Wild Guitar / The Choppers

Recently I bought a dvd in the bargain bin at Wally World, 20 Western Outlaws. Mostly crap, most notably was the movie One Eyed Jacks with Brando. Among the collection was Deadwood 76, the video quality was horrible, I couldn't make out some of the credits because it was all so fuzzy. But wait, isn't that the same actor who I saw way back when I was a kid at a matinee? it was 1963 I was 13 and about to enter highschool. The movie was the Choppers and it kinda scared me. Arch Hall Jr. with his ridiculous head of bleached hair driving a hotrod and a badboy attitude that was outlandish for a kid like me growing up in Beaver Cleaver Land.There he was looking older and playing Billy May the cowboy gunslinger in Deadwood 76, his last movie before moving on in his life. I was compelled to go back and re-look at the Choppers.I now see that Choppers is the story of kids who lost thier dads to World War 2. How young lads can so easily go astray without proper guidance. Arch Hall Sr plays the concerned radio announcer who follows the cops around LA trying to bust a gang of car strippers. At one point young gang member Arch Hall Jr describes how the Japanese planes shot his dad as he was drifting down in his parachute. How can we do anything but feel sorry for the youth who lost their fathers to the big war? When the cops see how the gang was using technology in their endeavors they marvel at how far they could have gone. The Choppers and Deadwood 76 are Arch Hall Jr's best of the 6. But the real story is Arch Hall Sr and how hard he tried to make a sensation out of his only son.In Calif. in 1963 you had your surfers and your greasers. Arch Hall Jr in the Choppers was maybe a bit of both. At the Diary Belle in Pleasant Hill, Ca. the surfers parked at one side of the lot and the greasers parked at the other end. I guess in 1963 I was trying to decide which end of the parking lot I belonged in.

Like these 2 movies starring Archie Hall Jr. "Choppers" about a gang of teenage boys who chop up abandoned cars along hi-ways for the parts to sell for cash. In "Wild Guitar" Arch shows his talents with his guitar and singing, which he thought was his future in real life.

I bought this for the two shorts on the disc about dancing.

Arch Hall, Jr. appeared in a handful of films in the early 1960s, mostly working for his father, and this DVD presents two of his best. "Best" being a relative term, of course. Arch couldn't act, couldn't sing, and had a face like a pudgy spider monkey, but MAN were his films memorable. He's a favorite around our house.In THE CHOPPERS (Arch's film debut), Arch and his gang (including the grandson of Charles "Ming the Merciless" Middleton) vandalize autos and sing such classics as "Monkey in my Hatband" and "Koko Joe". In WILD GUITAR, Arch is Bud Eagle, rock & roll singer, in a rags to riches story. Songs include "Valerie" (not the one by the Monkees) and the unforgettable "Twist Fever", sung on the beach. Watch Arch skipping along the sand, trying to emulate Chuck Berry's duck walk; it's one of the great moments in bad screen history. Also look for the DVDs of EEGAH! and THE SADIST, and hopefully somebody'll give us NASTY RABBIT and DEADWOOD '76, Arch's other pictures, plus a CD of Arch's song stylings (I cobbled together my own from the movies' soundtracks). Mr. Hall, wherever you are, please know that your fans love you!

Although The Choppers does look great, it's unbelievably missing nearly ten minutes of footage. The first cut scene brings up the stakeout plan and the last has Arch Hall Jr. singing "Monkeys In My Hatband" (which another reviewer mentioned.) The longest takes place at the Chick-A-Dilly with Marianna Gaba playing detective while enticing the gang in order to find out the owner of the hotrod the police are after. It's her best scene where she does more than just look sensational. The Choppers is entertaining and would have been even better without these cuts. Cutting ten minutes out of a movie that ran only 66 to begin withmakes absolutely no sense to me. A couple of other versions are available, but I don't know if they are complete or not.

Not sure. But that looks a lot like TV Tommy Ivo's Buick powered T bucket street rod that Arch Hall, Jr is zipping around in.This story of young car thieves doesn't completely flop thanks to the film's somewhat business-like pace. There's a kind of sincerity of effort to 'The Choppers' that makes you stop laughing at the amateurish acting and dialog long enough to pay attention. The ex-Playmate of the Month in the role of the insurance guy's always hungry secretary provides another reason to pay attention.

Cult star Arch Hall stars in two movies for the price of one! Wild Guitar and The Choppers. Choppers was only available on VHS before, and the picture quality wasn't up to much, both films have been cleaned up and are now of the utmost quality. DVD also contains loads of extras, including trailers, radio spots, and short films ( check out some of Chicago's elite nightlife doing the Twist!!) Wild Guitar also stars Cash Flagg, the director of ' Thrill Killers' ' Rat fink and Boo Boo' and the amazing ' Incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed up zombies'!! What a package!!

Heinz lookalike makes it big on LA TV show.Charming acting resemblent of Thunderbirds Choppers is about a gang of hot rod kids who steal car parts.All very good camera work and big sharp clear print

Arch hall rocks! A real ladies man and rebel to boot!

Two geat B movies on one CD !