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50 YEARS AGO: ‘VANISHING POINT’ BRINGS BIG ENGINES, DEEP THEMES
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/vanishing-point-movie/ ^ | March 13, 2021

Posted on 03/13/2021 5:58:16 PM PST by nickcarraway

In the late '60s and early '70s, the open roads of America — particularly the American West — became a kind of shorthand for two things: white-knuckled driving movies and the concept of freedom itself. Richard C. Sarafian's Vanishing Point, which premiered on March 13, 1971, exemplifies this as well as any film of the era.

Once regarded as a pretty dull affair — the New York Times' reviewer called it "a movie about which I can think of almost nothing good to say" — Vanishing Point has now ascended to that hallowed realm of "cult movie," coming in at No. 62 on a recent poll of the greatest action flicks. Its celebrity turn was also certainly helped by the oversized role it played in Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film, Death Proof.

Vanishing Point comes up in that movie repeatedly. It's referenced early on by stuntman bad guy Mike McKay (Kurt Russell) as an example of an era when stunts were done by real men in real danger, not constructed with CGI. It's also cited several times by his female nemeses, in particular when they discuss the car they want to drive: a white 1970 Dodge Challenger.

But even if Vanishing Point is mostly celebrated via action nods and gear-head adoration, it's still a strangely affecting film — and much weirder than is often remembered.

As befits a movie about driving down the highway at high speeds, the plot is straight-ahead and unadorned. Barry Newman plays Kowalski, who has job delivering cars. He arrives in Denver late one Friday night to drop off an Imperial, and he immediately picks up another car — the famed Challenger — for a run to San Francisco. To help him with the job, he goes to a bar to buy some speed, and he bets his dealer he can drop off the car by 3PM on Sunday, even though there's no reason for the rush.

But for Kowalski, the purposelessness seems to be the point. He wants to drive fast simply because he can, and no one's going to stop him. He finds himself being followed almost immediately by a pair of Colorado highway patrol cops on motorcycles, but he knocks one off the road and outraces the other. He gets challenged to a race by a guy in a convertible Jaguar, running him off the road as well.

This pattern of high speed and random encounters continues all across the West. Kowalski races through Utah and Nevada, evading highway patrolmen and meeting odd strangers: a crusty old rattlesnake hunter (Dean Jagger) who helps him out, a bunch of Christian revivalists (featuring members of the band Delaney, Bonnie and Friends, who have a song on the soundtrack), two gay hitchhikers who try to rob him at gunpoint before he throws them out of his car and a biker with a girlfriend who rides around naked in the desert.

Meanwhile, news of these exploits has spread: He's being cheered on by a blind, small-town Nevada DJ named Super Soul (Cleavon Little), who calls him "the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul." This attracts public attention to Kowalski, who's becoming a kind of folk hero. But eventually the chase has to end. Just inside California, the cops set up a pair of bulldozers in the road and chase Kowalski toward them. Instead of stopping, he accelerates into the bulldozers, smiling, and dies in a fiery explosion.

A good deal of the film's run time features the kind of stuff celebrated in Death Proof. Kowalski's Challenger roars loudly, spews dirt and gravel when it rounds corners and engages in some great driving sequences set up by Carey Loftin, who also coordinated stunts on films like Bullitt and The French Connection. And all of this is set against lots of gorgeous desert scenery, courtesy of cinematographer John A. Alonzo.

But the film's mysterious allure isn't only derived from the high-speed sequences. It also comes from the strange characters Kowalski encounters along the way — and from the brief glimpses of his character that we're given through flashbacks. We find out that he's a decorated Vietnam War veteran, ex-cop and former race car driver, with a past girlfriend who died in a surfing accident.

These are all clues to the kind of "freedom" the film celebrates. Kowalski is an outsider, one who hasn't been able to make it in the establishment world. His desire for the open road is a rejection of that establishment. And in a sense, this desire wins in the end: He never gets caught by the cops, dying rather than giving in. In a typical late '60s and early '70s way that recalls everything from Easy Rider to Two Lane Blacktop to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the stakes are clear: You're either free or you die, and the former is better than the latter.

At the same time, though, this freedom is something to be mourned. Even while Kowalski is burning up the highway, Super Soul is announcing that the driver is "the last beautiful free soul on this planet." This freedom will inevitably come to an end. And it's been enjoyed at a terrible cost. Once a war hero and a man who knew love, Kowalski is now nothing more than a drifter, with no ties to anything or anyone he meets.

Although it's often read as a kind of existentialist parable, the film is more like a celebration of kinetic energy itself. There are no morals here, no real message. There's only forward motion: the sound of that glorious 440 engine and the sight of the highway rushing past.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: automotive; freedom; movies; vanishingpoint
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To: dynachrome

Also has Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys in it.


41 posted on 03/13/2021 8:06:04 PM PST by dynachrome ("I will not be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
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To: nickcarraway

I was 21 when Vanishing point came out and afterwards drove my slow 1960 VW bug home from the theater.


42 posted on 03/13/2021 8:06:15 PM PST by Inyo-Mono
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To: dynachrome
Anything with Warren Oates was worth watching!
43 posted on 03/13/2021 8:48:07 PM PST by boop (Joe Biden is a racist.)
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To: Nailbiter

flr


44 posted on 03/13/2021 8:53:09 PM PST by Nailbiter
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To: Hatteras

#16. Nice handles, and the bike’s are nice too.

re Delaney and Boonie: From “Billboard’s Top 40 Hits”, 1955-2000, D&B were a married couple named Bramlett. “Backing artists (Friends) included at various times, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Dave mason, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and many others”.

Now that is what a call a great group of rock singers.

“Only You Know and I know” = #20 1971.


45 posted on 03/13/2021 9:46:52 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: nickcarraway

#21. Bad ending!!


46 posted on 03/13/2021 9:47:41 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: Captain Peter Blood

I saw it but don’t know where or with whom I saw it...


47 posted on 03/13/2021 9:51:18 PM PST by cherry (we are the Remnant)
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To: Buttons12

Well, talking about old muscle cars.. Last night I went to the bank outside teller machine next to a restaurant my wife and I were visiting.

The man in front of me, probably in his late 30’s, had a sparkling, original Pontiac Fireball convertible, iridescent blue, mint condition. Hadn’t seen one like that in decades though there are some 1970’s Challengers and Chargers near me.

We exchange small talk and was impressed when I told him I drove a 1957 Chevy 210 (once with 8 girls in it).

My grandson is legally blind but he loves to collect Die-cast miniature cars. I just gave him a white Challenger with a rear stabilizer on the truck. It was really too small for him to see much except to touch the stabilizers so I went to Target tonight and bought him a larger, die-cast “FADA” “Fast & Furious” 1970 Dodge Charger, black with a chrome intake spoiler on the hood, and chrome wheels.

It is about 6-7 inches long so he’ll be able to see it much better than the smaller car I just gave him. For his birthday, I might be able to get him the much larger 2-16 inch model so that he’ll have a really good visible car in his collection.

Now, about that 1950’s Harley in his family’s basement!!!


48 posted on 03/13/2021 10:05:32 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: nickcarraway
Saw it at age 13 with a friend the night it came out. It's just possible I was the first in the world to yell "That's a Camaro!" right after the scene where the car was folded up against the dozer blades.

Legend has it that they towed the Camaro into the dozer blades with a 383 automatic Challenger, one of 4 or 5 Challengers, (the rest were 440 4 speed cars), on loan from Chrysler.

That's a tasty morsel for Mopar fans.

Chrysler was not happy with the content of the movie and had them all crushed. A very unfortunate move on their part if you ask me.

See my home page for a very nice picture of a white '70 Challenger. It's not mine, but it's close, (mine has fat tires on the back). When I bought it, it came with Cleavon Little's, (Super Soul), original copy of the script.

Don't know how that script became part of the deal but it looks legit.

49 posted on 03/13/2021 11:10:02 PM PST by BikerTrash
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To: nickcarraway

BTW...cool thread. Thanks.


50 posted on 03/13/2021 11:14:13 PM PST by BikerTrash
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To: BikerTrash

You are welcome.


51 posted on 03/13/2021 11:53:20 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
He finds himself being followed almost immediately by a pair of Colorado highway patrol cops on motorcycles, but he knocks one off the road and outraces the other. He gets challenged to a race by a guy in a convertible Jaguar, running him off the road as well.

I've often wondered how "dumb" people in old movies will seem to young viewers, most of whom who have never experienced life without cell, wireless and photo communications everywhere.

52 posted on 03/14/2021 5:14:46 AM PDT by Albion Wilde ("One steps out with actresses, one doesn't marry them."—Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh)
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To: Hatteras

That part was the 1st thing that came to my mind.


53 posted on 03/14/2021 5:15:15 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
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To: nickcarraway
Meanwhile, news of these exploits has spread: He's being cheered on by a blind, small-town Nevada DJ... who calls him "the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul." This attracts public attention to Kowalski, who's becoming a kind of folk hero. But eventually the chase has to end. Just inside California, the cops set up a pair of bulldozers in the road and chase Kowalski toward them. Instead of stopping, he accelerates into the bulldozers, smiling, and dies in a fiery explosion.

Sort of a metaphor for America in January 2021.

54 posted on 03/14/2021 5:18:13 AM PDT by Albion Wilde ("One steps out with actresses, one doesn't marry them."—Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh)
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To: BikerTrash

The DJ’s ( Cleavon Little ) radio station scenes were from the Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield Nevada. It’s supposedly one of the most haunted places in the USA.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nevada/most-terrifying-nevada-ghost-story-is-truly-chilling/


55 posted on 03/14/2021 5:37:41 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (This space for rant.)
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To: Hillarys Gate Cult
Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

I've been to Cisco, Utah, (Cisco, CA in the movie), many times. It's a weird, spooky place as well.

Always wanted to visit Goldfield.

56 posted on 03/14/2021 6:16:54 AM PDT by BikerTrash
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To: gundog

I used to watch it for the car.

You probably walked right past me while you were up here.

:D


57 posted on 03/14/2021 6:21:55 AM PDT by Salamander (Salamander has barbaric tendencies.../Gundog)
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To: Salamander

I met that guy in a class in Denver, and served with him in Florida. He watched it for the car. I guess that was most of the show’s appeal, other than Daisy Duke. Are you a big REO Speedwagon fan, too?


58 posted on 03/14/2021 6:42:00 AM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: gundog

Honestly, I’d rather be punched than listen to REO.

:D


59 posted on 03/14/2021 7:41:40 AM PDT by Salamander (Salamander has barbaric tendencies.../Gundog)
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To: Salamander

BWAHAHA!!! I gave him a lot of grief over them.


60 posted on 03/14/2021 8:27:28 AM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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