The Last American Hero (1973)

Director:

Lamont Johnson

Writers:

Tom Wolfe (articles)
William Roberts (written by)

Release Date:

27 July 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

It took him 20 years to find out who he was and 2 laps to let the world know.

Plot Keywords:

Backwoods | Southern | Country | 1970s | Father In Jail

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Elroy Jackson Jr. / Junior Jackson
Valerie Perrine	...	Marge Dennison, Morley's Secretary
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Mrs. Jackson
Ned Beatty	...	Hackel, Derby Promoter
Gary Busey	...	Wayne Jackson
Art Lund	...	Elroy Jackson Sr.
Ed Lauter	...	Burton Colt
William Smith	...	Kyle Kingman, Driver (as William Smith II)
Gregory Walcott	...	Cleve Morley
Tom Ligon	...	Lamar, Good Ole' Boy
Ernie F. Orsatti	...	Davie Baer, Driver (as Ernie Orsatti)
Erica Hagen	...	Trina Kingman
James Murphy	...	Spud
Lane Smith	...	Rick Penny, Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Cole	...	Marshall Collins
Louis Compton	...	Track Announcer (Martinsville)
Bill Connell
Bridget Furr Jones	...	Baby girl with Junior Jackson at speedway

Also Known As:

Hard Driver (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

95 min | 91 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Hickory, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Rojo Productions

Trivia:

Director Lamont Johnson played the motel desk clerk who discounts Junior's room.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

Soundtrack:

I Got A Name

"It's the old saying about..."

Jeff Bridges stars in this fact-based movie as Junior Jackson, a former moonshine runner who goes straight from the back roads of the Carolinas to the muddy dirt tracks of NASCAR in an era when the sport was hardly known north of the Mason-Dixon line and the drivers liked their cars fast and their women even faster.

There was an old saying that NASCAR never did condone fighting amongst the drivers, but I can see where they got the saying that, "If you have to do it, though, make sure it's at the start-finish line." I did a little research on Jackson's career and the story here holds to the fact that he wasn't one of the "cleanest" drivers in NASCAR, but it does help to have that little bit of controversy among your driver(s) when it comes to putting butts in the grandstands. I was fortunate enough to visit the Legends of Racing Museum in Daytona a few weeks ago and met Jack Anderson, a former driver from that era, and I listened to some of the stories surrounding the times and it seems that everything holds true, which makes this a film portrayed very well in every sense of the word. If you're a fan of stock car driving at any level, this movie is for you! 8 out of 10 stars!