Egyptian Theater
Hollywood, California
August 26, 2013
Story by Richard Parks
Photographs by Roger Rorhdanz
Robin Broidy, producer of the new drag racing movie SNAKE & MONGOO$E, invited Roger and I to the Los Angeles Egyptian Theater to watch the movie and join in with other guests on the red carpet and the cast party following the movie. With us in our group was David and Barbara Parks, Charles Rollins, Jim Miller, Roger and myself. The invited guest list included cast and movie production members and their families and well-known drag racers and the media. Roger and I try and attend these events because they bring together a large number of our friends and it makes it easy to interview them. We went to the premier and were pleasantly surprised as to how well prepared Robin and her staff was to welcome such a large gathering. We parked at Sadie’s Restaurant where the cast party was going to be held and walked a short distance to the Egyptian Theater.
Once inside the grounds we saw actors on the red carpet with the Hollywood style background and maybe a hundred photographers, news media writers and paparazzi as they asked questions and shot photo after photo of the young stars, producers and other cast members. I recognized Ora Mae Millar and her daughter Robin talking to Darr Hawthorne. Ora is the widow of the late Pete Millar whose CARtoon artwork of drag and other forms of racing set the model for all cartoonist to follow in motorsports. Pete was a friendly, pleasant man with a wicked sense of humor and a pen dipped in the milk of sardonic wit, irony and sarcasm. His cartoons rattled the cages of the high and mighty and set young people to laughter and adulation. He made Ed Iskenderian famous as the “Camfather” and my dad as the “Gawdfather of NHRA.” He also rendered Jim Tice as the “Godfather” of the AHRA. Sadly, today we don’t quite have such humor in our sports as we once did. Charles Rollins is the son-in-law of Ray and Joann Brock, who have both passed on. Ray was a close friend and partner in shenanigans with my late father. Brock had a sense of humor and a love for speed that endeared him with many of his fans as editor of HOT ROD Magazine. Charles has his own website at www.benchracing.com.
Darr Hawthorne is an editor and photographer of drag racing websites. Other writers, editors and photographers included Dusty Brandel, Bobbie Colgrove, Jim Miller, and Anna Marco, though just about everyone carried a nice camera and got plenty of great shots. Dusty and Bobbie broke through the gender barrier at the Indy 500 to become some of the first females allowed in the paddock and to cover the famous race. They are founders and leaders of AARWBA, one of the first professional societies for artists, authors, directors, broadcasters, photographers and other journalists who cover motorsports racing. Miller is the director of the American Hot Rod Foundation and does the research for their website, www.ahrf.com. He is also the president of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians and their newsletter is on www.landspeedracing.com. Anna “Octane” Marco is a Gear Grinder club member and is an editor. She loves and covers anything that has wheels and goes fast as well as looks good. Marco came with Stormy Bird and members of their racing team. Another journalist that came was Ed Justice Jr, who is the president and CEO of Justice Brothers Car Care Products. He is a major sponsor of racing teams, a fantastic magician and member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood and who has his own racing radio show.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was a sponsor of the movie SNAKE & MONGOO$E, which was based on the true story of drag racing pioneers Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen. The movie probably couldn’t have been made without the help and support of the NHRA and we hope the racing association will assist other young filmmakers in producing even more such biographical film content. Representing the NHRA were; Tom Compton, Graham Light, Linda Vaughn, Larry Fisher, Ron Capps, Jack and Rose Dickenson, Dave and Louise McClelland, Linda and Chet Louie, Adriane Ridder and her daughter Courtney. Compton is the current president of the NHRA. Linda Vaughn is a long-time friend of my father and stepmother and spokesperson for NHRA sponsors. Larry Fisher is the director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California. Ron Capps is a drag racer and was in the movie. Rose Dickenson is the marketing manager for the museum. Dave McClelland is the long-time announcer for drag and other sporting events. Linda Louie is the chief counsel and attorney for the NHRA and Adriane Ridder is the vice president of publications for the NATIONAL DRAGSTER, the magazine founded by my father, Wally Parks, as the official magazine of the NHRA.
Some of the drag racers who were there included; Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, Randy Walls, Roland Leong, Tommy Ivo, Paula Murphy and Stormy Byrd. Hot rod artist Kenny Youngblood, engine builder Ed Pink and his wife Sylvia and Skip and Patty Torgerson also came to the premiere. For a long time no one could beat an Ed Pink built engine; it was either an engine by Ed or second place. Others in attendance were Lisa Arriaga, Don and Patty Prieto, Joel Embick and Larry Wood. I knew Roland Leong’s parents when I lived in Hawaii; James Y. T. and Teddy Leong. They had an insurance agency and they were one of the sponsors for the Hawaiian dragster. James kept a secret album of newspaper clippings of his son’s exploits and was fiercely loyal even though he never said it out loud. Youngblood’s talent as an artist is unequaled and we compare young artists to this grandmaster. Paula Murphy has raced open wheeled, stock, drag and land speed cars; just about anything with an engine and wheels. We never considered her the fastest female racer; we considered her to be one of the best, regardless of gender. I sat next to Tommy Ivo in the show as Robin Broidy thanked everyone for coming and told us about the filming process.
Robin wanted to make sure that we all appreciated the work that her husband, Elliot Broidy, contributed. “If Elliot hadn’t loved car racing so much I would have produced a movie on ballet,” she mentioned with glee. “I received a wonderful script from the writer Alan Paradise. He made the subjects come alive. At first he wanted to do a book on Tom McEwen and Don Prudhomme but realized that the subject would do better if it were visual. We were so lucky to get Wayne Holloway as our director and John Bailey as the cinematographer.” She asked us to remember Eddie Michael, who passed away before the premiere of the film. Robin praised the young actors who made the show come alive. “Jesse Williams portrayed Don Prudhomme and Richard Blake took the part of Tom McEwen and they studied the mannerisms to the point where we could hardly tell them apart. They did a wonderful job in the film,” Robin concluded and then motioned for the film to begin.
I have prepared a review of the movie, but briefly here I will say that the audience loved it and hooted and hollered at every incident that brought back a good memory of the past. The pacing was fast, the lead actors were excellent, the cameos and supporting actors were very good and even the walk-ons did a very creditable job for non-actors. Noah Wyle, Leonardo Lam, Fred Dryer, Julie Mond, Ashley Hinshaw and Kim Shaw had memorable and stand alone roles. But it was Jesse Williams and Richard Blake who mesmerized the audience. Fred Dryer was born to play a gruff, lovable old crew chief. You should line him up for every such role that comes along in racing movies. Jessie uttered a line where he said that working for Tommy Ivo was a pain in the rear and the crowd roared. I turned to Ivo and whispered, “Is that true?” He remarked that it was and laughed. They ought to make a movie about Ivo. Actually they ought to make a whole series about him. I still laugh when he tells me about the time Dave Zeuschel the engine builder hoisted him up to the ceiling of his shop and left him there in the dark. Ivo has had about 800 movie and television roles in his lifetime and then he set the drag racing world on its ears. Few if any drag racer had as much showmanship in speeding down the tracks across America and that is saying a lot.
Of course the movie was about Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen and they also set the bar when it came to showmanship and marketing. McEwen is given the credit for coming up with the ideas, but Prudhomme made it work due to his success on the track. Don has a presence that is charismatic. You wouldn’t suppose that to be true since he is a very quiet man and measures his words and actions carefully. He isn’t a cold man at all; he’s simply focused on what he wants to achieve. McEwen is the more gregarious of the two men and is driven to put his ideas into action. Tom the thinker and Don the forceful one made a potent marketing duo. Neither one of them could have succeeded as well alone as they did as a team; if team is the right word. They were competitors first, but in that competition they forged a friendship and partnership that transcended all else. They are men who are respected, not only for one victory here or there, but for a lifetime of contributions to racing.
After the movie we were directed over to Sadie’s Restaurant where the cast party was located. I’ve never been to a cast party before and found it loud and crowded and the music deafening, probably just the way young people like it. I found refuge outside and was able to carry on a conversation with those coming and going. The consensus was that SNAKE & MONGOO$E met the criteria for success among these happy racers. They saw everything in this movie that exemplified their lives and made their toil and tears worthwhile. Of course the past is not that perfect and no movie is perfect either, but those that I talked to were having none of this realism. They liked it and they would go back and see it again and again. I suppose that is exactly what the producers wanted to achieve and they succeeded.
Gone Racin’ is at [email protected]
Photos from the Snake and Mongoo$e Movie Premiere:
Arriving at the Egyptian Theater.
Arriving at the Egyptian Theater.
Inside the Egyptian grounds we saw actors on the red carpet (on the left) with the Hollywood style background.
Lots of noteworthy fans, cast members, photographers.
Lots of noteworthy fans, cast members, photographers.
In the crowd, Dale Armstrong, "TV" Tommy Ivo and Ed Pink.
In the crowd, Dave and Louise McClelland.
(L) Hot Rod artist Kenny Youngblood with Tom McEwen.
Chip's PR guy Carson Lev.
Hot Wheels master Larry Wood.
On the red carpet, Tom McEwen is interviewed.
On the red carpet, (L-R) Robin Millar, David Parks, Ora Mae Millar, Richard Parks.
Richard Blake played the role of Tom "Mongoo$e" McEwen.
Jesse Williams (R) played the role of Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.
Tom McEwen (L) is played by Richard Blake.
Richard Blake (L) with Jesse Williams.
Tom McEwen, Richard Blake, Jesse Williams and Don Prudhomme.
Tom "Mongoo$e" McEwen (L) with Robin Broidy, producer of the movie SNAKE & MONGOO$E.
Tom "Mongoo$e" McEwen (L) with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.
After the premiere, we were directed over to Sadie's Restaurant for the cast party.
After the premiere, we were directed over to Sadie's Restaurant for the cast party.
Inside Sadie's Restaurant with (L-R) Ed Pink (nice shirt, Ed), Paula Murphy and Tom Ivo.