The Italian Machine...

I'd completely forgotten about this little flick until I stumbled upon a post on Hell For Leather's site last weekend.  

A few years ago, a customer stopped by the shop and loaned me a VHS recording of David Cronenburg's "The Italian Machine"; an early effort short film created for Canadian TV.  Fortunately, I had a VHS back then, so I had the pleasure of watching and re watching this creative low budget poke at contemporary art collectors.  I've always enjoyed Cronenburg's stuff and knew of his passion for cool bikes (did you know that the teleporting machine in his remake of "The Fly" was modeled after a Norton Manx cylinder turned upside-down?), but this wonderful vignette took me back to my early days in Montreal and the tribe of British bike fanatics I hung with in the late 60's and early 70's.  

And even better, the centerpiece of the film is a 1976 Ducati 900SS.  

And while I have no issue with folks displaying Ducatis in their living rooms, it would seem that at least back in the mid 70¹s the concept irked Mr.Cronenberg enough to inspire the short TV film.  The Italian Machine" follows a group of Three Stooges types (including actors he would later utilize in "Rabid" and "The Brood") obsessed with the art of motorcycling, who flip out when they discover that a ¹76 900SS has been purchased by an eccentric art collector who's displaying the bike in his living room.  In an effort to liberate the bike from such an ignoble existence; they then hatch a plot to steal the bike, posing as photographers for a techno-savvy modern-art magazine.

I loaned it to Fran after checking to make sure he had a VCR stashed somewhere in the farmhouse, but when I asked him later what he thought of the piece he replied that he wasn't able to watch it.  Fran had a VCR, but lacked a working TV.  I believe Fran now has a working TV, but the VCR expired before he had a chance to watch the movie.  I fear the tape has been pressed into service as some sort of farm or garden implement by now; or perhaps parts of the cassette are whirring and clicking away in his shop to ends only known to him (and perhaps Gerry).

After you watch the film, try and imagine my reaction to a fellow who emailed me back in the loudbike shop days to ask me if I could do a cosmetic restoration on an ex-Cronenburg Ducati single he had picked up and wanted to - I kid you not - display in his living room.

My sincere thanks (and shoulder shrugging apologies) to Steve Reed; who originally loaned me the tape and will likely never see it again.

The film is now on YouTube as three separate files that I'm pleased to present for your viewing enjoyment: