Don McDougall

John Bromfield stars as Nick Dunn, a car salesman who gets fired from his job for being too honest. He’s offered a new job by a Mr Markel (Ralph Clayton) who purports to run a chain of scrupulously straight car dealerships. It doesn’t take Nick long, however, to figure out that this is a facade for a stolen cars racket. He resigns in disgust, but when his kid falls ill, and he desperately requires cash, he has no option but to go back to Markel and become embroiled in the crooked enterprise. Although “Hot Cars” is a short and slight thriller it is still thoroughly well done. Director Don McDougall keeps the story focussed on Nick and the quandary of the compromised honest man. He cleverly builds tension via Nick’s interactions with both the mobsters and the cops and between Nick and his overly trusting wife who’s in the dark about his new working arrangements. That approach only changes at the climax when Nick ends up in a two-fisted battle with a mobster on top of a speeding roller coaster. It is out of place with the rest of the film but is still a great, edge-of-the-seat, action sequence. John Bromfield is good as the everyday working man, handsome and muscular with a fine approach to a dry one-liner. Ralph Clayton is slick and smooth as the villainous Markel while Joi Lansing is great as Karen, Markel’s sexy staffer who turns out to be a dark and manipulative "femme fatale". Overall “Hot Cars” is a fine and economical little crime thriller, with a cleverly realised plot, plenty of snappy dialogue and some stylish noir overtones.… (more)