Speed Devils

Sustaining serious injuries after a violent crash at the Madison County Speedway, pals Marty Gray and Dan Holden vow to retire from racing and become partners in a service station. Business is booming but conflict arises when Dan wants to take on a lucrative municipal contract. Accepting the contract would force the garage into illegal activities and Marty refuses. Their partnership is tested to the limit, when corrupt politicians are unhappy with Marty's reluctance and have him arrested on false charges.

Originally titled Thru Traffic, this production was filmed by Warner Brothers as a feature length thinly-veiled ad for the Perfect Circle Company, manufacturer of high-end piston rings. Despite its strong arguments in favor of pricey replacement parts for your auto, Speed Devils builds real dramatic momentum.

Red-haired Irish actor Paul Kelly hailed from the tough immigrant streets of Brooklyn where he began getting work as a child actor for Vitagraph. Following his teen years, he was poised for major stardom after strong performances in films such as Anne Of Green Gables (1919), The New Klondike (1926) and Special Delivery (1927). His career was derailed in 1928 when he served a year in prison for manslaughter, after a fist fight over his lover and future wife, actress Dorothy MacKaye. He bounced back after his parole and would work steadily for the next quarter century with memorable roles in The Roaring Twenties (1939), Flight Command (1940), Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) and The Cat Creeps (1946). He also found success on television and Broadway winning a Tony Award in 1948 for his performance in Command Decision.

BONUS: Excerpts from Thru Traffic.

Though the film is called SPEED DEVILS, the only racetrack scenes occur at the very beginning of the picture. After cracking up during a race, the driver of the car (Paul Kelly) is advised to get into another line of work. Picking up on this, he and his buddy (Russell Hardie) open up a garage, only to be pounced upon by crooked politicians who want a chunk of the profits. The friend agrees to play ball with the crooks, but his partner balks at the idea. The villains then contrive to frame the reluctant man for a crime he didn't commit, and when this fails they lock our hero and his girlfriend (Marguerite Churchill) in a burning building. His pal comes to the rescue, and the two then team up to smash the corrupt politicos once and for all. SPEED DEVILS was directed by former D. W. Griffith protégé Joseph Henaberry, who spent much of his talkie career on Poverty Row.