ALPINES ON THE SILVER SCREEN
By Rex Funk
How many car marques can lay claim to starring in two academy award
winning movies as well as launching a highly successful genre of action
movies? Sunbeam Alpines have conveyed such superstars as Grace Kelly,
Cary Grant, Liz Taylor, Sean Connery, and Arnold Schwartzenegger.
Hollywood was seldom kind to its Alpine car-stars, however, and they often
became fodder for spectacular crash scenes.
To Catch a Thief, 1955. This Alfred Hitchcock suspense yarn featured Cary
Grant as an ex jewel thief trying to protect his honor and stay out of
jail by catching a thief whose jobs mimic his style. Grace Kelly is the
American femme fatale who drives a blue Sunbeam Talbot Alpine fast enough
to give Grant sweaty palms. Set in the beautiful French Riviera, the
movie won an Academy Award for Cinematography. There are great shots of
the car in action, complete with squealing tires and nice sports- car
sounds, and the viewer gets a feel for how these cars could maneuver on
twisty mountain roads such as found on the Alpine and Monte Carlo Rallys.
Kelly and Grant are well matched, and the lively dialog and plot make this
an entertaining suspense/mystery tale with a generous dose of romance.
The sleek blue Alpine adds a touch of class to the movie, and there are
good exterior and interior views of the car, which appears to survive the
movie.
Butterfield 8, 1960. Liz Taylor won a "Best Actress" Oscar for her role
as a high-priced call girl who is pursued by Lawrence Harvey, a married
man. She drives a red Series I high fin Sunbeam Alpine with wire wheels
and a hard top. This is a dreary little melodrama that is tedious in most
spots. The Alpine meets with a bad end in a chase scene when Taylor runs
out of road and plunges off an elevated highway section into a rock
quarry. I was saddest about the car. Taylor's character is forgettable,
and it is said that she was a sentimental favorite for the Oscar that
year, having narrowly missed in previous years.
Doctor No, 1963. This is the first James Bond movie featuring Sean
Connery. As a kickoff to the very successful series of 007 movies, it's
a little rough in spots. Connery is mounted in a Series II "high fin"
Alpine for his debut as Bond. There is a chase scene on a winding dirt
road in Jamaica followed by the crash of the Alpine. . . off a cliff.
Hollywood sure likes to trash these cars. Jack Lord and Ursula Andress
round out the cast, and Connery even has a brief, but embarrassing, vocal
number.
Commando, 1986. Arnold Schwartzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong star in this
adventure flick in which Arnold's 11 year-old movie daughter is kidnapped
by a South American Dictator. Arnold's character, John Matrix (sounds
like a good Austrian name), goes on a violent murder and mayhem spree to
get her back, and one of the casualties is Chong's Series V Alpine. Arnie
rips the seat out and runs the car into a tree (at least it's not off a
cliff- - - we're making progress). Chong, of course, forgives him for
trashing her car, and joins him in getting his little girl back. There
must be over 100 bad guys who bite the dust in this flick, and we learn
that you don't mess around with the likes of a one man army like John
Matrix -- Boy Howdy!
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