''Jake Speed'' is a 1986 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed and produced by Andrew Lane, with

Wayne Crawford Wayne David Crawford (February 11, 1947 – April 30, 2016) was an American film and television actor, and film producer, director and screenwriter. Crawford appeared in nearly thirty films, produced fifteen, wrote nine, and directed seven. Cra ...

, and

William Fay William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

. It was written by Lane and Crawford, and starred Crawford in the title role, alongside

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), '' Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and '' Django Unchained'' (20 ...

Karen Kopins Karen Kopins Shaw (born October 10, 1961) is a former American actress and former model. Early life Kopins was born on October 10, 1961. Kopins attended Ridgefield High School and graduated from Marymount College before moving to California to ...

and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in ...

Plot

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, a girl named Maureen Winston (Becca C. Ashley) is abducted by two evil-looking men. While her family prays for her safe return, Maureen's father heaps guilt on her sister Margaret (

), since she convinced her to go see the world. However, Margaret's grandfather (

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...

) has an idea: call for Jake Speed (

) to go and rescue her. One problem exists: Jake Speed is a character in a series of 1940s-style

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rha ...

novels. However, Jake Speed does exist, as Margaret finds out, when he leaves a note for her to meet him and his sidekick, Desmond Floyd (

), in a tough Paris bar. The novels, as Margaret finds out, are based on Jake and Des's real-life adventures, and they work for nothing, seeing action and excitement (and another novel) as their reward. Jake reveals that Maureen was kidnapped by white slavers, and is being held in an African country. Jake, Des, and Margaret fly to the nation, which is in the middle of a civil war, to rescue her. Many twists and turns later, Jake's archenemy, the evil, perverted, murderous Englishman Sid (

), is revealed to be behind the ring, and soon, Margaret becomes a part of it. Jake and Des must now rescue both Maureen and Margaret, stop Sid, and help the girls get out in one piece, while dealing with warring factions, pits of lions, and machine gun-firing helicopters.

Cast

as Jake Speed *

as Desmond Floyd *

as Margaret Winston *

as Sid *

as Pop Winston *

Roy London Roy London (March 3, 1943 – August 8, 1993) was an American actor, acting coach and teacher. Early life London was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. A math prodigy at age five, London was on the radio show, ...

as Maurice * Donna Pescow as Wendy *

Barry Primus Barry Primus (born February 16, 1938) is an American television and film actor, director, and writer. Career While Primus is primarily an actor, he has also worked as a writer and director in films in which he has acted. For the first decade ...

as Lawrence *

Monte Markham Monte Markham (born June 21, 1935) is an American actor. He has appeared in films, television series and on Broadway. Early life Markham was born in Manatee County, Florida, the son of Millie Content (née Willbur) and Jesse Edward Markham Sr., ...

as Mr. Winston *

Millie Perkins Millie Perkins (born May 12, 1938) is an American film and television actress known for her debut film role as Anne Frank in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and for her supporting actress roles in two 1966 Westerns, ''The Shooting'' and ''R ...

as Mrs. Winston *

Ian Yule Ian Yule (1933 — 3 December 2020) was a British born South African actor and soldier. He had a film career that commenced in the late 1960s and lasted to around the early to mid 2000s. Many of the roles he has played are that of a soldier. T ...

as Bill Smith

Production

Filming took place in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

;

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

; and in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The film was produced by

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

in association with Balcor Film Investors and Force Ten Productions. It was Force Ten's first production since 1978's ''

Paradise Alley ''Paradise Alley'' is a 1978 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone (in his feature directorial debut). The film tells the story of three Italian American brothers in Hell's Kitchen in the 1940s who bec ...

''.

Soundtrack

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of composer

Mark Snow Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman; August 26, 1946) is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The theme reached no. 2 on the UK Si ...

's music was released on

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

only by

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer ...

in 1986. It was reissued on compact disc by Buysoundtrax in 2009 in a limited edition pressing of 1000 copies. A track listing is as follows:

Novelization

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

, written under the pseudonym Reno Melon, Jake and Des'

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

, was published on June 1, 1986, by Gold Eagle/Harlequin ().

Critical response

Alex Stewart reviewed ''Jake Speed'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...

'' #83, and stated that "Until John Hurt turns up, having fun being a sleazy villain, the cast hang about, wondering what to say to each other. The result is surely the dullest and least speedy caper movie ever." The film holds a 48% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

References

External links

* * * * {{rotten-tomatoes, jake_speed 1986 films 1980s action adventure films 1980s adventure comedy films 1980s action comedy films American action adventure films American adventure comedy films Films scored by Mark Snow Films about kidnapping Films about prostitution Films about slavery Films set in Africa Films set in Paris New World Pictures films 1986 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films