This popular deejay found a new audience with his film roles, such as this outrageous b-movie, co-starring a future Hollywood legend.
by Rich Watson
This post is part of the Favorite Stars in B-Movies Blogathon, a blog event. At the end I’ll tell you where to find more posts like this.
After a tour of duty up and down the radio stations of the Pacific Northwest and the Bay Area during the fifties and sixties, Don Steele found a home in Los Angeles, at KHJ. Their new “Boss Radio” format, the same one Tom Donahue forsook in San Francisco, turned Steele into a star on TV as well as radio.
In 1975, he appeared in the first of a handful of films, albeit a B-movie. He shared the screen with an up-and-coming actor who was one year away from superstardom.
Interesting and informative review! I have not seen death race 2000, but it sounds like I should!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Like I said, it’s violent, but it’s clearly a satirical kind, not at all meant to be taken seriously, and the kind you rarely see these days. If you can accept that, you’d probably dig it.
ReplyDeleteThe information about Don Steele and "Boss Radio" was fascinating. Were Steele's role(s) in "Here Come the Brides" small? I remember the show, and Don Steele looks like one of the brothers (Jason maybe?) -- the way I remember it anyway!
ReplyDeleteI imagine it was, but I don’t know for sure. I just got that tidbit from IMDB. Joan Blondell was in that show. Always loved her.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Death Race 2000, but I have seen Targets, Rock and Roll high School and Eating Raoul. I'll rewatch Eating Raoul so I can see his performance. Thanks for the very informative review!
ReplyDeletePaul Bartel. Terrific director. Should’ve been a bigger name than he was.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this info. I hadn't heard of The Real Don Steele or boss radio, so now I feel like a real smarty pants.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if Death Race 2000 is my thing, but I really enjoyed your review and all the backstories.
Thanks. I’m in the middle of a series on deejays, which is why I also wrote about Don Steele. Fortunately he appeared in a B-movie, so it fit this blogathon.
ReplyDeleteI rewatched Death Race 2000 earlier this year and I have to say it holds up well. A lot of that is due to the performances. Don Steele is great as Junior Bruce. And as Machine Gun Joe, Stallone is also good. It surprises me that after Death Race 2000 he wasn't offered more gangster roles.
ReplyDeleteCorman saying that he’d thought Stallone would make a great heavy is interesting. I once read a Stallone interview in which he said ROCKY was meant to be a feel-good movie in contrast to all the feel-bad movies of the 70s. Now it’s hard to picture him as an all-the-way bad guy, whether as a gangster or anything else.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I haven’t ignored your posts. I’m having trouble commenting on your blog, but I think the problem is on my end, not yours.
I haven't seen DR2K, but a car with machine guns on the front--an idea that might catch on... The 1970s-80s seems to have been the era of play-to-the-death-games films. I think Rollerball (the James Caan version) came out at the same time as DR2K. Interesting that Corman though Stallone would only be a 'heavy'; there's certainly menace in Stallone in his other films, especially his Rambo series.
ReplyDeleteThere is, but even Rambo is meant to be sympathetic. Machine Gun Joe is a no-doubt-about-it villain. That said, Sly is convincing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for contributing this great slice of the late '60s and '70s to the blogathon! Don Steele had a fascinating career, and if nothing else, he should be remembered for pioneering playing more songs and less commercials! The part of the announcer is a small one, but it lends so much cheesy color to the movie. I'm thinking Roger Corman was not so far off in his assessment of Sylvester - but for the miracle of Rocky, he might well have ended up type cast in villain roles.
ReplyDeleteI had seen Steele in the other Bartel movies, but didn’t know who he was until this post. If I had grown up in LA, I’m sure I would’ve recognized him.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, I find Don Steele's story far more interesting than Stallone's. I know Death Race 2000, Rock 'n Roll High School, Eating Raoul, and Gremlins but I never realized the characters were all the same guy. I really enjoyed learning some of the background details.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I’m in the middle of a series on deejays, which is why I included him, but I figured anyone coming here for the blogathon would want to read about Stallone more. I never had this situation with my film blog, because that was about movies all the time. But I’m glad you liked the parts about Steele. I also liked learning about him because I never knew how Top 40 radio started before now.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing! I'm going to have to look for this one, too.
ReplyDeleteSee it as a midnight movie if possible.
ReplyDelete