It was just like a Hollywood premier complete with the red carpet, lights and glitter. Warner Brothers has celebrated the accomplishments of drag racing greats Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “Mongoose” McEwen in a feature film about the sport. They were the two drag racing competitors Warner Brothers feature movie The Snake & the Mongoosewhose promotional instincts made the sport of drag racing profitable. Here at Hot August Nights the stars of the movie showed up for a red carpet premier. The film is scheduled to be released in September 2013.
The movie is a “must see” for all race car fans. It does a skillful job of mixing real life footage of the actual races with scripted scenes that depict life in the 1970’s. This was the hot rod scene from that era. Prudhomme who was a car painter in his father’s shop in California was a very successful “part-time” racer until he and McEwen figured out how to make a living at their favorite sport. They changed racing forever. Their popularity among young race fans all over the country showed Mattel that racing was worth promotional dollars. The feature film depicts their struggles to build careers following their dreams. There are poignant scenes that will bring a tear to your eye, and may make you want to get out to the track yourself. It is worth watching just to listen all the period background music.
Cars On Line.com newsletter readers will remember our preview of the upcoming Warner Brothers movie “The Snake & the Mongoo$e.”
On Saturday night after the Barrett-Jackson Auction a red carpet, Hollywood style premier of the movie was held at the Grand Sierra Theater. Some of the stars of the movie were there, plus the subject of the movie Don Prudhomme was on hand (shown above, third from the right.) Next to him stands Playboy Playmate of the Year Jaclyn Swedberg, and to his left actor Richard Blake who played Tom “Mongoose” McEwen in the movie.
Don Prudhomme said this is the actual 1967 Dodge D700 Ramp Truck that he used to haul his 1972 Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car from race to race. Prudhomme said this is one of the actual cars he built during the Mattel Hot Wheels promotion which is so much a part of the plot of this movie. There is also a red Mongoose D700 Ramp Truck hauler which Prudhomme said was the actual truck used by Tom “Mongoose” McEwen. The red Duster II you see on the back of the hauler, however is a replica. The Barrett-Jackson displayed these racing rigs during the autograph signing events at the auction this weekend. They will be touring the country this year as a promo to the big Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale in January 2014.
Don Prudhomme (sitting left) with Richard Blake (middle, actor who plays Tom McEwen, the Mongoose) and Jaclyn Swedberg, Playboy Playmate of the Year, who plays a trophy girl in the movie “The Snake & the Mongoo$e.” They were at the Barrett-Jackson Auction on Saturday during Hot August Nights.
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