The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

Peter Weir (screenplay), Peter Weir (story)

Stars:

Terry Camilleri, John Meillon, Kevin Miles

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Meillon	...	The Mayor
Terry Camilleri	...	Arthur Waldo
Kevin Miles	...	Dr. Midland
Rick Scully	...	George Waldo
Max Gillies	...	Metcalfe
Danny Adcock	...	Policeman
Bruce Spence	...	Charlie
Kevin Golsby	...	Insurance man
Chris Haywood	...	Darryl
Peter Armstrong	...	Gorman
Joe Burrow	...	Ganger
Deryck Barnes	...	Al Smedley
Edward Howell	...	Tringham
Max Phipps	...	Mulray
Melissa Jaffer	...	Beth

Storyline

A small town in rural Australia (Paris) makes its living by causing car accidents and salvaging any valuables from the wrecks. Into this town come brothers Arthur and George. George is killed when the Parisians cause their car to crash, but Arthur survives and is brought into the community as an orderly at the hospital. But Paris is not problem free. Not only do the Parisians have to be careful of outsiders (such as insurance investigators), but they also have to cope with the young people of the town who are dissatisfied with the status quo.

---

Plot Keywords:

crash | setting a car on fire | driving | night driving | human experimentation | 

---

Taglines:

Have you had a good look at your car lately?

---

Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cars That Eat People

Filming Locations:

Sofala, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Royce Smeal Film Productions, Salt-Pan, The Australian Film Development Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 74 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this film was taken to the Cannes Film Festival in May 1974, to promote the picture, production crew dressed up like characters from the film and also similarly, drove a Volkswagen car covered with spikes (like in the film) around the streets of Cannes, garnering much attention and publicity.

---

Goofs

A watchman enters a warehouse with a watchdog and he finds Charlie hiding behind a hooded car. The watchdog barks as they enter, but there's nothing to be heard.

---

Quotes

Darryl: There's just two more things. One, the doctor. Now, I get me orders from him and you get your orders from me. Right?
Arthur Waldo: Right. Okay.
Darryl: The other thing, is the patients. Now, most of the people here are accident victims. So, what you've got are your veggies.
Arthur Waldo: Veggies?
Darryl: Yeah, now these are people who've been in accidents that are so bad that their minds all get scrambled up like scrambled eggs. Right?
Arthur Waldo: Yeah.
Darryl: In any case, you got your full veggies. Well, I doubt if he'll let you see them. I don't think ...

---

Alternate Versions

US version, titled _The Cars that Ate People (1974)_ was shortened to 74 minutes by the distributor; in this version star Terry Camilleri's voice is dubbed. The film was finally reissued in the USA at complete length in 1984.

---

Connections

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Immortal Invisible God Only Wise
(uncredited)
written by Walter Chalmers Smith
Sung at the church

User Reviews

not-so-gay Paree

Before Peter Weir got really famous, he made this strange but worth seeing flick about a small town in Australia whose local economy centers on car wrecks, and how they draw an outsider in. "The Cars That Ate Paris" doesn't star anyone whom you would recognize, and there's no big action scenes here, but that actually gives the movie a more realistic feeling.

I should identify that this is not a movie for those with short attention spans. It's not likely to stick heavily in your memory the way that most of Peter Weir's movies do (it's certainly not my favorite of his movies). But still, it's something to check out as a historical reference if nothing else.

"I can drive!" You'll probably feel like you can too.