatest actor in the world--the first director of Great Britain's National...
...solemnity of his touch earned unintentional laughs even from the audience I saw the film with, an unsophisticated bunch who wanted porn instead of corn. Petrie didn't even attempt to endow the cars with a mystical beauty that would explain the attraction and passion of men like Loren Hardeman Sr. Instead he gives us so many walks with beautiful girls in clothes that look like they're going to swish off against the beautiful scenery. At least John Barry's score has an attractive lilt, and the "Love Theme From The Betsy," if that's what it's called...
...Hardeman, Texas A & I, 6 ft. 1 in., 230 Ibs. A former defensive end and linebacker who rushed for an average of 123 yds. per game this year as an A&I fullback...
Anyway, old Hardeman hires a burnt-out race-car driver named Angelo Pe-rino to get the Betsy into production. It does not seem more than usually absurd that in due course Loren III becomes furious and hires crooks to sabotage his own firm. There is a lot of sex, much of it involving a lady test driver who combusts spontaneously whenever she hears the roar of an engine...
Neatest reach for historical verisimilitude: Robbins, who in a flashback has Hardeman telephone Walter Reuther in 1937 to warn him that the Battle of the Overpass (in which auto company goons beat up unsuspecting union organizers) is about to occur. · John Skow