The Love Bug

A family film. Jim is a racing driver. His career is effectively over; he crashes, he loses, and nobody will give him a car. In a showroom he sees a small car. White, old, with the number 53 on it. He takes it. Then the strangeness starts. The car makes its own decisions: it will not go where it does not want to, it shoves people it dislikes with its door, and in a race it works the accelerator itself. Jim refuses to accept this at first and takes the credit himself. The car is called Herbie, and the whole emotional line of the film comes from that misunderstanding. From there the film becomes a racing story. The showroom owner wants the car back, cheats, and there is a long rally in the last section. What the narrative is interested in is not technology but loyalty: the car does not stop helping, even when it is treated badly. It became a studio classic and a long series followed; Herbie continued in later films, a television series and remakes. Dean Jones plays Jim, Michele Lee the woman with him and David Tomlinson the showroom owner. Buddy Hackett is in the cast. Robert Stevenson directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes old family films and harmless comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for today's pace; the film is long, slow and its jokes are very simple.