A DIFFERENT KIND OF BIKER GANG FLICK FOR 'PINK ANGELS'

year: 1972 cast: John Alderman, Tom Basham, Bruce Kimbell, Henry Olek, Dan Haggerty camp value: ***

The reoccurring joke here is how long it takes for people, including a hitchhiker and the highway patrol, to figure out these grimy bikers, The Pink Angels, are actually gay. At first they seem like the usual rowdy ruffians until slowly, surely, the truth comes out: whether by the usual clichéd slurred speech or ultra prissy mannerisms, or both.

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Overlong scenes of the Angels cruising the American highway are laidback and pleasurable viewing. But unlike EASY RIDER’s supercool soundtrack that cost money, we have what sounds like a poor man's Stephen Stills crooning songs that don't fit the scenes. The gang itself are on that long road headed for a convention in Los Angeles for cross dressers.

Along the way, stopping at hot dog stands or hidden mountainside hangouts, they meet a rival biker gang that bullies them into ravaging girls...

Then, upon reaching their destination, the Angels cross over into Drag Queens and even the straightest men, including a villainous General bent on ridding the Earth of homosexuality, are turned on. And the acting isn’t bad for this kind of grindhouse fare. There’s a burly bearded biker, a short fat prissy whiner, a guy with a really bad Liverpool accent, a gallant mustached man, and a token black with excessive mood swings. But it’s the swarthy gang’s leader Michael, played by John Alderman, that makes even the silliest stuff seem legit.