BORN TO SPEED

Vivian Austin and Johnny Sands 

BORN TO SPEED (1947). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Johnny Randall (Johnny Sands) is the son of a race car driver who was killed on the track. His mother, Mrs. Randall (Geraldine Wall), is horrified at the prospect of her son following in his father's footsteps and tries to get the help of her late husband's old colleague, Breezy Bradley (Frank Orth) to dissuade him. But Breezy feels Johnny has the makings of a great midget-car racer and things get more complicated when Johnny falls for Breezy's niece, Toni (Vivian Austin billed as Terry Austin), who already has a sort-of boyfriend in rival driver Mike Conroy (Don Castle). Johnny winds up on the track in the guise of the Masked Racer. 

Johnny Sands and Geraldine Wall

Born to Speed is a fast-paced PRC programmer that benefits from some pretty good racing footage, but to say the movie is cliched and mindless is a major understatement.  The performances help a lot, with handsome Sands quite appealing as Johnny and Vivian Austin displaying sauciness if not a lot of sex appeal as Toni. Geraldine Wall had several flavorful appearances on Perry Mason some years later, and likable and adept Frank Orth had nearly 200 credits in his long career. Don Castle had quite a few credits as well, one of them being Roses Are Red. If anything Born to Speed makes clear that racing is perhaps one of the stupidest ways to make a living! 

Verdict: Another PRC non-winner. **.