The Sweet Ride

The Sweet Ride
Directed by	Harvey Hart
Produced by	Joe Pasternak
Written by	Tom Mankiewicz William Murray (novel)
Starring	Anthony Franciosa Michael Sarrazin Jacqueline Bisset
Editing by	Philip W. Anderson
Release date(s)	June 12, 1968
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Sweet Ride (1968) is an American counter-culture drama with a few surfer/biker exploitation film elements. It stars Anthony Franciosa, Michael Sarrazin and Jacqueline Bisset in an early starring role. The film also features Bob Denver in the role of Choo-Choo, a Beatnik piano-playing draft dodger. Sarrazin and Bisset were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer, Male and Female respectively.

The Sweet Ride was directed by Harvey Hart and written by Tom Mankiewicz, based on a 1967 novel of the same name by William Murray (d. March 2005), a native of New York City, who had moved to southern California in 1966.

The story, told in flashbacks, concerns a middle-aged tennis bum (Franciosa) who shares a beach house with Sarrazin and Denver. Their carefree life becomes complicated, and later turns tragic, after they become involved with a mysterious young woman (Bisset) and a biker gang.

The San Francisco rock and roll band Moby Grape contributed to the soundtrack, and appeared, credited, in the film, performing the song "Never Again" in a Sunset Strip nightclub called the Tarantula. Other famous Sunset Strip locations include Gazzarri's and Scandia, as well as location filming in Malibu, according to reviews of the film.

Dusty Springfield sings "Sweet Ride" over the film's credits.

Cast

• Anthony Franciosa as Collie Ransom
• Michael Sarrazin as Denny McGuire
• Jacqueline Bisset as Vickie Cartwright
• Bob Denver as Choo-Choo Burns
• Michael Wilding as Mr. Cartwright
• Michele Carey as Thumper Stevens
• Lara Lindsay as Martha
• Norma Crane as Mrs. Cartwright
• Percy Rodriguez as Lieutenant Harvey Atkins
• Warren Stevens as Brady Caswell
• Pat Buttram as Texan

External links

• The Sweet Ride at the Internet Movie Database
• The Sweet Ride at the TCM Movie Database
• The Sweet Ride at AllRovi
• The Video Beat!
• Cinema Sirens
• The Sweet Ride tribute video