Chrome and Hot Leather

Chrome and Hot Leather
1971
D: Lee Frost

Claim to fame: With Marvin Gaye, Cheryl Ladd in a tiny role, and (uncredited) Erik Estrada and Grizzly Adams

Soldier hunts down the bike club responsible for the death of his fiancee

Odd that there were only a few biker flicks aimed at the "returning vet" audience; this is one of the best.
Motorcycle club the Wizards (nice colors), out riding, start clowning with a couple of girls in a car. One, Casey, gets a little too aggressive; the girls get scared and make a hard turn, causing Casey to lay down his bike. Not heeding club prez TJ (William Smith), Casey gives chase and smashes their windshield with a chain, sending the car out of control and over a cliff, killing the girls. (Like in "She-Devils on Wheels," the chain is left behind as evidence.) Casey, a very pissed-off TJ, and the rest of the Wizards split the scene.
Turns out one of the girls (Kathy, played by a very young Cheryl Ladd, then known as Cheryl Moor) is the fiancee of Mitch (veteran character actor Tony Young), a sergeant who trains young soldiers on their way to 'Nam. The police have no solid leads, so Mitch enliststs (sorry for the pun) a few of his buddies (including Marvin Gaye; oddly the publicity for the film doesn't seem to have really pushed him) to help him track down the club responsible. No outlaws will help a bunch of squares like them, so they decide to form their own club as a front.
In a learning to ride montage accompanied by a pretty lame song, the three master riding their (dirt)bikes, create dopey cuts with sergeant stripes to try to look like outlaws, and are on their way.
Meanwhile, TJ is not happy about Casey bringing possible heat on them, or Casey in general for that matter. They've got a good thing going, with the local police and citizens intimidated, and dumb shit like killing girls is grief they don't need. TJ would clearly like to just dump a headache like Casey, but a brother's a brother so what can one do.
Eventually Mitch tracks the Wizards down to their hangout at the Piru Billard [sic] Parlor, and even gets so in with them that he gets the whole story out of Casey's girl. The club eventually gets wise to and captures Mitch, but his buddies manage to free him and plot their final revenge.
A pretty cool (if a bit corny) plot, carried by a strong cast. Tony Young is so stiff it's enjoyable, and Michael Haynes is great as asshole Casey. William Smith is William Smith--the best. The big motherfucker, with his fu manchu and open-legged riding style, could not look cooler. Gaye is actually pretty natural as an actor, and Larry Bishop steals his scenes as the spaced out Gabriel.
Wish I know who that was doing the rockin' main theme. The rest of the music mostly sucks.
A legitimately solid and enjoyable action movie with very little filler or padding that still shows up on tv sometimes, usually on Turner stations. A fun and satisfying 3.5

C.C. and Company (Chrome Hearts)

C.C. and Company (released on video as Chrome Hearts)
1970
D; Seymour Robbie

Claim to fame: Joe Namath and Ann-Margret

Happy-go-lucky biker parts ways with his old club, but leaving's not that easy

Joe Namath brings his schnoz, his meager acting talents, and his winning smile to this tale of the absurdly named C.C. Ryder, a guy just floating through life who fell in with the motorcycle club the Heads ("Some are picked, few are chosen" [huh?]). Though liked in the club, it becomes increasingly clear that he doesn't fit in --though they're too polite to mention it, he's considerably cleaner than the rest, and he begins to butt heads with club president Moon (William Smith).
C.C. meets Ann (Ann-Margret), a photographer covering the dirtbike races, and enters the competition himself. He nearly takes first and fetches some prize money, turning all but $100 over to Moon. Demanding all for the club, Moon suckers C.C. and bests him in a fight, taking all of the money. Later, however, C.C. bangs Moon's girl  Pom Pom (Jennifer Billingsley) and steals back the money before splitting back to Ann's.
Moon and the Heads aren't just walking away, however. They kidnap Ann for ransom, and it's up to C.C. to save her from his old club.
Thanks to its stars and its frequent tv appearances on tv in the '70s and '80s, this one is much better remembered than it really ought to be. Though the story moves along well enough and everyone in it is likable enough, it's really nothing special. Aside from one passable fight scene and the decent enough finale, the action is limited to the dirt track. The Kawasaki product placement deal is pretty obvious (also on that note, everyone sure likes to drink Hamm's).
It's not all bad, however. Namath is good enough for this role, and his casting lets you know right off that the character is at base a nice guy. Smith is always solid, other bikers include character actors like Sid Haig (in a kick-ass Mongolian type helmet) and Bruce Glover, and Ann-Margret shows some T&A. The scenes are respectably acted out and are just enjoyable enough that you don't mind how slowly it's actually moving. A very watchable movie, is what I'd say. The opening shoplifting scene is justifiably a classic.
Besides the boring score, the music includes Margret singing the mediocre "Today," plus Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels' "Jenny Take a Ride," and Wayne Cochran & The CC Riders are seen in a nightclub doing a great "I Can't Turn You Loose" (probably the film's high point).
Joe on a Harley and Ann's tits, plus William Smith and Sid Haig, Wayne Cochran--what are you gonna do, not watch it? Doesn't beat the spread, but a winner. Three touchdowns for this one.

The Losers (Nam's Angels)

The Losers (rereleased as Nam's Angels)
1970
D: Jack Starrett

Trivia: The movie Bruce Willis is watching in "Pulp Fiction"

Members of a motorcycle club go to Vietnam to prerform a covert mission in Cambodia, the rescue of a CIA agent

In 1965, Sonny Barger, a supporter of the war and himself a veteran, sent a letter to President Johnson, volunteering a group of Angels to be deployed. While Johnson declined, at least someone had the good sense to turn the idea into a dumb movie.
One would expect a movie with this premise, starring the always reliable William Smith (and directed by Starrett), would be a can't miss, but somehow they manage. Watch the trailer and you'll see about half of the entire movie's action. This is especially disappointing, because as the film opens the Devil's Advocates (nice colors, by the way) are already in 'Nam, and you're thinking, "Holy shit, this one moves fast." But how wrong you are.
Though Link (Smith) is the lead character and the leader of the DA's, his is the only backstory left hazy rather than fully told to bore the shit out of us. Dirty Denny (Houston Savage; the character name was probably an in-joke) was a minor crime boss/pimp when he served there and looks to reclaim what was his; Duke (Adam Rourke) falls in love with a local with a baby fathered by a black soldier; Limpy (Paul Koslo) is there to retrieve a girl he was in love with when he served. Most of them are incredibly boring, and what's revealed in one would mean the guy would have to have been in Vietnam for at least three years.
The central plot that they keep pulling away from: A CIA agent (played by Alan Caillou, the screenwriter), with whom Link has an unpleasant past, is being held prisoner by the Chinese(?) in Cambodia. US troops can't go in--but the bikers can. Their bikes will be armored and armed, and they're to find him and bust him out. Nonsensical, ok, but it should have been enough.
Though it takes forever getting there, the climax is actually pretty worth the ride. Some genuine action, and a very good ending. I won't give it away, but the script had an opposite ending that would have ruined it.
The whole culture part of it is a little lazy, with everything just feeling sort of generically Oriental. It was shot in the Phillippines, with locals playing the Vietnamese.
The music is by Stu Phillips, and is mostly pretty solid. A local band mimes to an Iron Butterfly-ish tune that's not bad at all.
Most of the bikers look pretty good (I mentioned the great colors)--with the major exception being Speed (Eugene Cornelius)'s green headband with magic marker swastika. Some of the older soldiers, who would have joined shortly after WWII, would not have tolerated it. And it looks like it was made by a child. I'd kill for the tie-die shirt Link is seen wearing.
It sounds like I just shit all over this, but it's actually pretty watchable. I picked up the DVD, which comes from a really nice print (and even includes commentary tracks and the like), so now I can toss my taped from tv copy. It's one of those you can watch any time, from any point, and gets a solid 3.