The California Kid (1974) (TV)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Richard T. Heffron

Writer:

Richard Compton (writer)

Release Date:

25 September 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

In this town a speeding ticket is a death sentence

Plot:

A sadistic small-town sheriff has a habit of deliberately forcing speeders to their deaths on the mountain roads leading into town...

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Small Town | Hot Rod | Sheriff | Sailor

Cast

Martin Sheen	...	Michael McCord
Vic Morrow	...	Sheriff Roy Childress
Michelle Phillips	...	Maggie
Stuart Margolin	...	Deputy
Nick Nolte	...	Buzz Stafford
Janit Baldwin	...	Sissy
Gary Morgan	...	Lyle Stafford
Frederic Downs	...	Judge J.A. Hooker
Don Mantooth	...	Jack (as Donald Mantooth)
Joe Estevez	...	Don McCord
Britt Leach	...	Johnny
Norman Bartold	...	Howard
Barbara Collentine	...	Edith
Michael Richardson	...	Charley
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Tom

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Piru, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

In the scene where the Sheriff asks McCord to open up the hood of his car, the engine seen in the close-up is not that of the '34 Ford featured but is in fact a masked-up shot of the engine from the American Graffiti (1973) '32 Ford coupe.

Goofs:

Continuity: When "The Kid" shows his car to the Sheriff, the fuel induction setup appears to be four 2-barrel carburetors on a small block Chevy. Later, when "The Kid" is working on his car at the garage, the engine has a Holley 4-barrel carburetor.

Quotes:

Howard: Your Honor, I plead nolo contendere.
Judge J.A. Hooker: That's the same as guilty. That will be a one hundred dollar fine or 10 days in the county jail.

A movie as lean and mean as the car who's the star

In 1958, Clarksberg was a famous speed trap town. Much revenue was generated by the Sheriff's Department catching speeders. The ones who tried to outrun the Sheriff? Well, that gave the Sheriff a chance to push them off the Clarksberg Curve with his Plymouth cruiser. For example, in the beginning of the movie, a couple of servicemen on leave trying to get back to base on time are pushed off to their deaths, if I recall correctly. Then one day, a stranger drove into town. Possibly the coolest hot rodder in the world. Michael McCord. Even his name is a car name, as in McCord gaskets. In possibly the ultimate hot rod. A black flamed '34 Ford coupe. The colors of death, evil and hellfire. He gets picked up for speeding by the Sheriff on purpose. He checks out the lay of the land. He is the brother of one of the Sheriff's victims. He knows how his brother died. The Clarksberg government is all in favor of the Sheriff. There's only one way to get justice served for the killing of his brother and to fix things so "this ain't a-ever gonna happen again to anyone": recreate the chase and settle the contest hot-rodder style to the death. He goes out to the Curve and practices. The Sheriff knows McCord knows. The race begins... This is a movie to be remembered by anyone who ever tried to master maneuvering on a certain stretch of road.