Thunder in Carolina is a 1960 stock car racing

Stock car racing

Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

 movie starring Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...

, Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....

, and Connie Hines

Connie Hines

Connie Hines was an American actress, best known for playing Alan Young's wife, Carol Post, on the 1960s syndicated and then CBS sitcom Mister Ed.- Biography :...

. It was written by Alexander Richards, directed by Paul Helmick, and contains remarkable 1959-vintage stock car race footage.

Filmed at a number of small dirt ovals in the South, the script is based around the Southern 500 NASCAR race in Darlington, SC. All filming was done in 1959 with much of the footage taken during the actual event. A film car was entered to capture on-track sequences and Rory Calhoun actually ran some laps during the race. Calhoun drives a 1957 Chevrolet while his friend-turned-competitor "Les York" is in a 1959 Oldsmobile.

The movie is clearly a "B" grade production but Thunder In Carolina managed to capture much of the sound and fury of the era. The film was later marketed on video tape as "Hard Drivin'" with a freeze-frame title spliced into the opening.

Cast

Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...

... Mitch Cooper

Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....

... Buddy Schaeffer

Connie Hines

Connie Hines

Connie Hines was an American actress, best known for playing Alan Young's wife, Carol Post, on the 1960s syndicated and then CBS sitcom Mister Ed.- Biography :...

... Rene York

Race Gentry ... Les York (billed as John Gentry)

Ed McGrath ... Reichert

Troyanne Ross ... Kay Hill

Helen Downey ... Eve Mason

Van Casey ... Stoogie

Tripplie Wisecup ... Myrtle Webb

Carey Loftin ... Tommy Webb

Billie Langston ... Peaches

Ann Stevens ... Singer

George Rembert, Jr. ... Junior Thorsen

Olwen Roney ... Motel manager

Richard Taylor ... Higgins

External links

Thunder in Carolina in the Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...