Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)

Larry Rayder is an aspiring NASCAR driver, Deke Sommers is mechanic. As they feel they collectively are the best, the only thing that is holding them back is money to build the best vehicle... See full summary »

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

Leigh Chapman (screenplay), Antonio Santean (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Fonda	...	Larry
Susan George	...	Mary Coombs
Adam Roarke	...	Deke
Kenneth Tobey	...	Carl Donahue
Eugene Daniels	...	Hank
Lynn Borden	...	Evelyn Stanton
Janear Hines	...	Millie
Elizabeth James	...	Dispatcher
Adrianne Herman	...	Cindy Stanton
T.J. Castronovo	...	Steve (as Tom Castranova)
James W. Gavin	...	Helicopter Pilot (as James Gavin)
Al Rossi	...	Surl
Ben Niems	...	Police Chief Markey
George Westcott	...	Bridge Operator
Tom O'Neill	...	Farmer

Storyline

Larry Rayder is an aspiring NASCAR driver, Deke Sommers is mechanic. As they feel they collectively are the best, the only thing that is holding them back is money to build the best vehicle possible. As such, they decide to rob a supermarket's office of the money in its safe to pursue their dream. On the most part, their robbery is successful, although their plan breaks down in its end phase, which doesn't allow them as much getaway time as they wanted. Another problem they face is an unexpected third person in their getaway, Larry's one night stand Mary Coombs, who doesn't like the fact that Larry ran off on her, although she eventually also says that she doesn't want any of the money. With a police scanner and two-way radio in their souped up Dodge Charger, they try to outrun the police, who have an identification of their vehicle, and a general description of the three. The police pursuit is led by the tenacious Sheriff Everett Franklin, who knows he and his team can catch them, ...

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Plot Keywords:

helicopter | robbery | mechanic | carsploitation | pantyhose | 

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Taglines:

No one's faster than Crazy Larry, except Dirty Mary!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

La fuga del loco y la sucia

Filming Locations:

Oakdale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$28,401,735, 31 December 1974

Company Credits

Production Co:

Academy Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) (uncredited)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three Chargers were used in the film; Two 1969 Dodge Chargers (one "R/T" and one coupe), and one 1968 Dodge Charger (coupe). Two of the Chargers were intentionally damaged in the front (after a scene where the Charger collided with the truck), and there is a notable difference in the damage from car to car

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Goofs

When they are waiting out the roadblock, and going into the tavern, you can quite visibly see the boom mic off to the left side of the picture. It's visible for the entire scene, probably a good 15 seconds, and it just keeps following the actors.

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Quotes

Larry Rayder: Yeah, yeah. So we got off to a bad start. Well ya' know what it means when somebody like me gets off to a bad start? Not a God damn thing.

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes cut from the original theatrical release were re-inserted for some television cuts of the film: Among these is a scene in the walnut grove after the collision with the fruit truck where Mary (Susan George) chides Larry (Peter Fonda) about not being literate enough to understand a quote from a book. Another occurs where four hoods at the swap meet are being interviewed by the police after Larry, Mary, and Deke tear off in the souped up Dodge Charger. The houdlums stall the officer's questions by commenting back and forth about what kind of engine was in the Charger.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Giant Gila Monster (1992)

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Soundtracks

Time (Is Such a Funny Thing)
Written by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart
Sung by Marjorie McCoy

User Reviews

A Film Students Must See Movie

If you're an aspiring writer/director or just a fan of the cinema? Then you have to watch, "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry". The movie isn't just another 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flick. It's the 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flick to end all other 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flicks that came before it. Movies like Vanishing Point, White Lightening and The Seven Ups.

While films like 'Bullet' and 'The French Connection' set the standard for car chase scenes in urban jungles. It was Vanishing Point that took the car chase across country, and established a brand new 70's genre called the "Car Chase Movie". Like B monster movies from decades past, they were short on plot and even shorter on character development, but long in action packed car chases. It was an entire new genre of its own creation starting in the late 60's with Steve McQueen's 'Bullit', and eventually going out with a bang in the late 70's with films like 'Smokey and the Bandit', followed by early 80's blockbusters like 'The Blues Brothers' and 'Cannonball Run'. The Blues Brothers being probably the best of all the Car Chase movies that combined musical comedy with exciting urban and cross country high octane action car chases and crashes.

While, 'Smokey and the Bandit' and 'The Blues Brothers' were overall far superior movies to the Drive-In exploitation car chase flicks of the early and mid 70's, it's easy to spot that a lot of the great car chase scenes in those later movies were directly inspired by "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry", which were themselves inspired by earlier films like Vanishing Point and Bullet, but later expanded upon in 'Dirty Mary,Crazy Larry'.

That's really the main reason why I believe "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" is a must see flick. It serves as a transitional film from earlier movies that first established the new 70' genre, with some bold improvisation of stunt coordination using the established genre as its foundation, that made 'DMCL' a source of inspiration for later and greater movies. Check it out and see if you agree with this review.