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Deuce of Spades
”A new American hotrod movie is being filmed”
A young female hot rod owner finds a mysterious letter, dated back from the fifties, in her 32 Roadster. The letter raises a lot of questions and curiosity takes the upper hand. She sets out to track down her hotrod’s origin. “What had her car really been through?” And what good would the truth do? From the shadows of the past emerges a man whose heart was broken so long ago.
This is the main plot in Faith Granger’s upcoming movie, “Deuce of Spades”. The movie will be released later this year and it’s definitely a modern heir of American Graffiti or Sista natten med gänget as it was named in Sweden. Fast hot rods and race cars, cool cats, cool dames/girls and a thrilling story accompanied by great music.
An extraordinary story.
Faith has gone through a hundred sorrows and as many ghardships to get where she is today. And that’s not an exaggeration. Her personal story would in itself make a great movie script. Faith was born in France but grew up in wartime Beirut. When she was in her teens she was a busy songwriter and won the Best New Artist National Award at fifteen. Three years later she launched an FM radio station. That station is still ranks #1 most popular radio station in Lebanon today.
Faith has had a big interest in mechanics since she was a kid. “It started out with motorbikes when I was thirteen. When I was fourteen I asked my dad if he could explain to me how cars worked. I still remember my fascination when he told me about pistons, valves and compression” says Faith. She moved to Los Angeles In the mid eighties where she continued to develop her artistic skills in the area of music, lyrics and movies.
The Roadster makes it entrance and the filming begins.
In 2006 Faith got her own 32 Roadster, her dream ride since quit some time. The Roadster was put together in the beginning of the seventies but was never completed and lacked the engine. Nine owners later it surfaced in Los Angeles, not finished but drivable, a roadster built in the right style. “I took a test drive and bought right away.. It took some work to get it right though. I had to renovate the carburettors, change tires and the electrical system and a bunch of other stuff” says Faith. After the purchase, she became a frequent visitor to all kinds of different hot rod meets. A passion that just grew stronger. In 2007 the 32 Ford had its 75th birthday. Faith wanted to pay tribute to the car and to the female Hot Rod pioneers that had given her inspiration, such as Veda Orr. This idea resulted in a documentary called “Last of the Hiboy girls”. The documentary was shown next to her car during the Grand National Roadster show. The reception was overwhelmingly positive. Faith could sense a vacuum, a need that needed to be filled and thus was the idea of making a movie with a 32 Roadster in the leading role born. A crazy idea, but Faith was set on giving it a go. Since that decision she has worked fulltime, oftentimes working day and night to make this movie project come true.
The suspense increases
The movie begins when a female hotrod owner, played by Faith, finds a letter from 1955 hidden in her Roadster. The letter is sealed, stamped, has an address on it but was never mailed. It’s a love letter written by a certain Johnny Callaway who owned the Roadster in the fifties. The Hot Rod girl becomes so fascinated by the letter that she decides to track down the parties involved. It’s hard work and during the process we get to see flashbacks from 1952-55, when the Roadster was the fastest street car in the region. We get to see drag racing, street racing, car chases with the police involved, cruising, a dance with lindy hop and so on. The movie has well over 90 minutes of footage that takes places in the fifties. It’s filmed with the period correct prop. Many hours have been put in the details and no stone has been left unturned to get it right. For example a week’s work was put in to find a typewriter of the exact right model. The film sequences from the fifties are put together with about 30 minutes of footage that take place in the modern days. Faith is doing a lot of the work herself and has already made a reputation as a multi talented person amongst fellow indie filmmakers and people in the Los Angeles film industry. The budget for the movie is nearly zero compared with other movie projects. The fact is that Faith has turned down investors from the film industry since she doesn’t want to jeopardise the movie’s authenticity. In regular Hollywood productions there are seldom room for authentic car culture. “The fact that the movie is even being made and that I have become a filmmaker is entirely because of my 32 Roadster. If I hadn’t bought it I would never have made the documentary or gotten the inspiration to make this movie” says Faith. A great deal in the production is done on a non profit basis, but thanks to tremendous enthusiasm among the hot rodders, other filmmakers and actors we sure look forward to the final result. The characters in the movie are portrayed mostly of new, young local actors with pure talent and a genuine interest for the 50’s era. The feeling for authenticity has never been neglected. One of the participants goes by the name of Gene Winfield! The Movie is Faith’s largest project so far and she doesn’t consider it her last. The fact is that she has already started to write the sequel…..
Picture text
# Gene Winfield #
One of many persons who has helped out with the movie is this man, a certain Gene Winfield. No wonder Faith looks pleased.
# Two girls in convertible #
Great effort has been put in to create period perfect atmospheres. “It must feel right”
# Johnny with the Deuce #
Tim McReynolds plays Johnny Callaway, the original owner of the Deuce of spades.
# El Mirage picture #
The Movie is packed with great period perfect hotrods and drag race cars. Faiths have gotten much help from rodders and racers in California much thanks to the enthusiasm that the project has created among them.
# Black Olds #
The cars get lots of room in the movie, of course. Many of the scenes take place in well known environments: in garages, at street and drag races, at cruising and car shows.