The Bottle and the Throttle (1968) Poster

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5/10
Timothy Farrell
BandSAboutMovies1 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Narrated by Timothy Farrell, who was one of the two narrators and the psychiatrist in Glen or Glenda, as well Girl Gang, Pin-Down Girl, Dance Hall Racket, Test Tube Babies, The Violent Years, Jail Bait and many more. He was also a bailiff for the Los Angeles Marshal's Department when he was acting in movies like Paris After Midnight, which was raided by the Los Angeles Vice Squad during filming.

A bunch of kids a drinking beach beers -- Budweiser, Schlitz and Hamm's -- and Bill has had one too many. He ends up driving home and killing a child and breaking the back of her mother. Was it worth it?

Do you remember that wheel of how many drinks you had and how long until you sober up back in driver's ed or health class? Man, I used to think of that all the time and here I am, now trying to gauge edibles which are magical and unpredictable lunacy when compared to whiskey.

The major difference between the 1961 and 1968 films is that the former is made with the help of the Culver City Police Department and the Culver City Unified School District while the latter is made with the West Covina Police Department. I'd like to think these organizations were scammed and paid twice for one movie.

"The little girl died on the way to the hospital and the mother will probably never walk again. No matter how your trial comes out, you'll always have to live with those facts, won't you Bill. A child dead. A mother crippled. Not a pleasant future to face at the age of 18."

Pure nihilism.

Sidney Davis Productions also made The Dropout, Boys Beware (an anti-homosexual scare movie), the Ib Melchior-directed -- yes, the guy who wrote Death Race 2000 and directed The Angry Red Planet -- Keep Off the Grass, Skateboard Sense and LSD: Trip or Trap!
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5/10
"We contemplate stupid things"
boblipton7 September 2019
Well, that's true enough. I do that all the time, and not just when I have a few beers and go driving, as this Sid Davis movie suggests. Oh, no! This movie must be about me!

It's the sort of movie that was shown in driver education classes in high school, half a century ago, when I was in high school. Everyone talks about BLOOD ON THE ROAD, but this movie seems to have been popular enough to have been made twice: in 1961, as a black&white movie, and this, only seven years later. It's not to imply that there seems to have been much money spent beyond the color photography.

The droning narrator who pauses only for the car to strike its victim, is Timothy Farrell. Besides his minor movie career, which seemed to be mostly in soft-core pornography and monster movies, he worked in law enforcement, rising to County Marshall in 1971.
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Farrell...The One and Only
Michael_Elliott6 June 2009
Bottle and the Throttle, The (1968)

*** (out of 4)

Sid Davis produced this scare film that tries to show teenagers the dangers of driving. In the short a man and his girlfriend leave a beach party after only two beers and end up hitting a mother and her young child. Timothy Farrell (GLEN OR GLENDA?) narrates this short and while I was expecting something campy the movie actually turned out to be pretty well made. You might get a chuckle out of the clothe styles or even the old fashioned beer cans but for the most part the film is well made and gets it message across. There's some animated footage used to show what alcohol does to the body and this too was well done. I've seen quite a few of these type of films and I must say this one did a very good job at breaking down what alcohol can do to the body. Farrell will be known by "Z" movie fans for such stuff as GLEN OR GLENDA?, JAIL BAIT, THE DEVIL'S SLEEP and TEST TUBE BABIES. This here was his last work in film.
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7/10
"If you drink, don't drive".
classicsoncall10 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Considering the title of this educational short, one might expect something a bit on the campy side but it actually did a pretty good job of conveying the dangers of drinking and driving. It begins at the scene of an accident in which a youthful driver strikes a mother and daughter crossing the street, and proceeds to instruct the viewer on the way alcohol is processed by the human body and how it affects one's sense of judgment and reaction time to outside stimuli. It's surprising to learn for example, that only three eighths of an ounce of alcohol can be processed by the body's liver in an hour, the rest of one's drinking that exceeds that amount begins to slow down the normal operation of the heart and nerve centers of the body. All explained in a matter of fact manner, the film short doesn't need to hit you over the head to make it's point. It does get heavy handed however with it's warning that the consequences of 'one too many' may have life long repercussions if one has an accident that could have been avoided by not driving under the influence.

One thing I keep an eye out for in any film presentation is for product placement that companies usually go to great pains with in order to get their brand in front of the viewer. I was actually a bit surprised to see some prominent labels on display here - Schlitz, Budweiser and Hamm's were all part of the 'beach scene' where the unfortunate driver had his share of beer. It made me wonder if the companies voluntarily participated or whether the film makers used the brands on their own. I wouldn't think that the well known beer makers would have wanted their signature items placed in a bad light, so it's hard to say. In any event, this was an informative vehicle, and dated though it is, would still have enough relevance to show to youth groups today.
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7/10
An effective film, and the last of the great Tim Farrell.
Weaselsarefree3 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Every film has a goal, if the goal of a horror film is to scare people, then a film like 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' gets a 10 out of 10. If the goal of the movie is to get people to laugh then, 'Animal House' gets a 10 out of 10. And if the goal of your film is to get people to think before getting behind the wheel of a car after a few drinks then 'The Bottle and the Throttle' gets a 10 out of 10.

The film begins at the scene of a car accident where a small amount of alcohol may have been a contributing factor. The viewer doesn't immediately find out rather or not the people involved (A mother and a child, who are struck by a car)survived or not. While waiting to find out rather or not the people in the accident survive, the viewer learns about how alcohol effects judgment, though the pleasing baritone voice of, Tim Farrell. The viewer honestly feels a sense of getting placed in the shoes of the driver who caused the accident. I honestly felt bad for him. Especially, when you find out what ended up becoming of the mother and child after the wreck. The film did honestly make me think twice about being 'buzzed' and driving.

Being a Tim Farrow fan I watched this film because it was his last, but I walked away from it thinking about the consequences of actions behind the wheel. Something that is seriously missing from driver's Ed classrooms of today.

RECOMMENDED for Tim Farrell fans or those who like driver's ED flicks.
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8/10
maybe they'll live and maybe they'll die.
Spuzzlightyear17 November 2005
Pretty classic Sid Davis scare film has it all, foolish teenagers, a tern narrator, and of course, racks and racks of guilt. We somewhat follow Bill. who had a couple of beers and then goes driving with his girl, he hits a mother and a girl. Inbetween the story, we are shown what happens to alcohol once it enters the human body and some nice actual crash scenes. But man oh man, poor Bill, not only does he have to do the 'blow this balloon up' test which I've never seen, or having to deal with the death of the young girl 'for the rest of your life', but you have the most guilt-ridden, angst building, condescending narrator just about to spit on you. Highly Recommended!
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10/10
Don't drink and drive
dtucker8619 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
So many people have made fun of those old "scare" films that they used to show to us in driver's ed class (this was before texting and driving became a danger). This is a good film though with a grim message about drinking and driving. It opens at the scene of an accident where a mother and child have been killed and the driver that felt he could "handle" a few beers in his monumental stupidity and will have to pay for the rest of his life. There is a very good lecture in the film about how even a little alcohol can severely impair your ability to make decisions and drive. It is a terrifying message this film presents. How many tragedies and heartaches could have been avoided if only people hadn't drank and got behind the wheel.
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