Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward Sedgwick
Dennis O'keefe
Cecilia Parker
Nat Pendleton
Harry Carey
Addison Richards
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Race car builder P.G. Delano is determined to break speed records no matter how many of his drivers die in meet after meet. During a midget auto race, Delano watches driver Jerry O'Connor, a country hick with a mania for speed, and offers him a job driving in the big time. Jerry eagerly accepts the offer and falls in love with Delano's daughter Jane who gives him the cold shoulder. Ostracized by the other drivers because his carefree attitude does not match the morbid atmosphere generated by the apparent jinx that causes the crashes of Delano's drivers, one after the other, Jerry watches as drivers Jose "Rocks" Rivers, Hank Hogan and Lefty Simmons all meet their deaths. The team seems doomed until Jerry's slow witted friend Buddy Buttle discovers that Doc Heath, an old friend of Delano's, has been blinding the drivers by doping their drinks in revenge for the fact that Delano had encouraged the doctor's son to enter the racing game, thus leading to his death on the track. Although Buddy has prevented Jerry from drinking the deadly solution, Doc has soaked his goggles and helmet in it. Blinded when the solution is absorbed through his pores, Jerry drives blind. When Buddy realizes what has happened, he goes to the side of the track and signals Jerry with a whistle when he goes near a dangerous turn. Because the whistle was Buddy's old signal for "Go Left," Jerry is able to win the race. Finally, after saving Jane's father's business Jerry also wins her love.
Director
Edward Sedgwick
Cast
Dennis O'keefe
Cecilia Parker
Nat Pendleton
Harry Carey
Addison Richards
Alan Curtis
Tom Neal
Tom Collins
Frank Orth
Frank M. Thomas
Si Jenks
Truman Bradley
Phillip Terry
Walter Soderling
Lee Phelps
John Butler
Carey Loftin
Edward Keane
King Mojave
Jack Carlton
Helen Jerome Eddy
Roger Gray
Frank Whitbeck
Crew
Cedric Gibbons
James Havens
Gilbert Kurland
Ben Lewis
Milton Merlin
Byron Morgan
Harry Rapf
Edward Sedgwick
Douglas Shearer
David Snell
Lester White
Edwin B. Willis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this picture was Skids. According to the Variety review, it was the first in M-G-M's new series of sport pictures. In the first sequence of the picture, Frank Whitbeck's voice is heard as the newsreel announcer. Whitbeck's distinctive voice was heard for many years as the narrator on trailers for M-G-M films.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1939
Released in United States 1939
