Gone in 60 Seconds (1974 film)
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Gone in 60 Seconds is a 1974 film written and directed by H.B 'Toby' Halicki. It centers on a group of car thieves and the 48 cars they must steal in a matter of days. The film is famous for having wrecked and destroyed 93 cars in a 40 minute car chase scene. It was later remade in 2000 as Gone in Sixty Seconds.
Plot summary
Insurance investigator Maindrian Pace (played by H.B 'Toby' Halicki) and his team lead double lives as car thieves. Everyone knows him as an intelligent, respectable insurance investigator, they also know that he runs a quality auto shop in town. What very few know is that he is the leader of a group of professional car thieves.
If a car disappears, it's most likely Pace's gang that's done it. Today is Tuesday and a very valued client has just contacted Pace with an exceptional order. A South American drug lord pays Pace to steal 48 cars for him, and all but one - a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - are successfully stolen by Maindrian and his associates. The buyer wants Pace to deliver 48 specific cars to him by Saturday.
All are very high-end cars ranging from Mustangs to limousines, making the order difficult to fill under the time limit. Still, Pace savors the challenge and agrees to complete the order. So Pace begans to code name the cars. Pace also has Eugene's wedding to go to in Dunkirk, New York. Pace asks Eugene to call off his honeymoon for some court cases next week.
After arriving back at Los Angeles International Airport Pace and his crew spot Eleanor at the airport and Corlis (Ronald Halicki) tries to steal her. Then they leave the airport.
Then later on that night his crew is somewhat taken aback by the audacity of the plan, but they realize that if anyone can do it, Pace can. Mapping out a basic strategy, the gang begins to scout out their targets, which have all been given female names.
Being part of the insurance industry, Pace does have one small idiosyncrasy when it comes to stealing, all of the cars he steals must be insured.
Pace refuses to take a car from a person who hasn't insured it because of his secretary Pumpkin (Marion Busia) has got him to agree with it during a walk in the park in Dunkirk.
Then later on that night Pace goes to Asscott Park and steals J.C. Agajanian's 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Then also later on that night Pace goes and steals Harold Blight Smith's (Edward Abrahms) Eleanor right out of his garage. Then Mr. Smith pulls right out in his blue 1972 Plymouth Satellite and chases Pace all the way down the street screaming "that's my car".
Pace manages to steal all seven Limousines and The Pantera and finally Eleanor. Then Atlee steals the 1974 Cadillac Coupe DeVille right in front of the Hungry Tiger Restaurant. Then Pace steals the 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and the 1971 Chevrolet Corvette.
And so they begin stealing the 48 cars. As it happens, it's proceeding extremely smoothly, the thieves have found all the cars they need with little hardship, and no complications have arisen. That is, until they come to Eleanor, a prized '73 Mach 1 Ford Mustang. They've found their Eleanor, stolen it, but then discover that it's not insured. The owner has placed an ad in the paper pleading for the car's return, no questions asked. Of course, Pace agrees, much to the chagrin of his buddies.
Pace prepares to steal the Mustang, codenamed 'Eleanor', in Long Beach, but is unaware that his boss (Jerry Daugirda) has alerted to the police to the potential theft as a result of a dispute involving a car the team stole that turned out to be full of heroin. Telling his boss he was going to take care of the car, Pace instead torched it in the desert. As a result of the tip-off, two detectives (Butch Stockton and Phil Woods) are waiting for Pace as he steals Eleanor, and they give chase. The ensuing pursuit is the longest car chase (40 minutes) in any movie and takes Pace through five cities as he attempts to escape.
Every section of this sequence was filmed on live city streets or freeways, often containing real pedestrians running from Pace's car. In a notable scene, Eleanor is seen to be involved in an accident as a result of misjudging the freeway and colliding with a lamp post. This scene was, in fact, a real accident, as Halicki misjudged both the lane and speed of a car travelling behind. Halicki was injured in the crash, but the scene was left in, and Eleanor is seen driving away from the accident and the chase continues.
The jump scene contained at the end of the chase is also notable and set the standards for a number of subsequently produced pictures. Acting as the climax to the lengthy chase sequence, Eleanor is seen to jump over the scene of another accident after debris from a separate car allows it to catch air. The jump manages to achieve 30 feet of distance - a feat which would not be easily replicable without the use of modern CGI techniques - and the Mustang barely manages to land safely as it meets the ground in a rather awkward fashion, injuring Halicki once again.
Shortly after this jump, the chase, which occupies most of the screen time, is ended by Pace as he spots another yellow Mustang pulling into a car wash. He asks for his car to be washed and then dupes the owner of the undamaged Mustang into a fictitious meeting with the garage's manager before stealing her car and switching the plates.
Pace subsequently leaves the garage with the stolen car as the owner of the car wash (who matches the description of Pace, who was wearing a grey wig and a grey jacket during the chase) is arrested and Pace drives off into the sunset.
Production
Gone in 60 Seconds was classified as an independent film - H.B. Halicki wrote, starred, directed, produced and even did his own stuntwork in the film, which, at the time, was phenomenal. In a contemporary context, however, the portions of the film preceding the chase sequences are seen as typical of a badly acted - and poorly received - 70s movie. The reason for this view is that Halicki employed family and friends (instead of professional actors) to play parts in his movie to keep the budget low. Therefore, the acting is somewhat substandard when compared to other films of the time. The characters depicted as being members of the emergency services were actual police officers, firemen, or paramedics. The then-mayor of Carson, California, Sak Yamamoto, also appeared as himself.
All of the police cars damaged in the film, as well as the garbage truck that overturns, were bought at city auction by director H.B. Halicki in 1972, for an average price of $200 each. They sat in an empty lot for over a year until production on the movie began in 1973.The fire trucks seen on the Vincent Thomas Bridge during the main chase were real Long Beach FD units on their way to an emergency call. The "crash" staged for the film was blocking both lanes and they could not get past until the cars were cleared. Director Halicki asked the camera crew to film them in case there was somewhere to fit the shot into the movie. There was.
There was no official script for the movie, apart from several pages outlining main dialog sequences. Much of the action/dialog was improvised and made up by the cast and crew as they went along. This caused many problems for the editor, Warner E. Leighton, who never knew what footage was being dumped on him or where in the movie it belonged. In the DVD audio commentary, he described the script for the construction site portion of the main pursuit as a piece of cardboard with a circle on it. Director Halicki pointed at it and said, "That's the dust bowl. We went around it twice. There's your script."
Releases
Following its release, a home video VHS was released containing the theatrical version, complete with original soundtrack and effects. It has, however, been out of print since around 1986, and is therefore considered a collector's item.
In 2000, a 25th anniversary remastered edition was released on DVD and VHS to American viewers. This special remastered edition contained a completely reworked image, with a newly cleaned up print compared to the grainy, dirty and unsatisfactory previous version. It also contained another significant change to the soundtrack, replacing the original with a slightly generic overlay rather than the more country style of music chosen by Halicki for the original theatrical release. This has been the center of debate for many fans, who have objected to this alteration and, in some cases, feel almost cheated. The sound effects were also reworked for the remastered version, using more typical collision and engine sounds. This is an improvement over the theatrical release, which contained often-distorted sound effects (although these were the actual sounds used at the time of filming). In May 2005 a Region 2 DVD was released in Europe.
Cast and Crew
- H.B 'Toby' Halicki .... Maindrian Pace/Vicinski/Mr. Villis
- Marion Busia .... Pumpkin Chase
- Jerry Daugirda .... Eugene Chase
- James McIntyre .... Stanley Chase
- George Cole .... Atlee Jackson
- Ronald Halicki .... Corlis Pace/The Crane Operator
- Markos Kotsikos .... Uncle Joe Chase
- John Halicki .... Sgt. Hawkins
- Butch Stockton .... 1-Baker-11 detective (driver)
- Phil Woods .... 1-Baker-11 detective (passenger)
- J.C. Agajanian Jr. .... Himself/The Light Blue Unmarked Detective
- Parnelli Jones .... Himself
- Sak Yamamoto .... Himself (City of Carson mayor)
- Edward Abrahms .... Harold Blight Smith
- Christopher J.C. Agajanian .... Himself
- Gary Bettenhausen .... Himself
- Edward Booker .... Lowrider
- Wally Burr .... Male police dispatcher
- Anthony Cole .... Lowrider
- Mark Cole .... Lowrider
- Michael Cole .... Lowrider
- Billy Englehart .... Lowrider
- Jonathan E. Fricke .... Himself (KFOX interviewer)
- Edward Havens .... Kid in park
- Hal McClain .... Himself (KFOX host)
- Don Simmons .... Lowrider
- Ron Simmons .... Lowrider
- Jack Vacek .... WK90 officer (voice)/Cal In The Flying Fox
- Bud Wacen .... Himself
- Christine Wright .... Himself/The Lady At The Rosecrans Car Wash
- Phil Boroff .... Policeman
- Chip Giannettino .... Policeman
- Garland Brown .... Policeman
- Terence H. Winkless .... Lyle Waggoner's Car Cleaner
- Maureen Coddington .... Pantera Girl/Hungary Tiger Girl/Jill/The Car Wash Girl
- Kelly Busia .... Real Estate Interview Girl
Executive Producers
- H.B 'Toby' Halicki
- Richard L. Muse
Original music by Eb Jensen, Philip Kachaturian, and Ronald Halicki.
The 48 cars stolen in the movie
- 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine - Sharon
- 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine - Brenda
- 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine - Leona
- 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine - Harriet
- 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine - Rachel
- 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Limosine - Johanna
- 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Limousine - Jeannie
- 1974 International White Freightliner Semi Truck - Marion
- 1973 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - Nancy
- 1974 Mercedes-Benz 450 - Kelly
- 1930 Hudson Great Eight - Sara
- 1974 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - Jane
- 1975 Lincoln Continental| Continental Mark IV - Ruth - Joyce
- 1930 Ford Model A Pickup - Francis
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow - Wilma - Cathy
- 1930 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost - June
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Phantom V - Marge
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II - Maggie
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow - Thelma
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II - Florida
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III - Georgina
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow - Georgette
- 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow - Gina
- 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona - Tiffany
- 1972 Plymouth Barracuda - Audrey
- 1974 Lamborghini Countach - Violet
- 1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray - Dorothy
- 1967 Lamborghini Miura - Sheena
- 1968 Intermeccanica Italia GFX - Sheila
- 1966 Lotus Europa S1 Type 46 - Suzanne
- 1974 Manta Mirage - Susan
- 1974 De Tomaso Mangusta - Loretta
- 1974 De Tomaso Pantera - Maureen - Tammy
- 1973 Jensen Interceptor MK.III - Esther
- 1974 Citroën SM - Raquel
- 1971 Cadillac Eldorado - Farrah
- 1971 Cadillac Eldorado - Renée
- 1972 Maserati Ghibli Coupe - Joan
- 1971 Chevrolet Vega - Charlotte
- 1974 Ford Bronco Panelli Jones Big Ole Bronco - Janet
- 1973 Stutz Blackhawk - Donna
- 1973 Stutz Blackhawk - Karen
- 1961 Ferrari F340 America - Charlene
- 1953 Chrysler Coupe Elegance - Jackie
- 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood Station Wagon - Midge
- 1974 Jaguar E-Type - Kitty
- 1974 Porsche 914 - Angela
- 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - Eleanor (notable as main car)
External links
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