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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

The terror machines are here!

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Australian film to gain international recognition at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie (when the people leave the village) you can see a green Austin A30 Van. The same car is crashed earlier by a car trying to jump over the Austin using a ramp. The whole front is crushed so there is no way it can be repaired.

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Quotes

The Mayor: Have you country boys forgotten the old school war cry? Have you forgotten the meaning of those words? Woomera, Woomera, Babalu, Boomerang, Crocodile, Kookaburra, Wombat, Orangutan, Weehoo, Wayhoo, Terramungamine, Quandong, Billabong, Gundabluey Pine, Platypus, Emu, Wallaby, Roo...

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Alternate Versions

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

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Connections

Spoofs The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

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Soundtracks

Onward Christian Soldiers
(uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan and lyrics by Sabine Baring-Gould
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.

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cars That Eat People

Filming Locations:

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

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1