Vanishing Point (1971)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writers:

Malcolm Hart (story)
G. Cabrera Infante (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

It's the maximum trip... at maximum speed.

Plot:

Kowalski, works for a car delivery service. He takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Fransisco...

Plot Keywords:

Cars | Highway Patrol | Colorado | Motorbike | Hitchhiker

Cast

Barry Newman	...	Kowalski
Cleavon Little	...	Super Soul
Dean Jagger	...	Prospector
Victoria Medlin	...	Vera Thornton
Paul Koslo	...	Charlie, Young Nevada Patrolman
Robert Donner	...	Collins, Older Nevada Patrolman (as Bob Donner)
Timothy Scott	...	Angel
Gilda Texter	...	Nude Motorcycle Rider
Anthony James	...	Male Hitchhiker #1, in Front Seat
Arthur Malet	...	Male Hitchhiker #2, in Back Seat
Karl Swenson	...	Sandy McKees, Argo's Attendant
Severn Darden	...	Rev. J. 'Jessie' Hovah
Delaney Bramlett	...	J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends)
Bonnie Bramlett	...	J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends)
Lee Weaver	...	Jake, Kowalski's Denver Connection
Cherie Foster	...	Girl #1
Valerie Kairys	...	Girl #2
Tom Reese	...	Sheriff
Owen Bush	...	Communications Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charlotte Rampling	...	Hitchhiker (scenes deleted)
John Amos	...	Super Soul's Engineer (uncredited)
Val Avery	...	Rapist Cop (uncredited)
Rita Coolidge	...	J. Hovah's Singer (uncredited)
David Gates	...	Piano Player at Revival Meeting (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard C. Sarafian

Writing credits
Malcolm Hart		(story outline)
G. Cabrera Infante		(screenplay) (as Guillermo Cain)
Barry Hall		uncredited

Produced by
Michael Pearson	....	executive producer
Norman Spencer	....	producer

Cinematography by
John A. Alonzo		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Stefan Arnsten

Art Direction by
Dennis J. Parrish		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Glen Daniels
Jerry Wunderlich

Makeup Department
Del Acevedo	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Francisco Day	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dick Glassman	....	assistant director (as Richard Glassman)

Art Department
Dennis J. Parrish	....	property master (as Dennis Parrish)

Sound Department
William Edmondson	....	sound mixer (as Bill Edmondson)
Tom Edwards	....	sound mixer
Theodore Soderberg	....	sound mixer

Stunts
Louie Elias	....	stunt coordinator (as Louis Elias)
Carey Loftin	....	stunt coordinator (as Cary Loftin)
Max Balchowsky	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Brooks	....	stunts (uncredited)
James W. Gavin	....	aerial stunts (uncredited)
Bill Hickman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Casting Department
Michael McLean	....	casting supervisor

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Wynigear	....	wardrobe master

Music Department
Jimmy Bowen	....	music producer
Jimmy Bowen	....	music supervisor
Pete Carpenter	....	musical associate
Tom Thacker	....	musical associate

Other crew
Michael McLean	....	associate: Mr. Sarafian
Iain Quarrier	....	creative associate
Maurice Unger	....	production administrator

Production Companies

• Cupid Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Fox Film (1971) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Fox-Stockholm Film Distribution (1971) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1975) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2008) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

MPAA:

Rated R for sensuality/nudity and drug content. (1998 re-rating)

Runtime:

99 min | UK:106 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

France:U | Iceland:L | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2008) | Singapore:PG | USA:R (re-rating) (1998) | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:GP (original rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Nevada, USA

Company:

Cupid Productions

Trivia:

Kris Kristofferson was considered for a part. His then wife, Rita Coolidge, has a small role in the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The 19-inch racks in Super Souls's radio station with large tape reels (in one scene seen fast moving) are not audio equipment. These tape drives were used in computer systems in the 1970s to store data on tape.

Quotes:

Super Soul: And there goes the Challenger, being chased by the blue, blue meanies on wheels. The vicious traffic squad cars are after our lone driver, the last American hero, the electric centaur, the, the demi-god, the super driver of the golden west! Two nasty Nazi cars are close behind the beautiful lone driver. The police numbers are gettin' closer, closer, closer to our soul hero, in his soul mobile, yeah baby! They about to strike. They gonna get him. Smash him. Rape...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)

Soundtrack:

Mississippi Queen

Soul challenger

The best road movie ever made. To appreciate it you have got to try and see it from the culture of that era. It is totally anti establishment as was the mood of half of America. So the police are all idiots, the 'good ol boys' are either violent rednecks or passive disapproving onlookers. Kowalski is going to give those mid west conservatives something they won't forget, he's going to shake things up for a day or two. Kowalski is simply the symbol of the many disenfranchised at the time. The story starts at the end. We hear a boring stifling radio news item on the price of grain. We see dreary looking bystanders who need to be turned on. Then Super Soul takes over the airwaves with his wild DJ antics and hippy music trying to jolt these people out of their fixed ways. The old and the new are clashing. This sets the mood we know from then it is rebellious. Other aspects the stunts the music the characters have been well covered below so there is no need to say more on that. Some have said that there is no point to this story or Kowalski's motives and have interpreted the title meaning that. But all a vanishing point is an artist name for the phenomena of perspective where two parallel lines seemingly meet and in the long straight roads of the journey we see plenty of vanishing points.