Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976)

Competition between privately owned LA ambulance companies is played for humour.

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Stephen Manes (story), Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay),

Stars:

Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Cosby	...	Mother
Raquel Welch	...	Jugs
Harvey Keitel	...	Speed
Allen Garfield	...	Harry Fishbine
Larry Hagman	...	Murdoch
L.Q. Jones	...	Davey
Bruce Davison	...	Leroy
Dick Butkus	...	Rodeo
Milt Kamen	...	Barney
Barra Grant	...	Miss Crocker
Allan Warnick	...	Bliss
Valerie Curtin	...	Naomi Fishbine
Ric Carrott	...	Harvey
Severn Darden	...	Moran
Bill Henderson	...	Charles Taylor

Storyline

Los Angeles: A new law says that the first ambulance that arrives at an accident obtains the contract to transport the injured person. The result is ruthless competition between several companies.

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Plot Keywords:

ambulance | drugs | merger | police | overweight | 

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Taglines:

they don't call them that for nothing!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambulances tous risques

Filming Locations:

Mar Vista, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mother's last name is Tucker. It is mentioned twice over the radio when Naomi Fishbine is calling Unit 1. Once when they are stopped for hamburgers and again when Jugs is along for her first training run.

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Goofs

In the final shootout scene where Larry Hagman's character has been shot, the SWAT team arrives and in the background you can see SWAT team guys climbing a ladder to a roof across the street. In the next scene, from the same angle, you see the Swat team bring in and hoisting the ladder.

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Quotes

Mother: One of these days, Murdoch, we're gonna pool together and get you something that won't fight back. Like a quadruple amputee.

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Connections

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Dance"
Music & Lyrics by Paul Jabara
Performed by Paul Jabara

User Reviews

A classic

A '70s masterpiece, MJS is a dark comedy about rival ambulance companies working the tough streets of modern-day LA. It is Bill Cosby's movie all the way as a smart-aleck driver, but he is lent able support by a large cast that includes a young Harvey Keitel as a suspended cop and freshly minted driver and Raquel Welch as a dispatcher and secretary with higher aspirations. Lots of ribald humor and gritty scenes, not all of them played for laughs, by any means. Sort of like CAR WASH, only more dramatic and shocking, even by today's standards. I would say it is due for a remake, but Hollywood would probaly screw it up.