Fifty years ago this month, on July 28 1971, one of the most popular and influential motorcycling movies of all time was released in the US – On Any Sunday.
Famous for a glittering cameo by movie god and bike nut Steve McQueen, ‘OAS’, is, by today’s eyes, definitely a product of the late ‘60s/ early ‘70s carefree era characterized by The Monkees, Woodstock and The Love Bug. It’s an upbeat, hippy and surf-style technicolour window on the world of American bikesport ranging from pro flat track to amateur scrambles and from road and desert racing to hill climbs and trials. It also personifies the original era of ‘desert sled’ scramblers and was all documented, to a cheerful jingle-jangle soundtrack with Californian voice-over, by its maker, Bruce Brown.
But if all that gives an impression of a lightweight, ‘Wide World of Disney’ documentary, it also sells ‘OAS’ short. The landmark movie is also credited with massively popularizing motorcycling during the ‘70s, particularly in the States where two wheels had become associated with Hells Angels, Easy Rider and The Wild One. The film’s pioneering cinematography, being one of the very first movies to use on-board cameras, helmet-cams and helicopters, also helped earn it an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. And its success also helped transform the careers of many of its subjects and even made one of its bikes the most valuable ever of its type. And yet, without the generosity of Steve McQueen, it might never have been made at all…
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