By Frank MIller
6 Day Bike Rider
Brief Synopsis
A young failure tries to impress his girlfriend by entering a bicycle race.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lloyd Bacon
Director
Joe E. Brown
Wilfred Simpson
Maxine Doyle
Phyllis Jenkins
Frank Mchugh
Clinton Hemmings
Gordon Westcott
Harry St. Clair
Arthur Aylesworth
Colonel Jenkins
Film Details
Also Known As
Six Day Bike Race
Genre
Comedy
Sports
Release Date
Oct
20,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Productions Corp.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
As Wilfred Simpson and his fiancée, Phyllis Jenkins, are leaving choir practice, they are approached by Harry St. Clair, a trick cyclist who wants to retrieve his bicycles from the railroad station where Wilfred works as a clerk. At the station, St. Clair takes advantage of Wilfred's preoccupation to walk Phyllis home. Wilfred is furious when he finds out and takes out his anger by hissing at St. Clair's performance the next evening. St. Clair challenges him to do better, and when Wilfred accepts, St. Clair once again vanishes with Phyllis. Mabel, St. Clair's assistant, jealously misleads Wilfred into believing that St. Clair has run away to marry Phyllis. Wilfred rouses the entire town to stop them, looking extremely foolish when they are discovered talking on the Jenkins' front porch. Embarrassed, Phyllis breaks her engagement and Wilfred announces that he is leaving town forever. On the road, he collides with Clinton Hemmings. Clinton plans to enter the Six Day Bike Race and Wilfred signs on as his partner. While working for a messenger service, Wilfred delivers a meal to St. Clair's hotel room. Imagining that the woman in the room is Phyllis, Wilfred punches St. Clair and is arrested when she turns out to be Mabel, St. Clair's wife. It appears that the jailed Wilfred will miss the race, but he is bailed out by a repentant Phyllis and arrives at the velodrome at the last minute. The race ends in a showdown between St. Clair and Wilfred. Despite several setbacks, Wilfred and Clinton win the race. Wilfred and Phyllis get married and soon their bike rides include their baby son.
Director
Lloyd Bacon
Director
Cast
Joe E. Brown
Wilfred Simpson
Maxine Doyle
Phyllis Jenkins
Frank Mchugh
Clinton Hemmings
Gordon Westcott
Harry St. Clair
Arthur Aylesworth
Colonel Jenkins
Lottie Williams
Mrs. Jenkins
Dorothy Christy
Mabel St. Clair
Lloyd Neal
Uncle Ezra
William Granger
Pop O'Hara
Harry Seymour
Radio announcer
Ralph Remley
Town marshal
Ward Bond
First officer
Tammany Young
Prisoner
Charles Sellon
Druggist
Tom Wilson
Lame farmer
Clarence Hummel Wilson
Mr. Hemmings
Nora Cecil
Choir leader
Luke Cosgrove
Mr. Pottle
Dan Crimmins
Sexton
Gus Leonard
Old farmer
Katherine Hays
Fat lady
Si Jenks
Old gent
Gertrude Hoffman
Old lady
Joseph Crehan
Mr. Thompson
George Chandler
Abner
Ray Cooke
First messenger
John Quillan
Second messenger
Frank Marlowe
Tough messenger
Jack Mchugh
Tough messenger
Matty Roubert
Tough messenger
Katherine Clare Ward
Manager's wife
Eddie Chandler
Second officer
Edward Peil Sr.
Jailer
Eddie Shubert
Jailer
Robert Homans
Captain
Selmer Jackson
Announcer
Frank Hagney
Referee
Billy Dooley
Nervous man
Grace Hayle
Large woman
Eugene Strong
Cop
Bruce Mitchell
Cop
Henry Otho
Harry's Trainer
Ben Hendricks
Harry's Trainer
George Ovey
Boy
Billy Erwin
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Six Day Bike Race
Genre
Comedy
Sports
Release Date
Oct
20,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Productions Corp.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
6 Day Bike Rider -
During the early '30s, Joe E. Brown's slapstick comedies at Warner Bros. were big hits in rural theaters and neighborhood houses. Their success helped the studio finance more sophisticated and city-centered entertainments for years. One of his funniest is this tale of a small-town boy forced to travel to the big city to take on a romantic rival in a bicycle-riding marathon. Brown did well enough at the box office to merit one of Warner's top directors, Lloyd Bacon, who kept the action moving briskly as the near-sighted racer deals with loose floor boards on the race course, bad directions, chloroform and even a banana peel tossed in his way. None of this was any problem for Brown, a natural athlete who had played semi-pro baseball before turning to acting. And while he took the pratfalls, his racing partner, the ever-reliable Frank McHugh, kept up his side of the bargain with a string of fast-paced one-liners. The filming was as hectic as the movie, with nine bicycle riders injured shooting one racing scene when the collided with the motorcycle on which a cameraman was trying to capture the action close-up.
By Frank MIller
By Frank MIller
6 Day Bike Rider -
During the early '30s, Joe E. Brown's slapstick comedies at Warner Bros. were big hits in rural theaters and neighborhood houses. Their success helped the studio finance more sophisticated and city-centered entertainments for years. One of his funniest is this tale of a small-town boy forced to travel to the big city to take on a romantic rival in a bicycle-riding marathon. Brown did well enough at the box office to merit one of Warner's top directors, Lloyd Bacon, who kept the action moving briskly as the near-sighted racer deals with loose floor boards on the race course, bad directions, chloroform and even a banana peel tossed in his way. None of this was any problem for Brown, a natural athlete who had played semi-pro baseball before turning to acting. And while he took the pratfalls, his racing partner, the ever-reliable Frank McHugh, kept up his side of the bargain with a string of fast-paced one-liners. The filming was as hectic as the movie, with nine bicycle riders injured shooting one racing scene when the collided with the motorcycle on which a cameraman was trying to capture the action close-up.
By Frank MIller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film was also reviewed as Six Day Bike Race. During filming, sixteen bicycle riders collided with a motorcycle at the Winter Garden, injuring nine men, one critically. The motorcycle was fitted with a camera and was being used to film the race when the wheel of one of the bicycles collapsed and a general collision followed.
