Episode 177 - The Cannonball Run
This week it's Lotus Esprits, Drunken crooners, mental health concerns and the bloke that killed Patrick Swayze.
It's gotta be The Cannonball Run.
---
Give us a quid and get a shoutout at 100thingswelearnedfromfilm.co.uk
---
The Cannonball Run is a 1981 action-comedy film[5] directed by Hal Needham, produced by Hong Kong firm Golden Harvest, and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Filmed in Panavision, it features an all-star ensemble cast, including Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin. The film is based on the 1979 running of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an actual cross-country outlaw road race beginning in Connecticut and ending in California.
It was the sixth-highest-grossing domestic film of 1981 and became the first installment of the Cannonball Run trilogy. It was followed by Cannonball Run II (1983) (which was far less successful at the box office and with critics) and Speed Zone (1989). This film and its sequel were the final film appearances of actor Dean Martin. It also featured Jackie Chan in his second Hollywood role.
Cannonball (1976) and The Gumball Rally (1976) were two other motion pictures based on the actual Cannonball Run outlaw road race.
---
Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise as racer J.J. McClure and his buddy, Victor Prinzim who occasionally "becomes" his alter ego "Captain Chaos", to the annoyance of J.J.
Roger Moore as Seymour Goldfarb Jr. He is self-parody of his role as James Bond. The car that he drives is an Aston Martin DB5, displays the UK registration plate 6633 PP (matching the number plates on a DB5 from two Bond films, although Moore never drove an Aston Martin in any of his Bond appearances). Molly Picon portrays his mother. Five women ride with Seymour, including model Lois Hamilton, billed as Lois Areno, with Simone Burton, Finele Carpenter, Susan McDonald, and Janet Woytak. Moore's next Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, premiered on June 24, 1981, only a few days after The Cannonball Run.
Farrah Fawcett as tree-loving photographer Pamela Glover. J.J. calls her "Beauty."
Dean Martin, as race car driver Jamie Blake, and Sammy Davis Jr. as scam artist and degenerate gambler Morris Fenderbaum, both disguised as Catholic priests. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder plays himself as Fenderbaum bets on his success (Snyder was Dean Martin's neighbor when both were growing up in Steubenville, Ohio). Blake's car, a Ferrari 308 GTS 1979, is the same as the model in the TV series TV Magnum, P.I.
George Furth as Arthur J. Foyt, the insipid, uptight main antagonist of the film, who tries to have the race stopped
Jackie Chan and Michael Hui as drivers of a Subaru GL filled with gadgets. In the opening part of the film, Chan and Hui are introduced on a talk show (hosted by Johnny Yune) as the operators of Japan's entry into the race. Both Chan and Hui are actually Hongkongers (Chinese). Jackie Chan's character is referred to as "Jackie Chan."
Jamie Farr as Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel, a wealthy Arabian potentate determined to win the race, even if he has to buy it. Bianca Jagger makes a brief appearance as his sister. Farr's car is a souped-up Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. The Sheik is the only character to appear in all three Cannonball Run films.
Mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw are Mel and Terry, a couple of "good ol' boys" driving a 1976 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna NASCAR Hawaiian Tropic replica, then, at the start of the race they have a Monte Carlo.
Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman as Marcie Thatcher and Jill Rivers, satin-Spandex-clad "hotties" in a black Lamborghini Countach who distract police officers with cleavage. The same Lamborghini was used in the film's opening credits as it was being pursued by a Nevada Highway Patrol car after spray-painting a 55 mph speed limit sign. Their character names are not mentioned during the story but appear in the end credits. Their names return in the sequel, though the parts were re-cast.
Valerie Perrine has a cameo as the state trooper pulling over the Lamborghini duo, beating them at their own game
Peter Fonda has a cameo role referencing his motorcycle gang leader character in The Wild Angels while wearing his stars&stripes leather jacket from Easy Rider. The appearance of Fonda and his motorcycle gang during a halt in the race offered an excuse for Chan and others ("I'm Roger Moore!") to demonstrate the fighting skills. Fonda's big, bald buddy ("Roger Who?") is played by biker movie veteran Robert Tessier
Bert Convy as wealthy but bored executive Bradford Compton, who planned to run the Cannonball by motorcycle with the help of an old friend, Shakey Finch (Warren Berlinger), once the world's greatest cross-country motorcyclist. The two planned to disguise themselves as newlyweds. Compton's now portly ally forces the motorcycle into a wheelie for the entire race.
Jack Elam as Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing, same name as the famous vampire hunter. This Van Helsing is a proctologist and graduate of the University of Rangoon, and the Knoxville, Tennessee College of Faith Healing.[7]
Rick Aviles and Alfie Wise as "Mad Dog" and "Batman", tow truck drivers who jump the train flatcar.
John Fiedler as the desk clerk.
Joe Klecko as the Polish driver in the van who gets pulled over by Mr. Foyt (Klecko was not only an active player in the National Football League, like Bradshaw, but also a trucker in the off season).
Car and Driver Magazine columnist and correspondent Brock Yates, who having created the real-life Cannonball Run, wrote the film directly for the screen, plays the race organizer of who lays down the rules at the starting line.
Director Hal Needham appears uncredited as the ambulance EMT.
Veteran Daytona 500 commentator Ken Squier, along with NFL on CBS producer Robert D. Stenner, who produced the CBS Daytona 500 broadcasts from 1979 to 1993 (except in 1992), appear as California Highway Patrolmen.
Veteran voice actor June Foray provided the dubbed dialogue of several of the women who escort Goldfarb in the race
