Hell's Belles (1969)

Memorable, crazy movie

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

After a grueling race with the grand prize being a beautiful motorcycle, one of the losers named "Tony" (Michael Walker) decides he is going to get that bike not matter what it takes. So that night he sets up a trap on the road which the winning racer, "Danny" (Jeremy Slate) has to take on his way home. Sure enough, as Danny gets to a certain point Tony and his friends ambush him and proceed to beat him into unconsciousness. A little later Danny wakes up and finds that his new motorcycle has been substituted for the one driven by Tony. But as it so happens, Tony makes a big mistake that same night when he drives up to a gas station where a motorcycle gang just happens to be frequenting. They beat up Tony and the leader of the gang by the name of "Tampa" (Adam Roarke) takes the motorcycle. Not long afterward Danny drives up and discovers from Tony what happened. Danny then proceeds to drive out to where the motorcycle gang is camping and then gets caught while attempting to steal it. After beating him up the Tampa decides to reimburse Danny by giving him one of their women in exchange--and subsequently knocks him out again. When he regains consciousness he finds the woman named "Cathy" (Jocelyn Lane) sitting around and the two of them set out to find the bikers. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although it certainly had some good action here and there, it lacked the necessary realism for me to take it that seriously. Likewise, I didn't especially care for the ending that much either. For those reasons I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This movie manages to balance chase scenes and fights with quieter moments and a surprising amount of humor. It's pretty light hearted for the most part, and comes close to being a comedy, as the biker gang becomes increasingly unnerved by the relentless pursuit of their nemesis, a racer who wants his stolen motorcycle back.The basic plot has been lifted from Winchester 73, and the hero is a lot like the stalwart good guys of old western movies. He observes a code of honor that includes treating vanquished enemies fairly, respecting women, and standing up alone against heavy odds. The biker gang members refer to him sarcastically as " cowboy", and his dress, manner and philosophy fit him squarely into the mold of western heroes like Audie Murphy and Jimmy Stewart. There's even a scene where he tells his new female acquaintance about his ranch.Jeremy Slate is fine as the good guy Dan, with able support from Adam Roark as the leader of the gang, and Jocelyn Lane as the biker girl he gets stuck with, to their mutual annoyance. They bicker constantly, so you know they will fall in love before the movie is over. Jocelyn Lane is amazingly beautiful and a good enough actress to make her character believable, the outwardly tough girl who tries to hide an inner vulnerability and sadness. That these two people would bond with each other and fall in love is made totally believable and even touching.The comic tone prevails throughout, even in fight scenes, with just enough seriousness to put the film across. There are some hilarious moments with William Lucking as a huge, dim witted biker. Adam Roark displays a good sense of comic timing in his growing exasperation with the hero's unceasing attempts to recover the stolen motorcycle. His serious scene at the end is surprising and effective, and the movie ends on an unexpected note. because of it.Not a great movie, certainly, but a surprisingly good one, and very entertaining. Recommended.

Hell's Belles is nothing more than a story about one biker stealing a motorcycle from another, who in turn gets it stolen by a biker gang, who is turn is chased down by the biker who got his bike stolen in the first place! Sounds exciting right? Not really. grade-school fight scenes, a biker gang that doesn't smoke, drink, or even wear leather jackets! Biker-film pin-up boys Jeremy Slate and Adam Roarke are the leads, but their acting is cheesy and wooden. However, the bright spot of Hell's Belles is the beautiful Jocelyn Lane. Hubba! Hubba! Miss Lane runs, screams, cries, rides a motorcycle, falls off a motorcycle, wearing a mini-skirt and boots. Blonde, tan, and built! The biggest farce of this film is how both Slate and Roarke are more in love with a prize bike, then the shapely Lane. How unreal can you get. I'd rate this stinker a 2, but I'd rate Miss Lane a 10. Hell's Belles!

I missed this when it originally played, but 30+ years later seeing it for the first time I'm very impressed. This is a biker film that anyone could enjoy, despite one's feelings about that genre. Imagine an old western where Bob Steele or someone like that wins a horse race on a horse that he has raised from birth and devoted his life to. After the race, a crook with a lot of money who came in second in the race offers to buy Bob's horse, but Bob won't sell at the ridiculous price offered. So the crook steals Bob's horse, and then Bob goes on a mission to get the horse back (wait a minute, that IS the plot of an old western serial from 1934, LAW OF THE WILD, I thought is was familiar). Transplant that plot into a biker realm, with Jeremy Slate in the lead role, and you've got HELL'S BELLES. His nemesis is played by the late, great Adam Roarke (who actually steals the bike from the guy who stole it from Slate!). Slate is always convincing, here taking what could be a two-dimensional character and turning him into a complex, three dimensional man with a fascinating back-story, someone about whom we care. The same can be said for Jocelyn Lane, as the woman with whom he is involuntarily teamed. They hate each other for much of the film, so in a way you have a biker version of THE African QUEEN, but once her real story comes out she is quite fascinating. Ms. Lane made a number of fine films in the 60's--TICKLE ME with Elvis, BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY with Fabian Forte, and some European genre films (wow, until looking her up on the IMDb, I didn't even know she was European!!) I'll have to dig out my copy of WAR GODS OF BABYLON. The Arizona photography on this film is excellent, the shots are beautifully composed, and director Maury Dexter has an excellent sense of pacing. His work at AIP in the late 60s is much underrated. MARYJANE is excellent, and YOUNG ANIMALS was very much ahead of its time. I gave this film a "10" rating, which I hardly ever do, because it don't think it could be improved upon. It took me into its world and kept me captivated for 90 minutes. For me, HELL'S BELLES is one of the definitive biker films, even if it is basically a western in biker garb. Highly recommended!!