Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

When a South American drug lord pays Pace to steal 48 cars for him, all but one is in the bag - thereby, the police precipitate in a desperate car chase against Pace and his Eleanor across Southern California.

Director:

H.B. Halicki

Writer:

H.B. Halicki

Stars:

H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
H.B. Halicki	...	Maindrian Pace
Marion Busia	...	Pumpkin Chase
Jerry Daugirda	...	Eugene Chase
James McIntyre	...	Stanley Chase
George Cole	...	Atlee Jackson
Ronald Halicki	...	Corlis Pace
Markos Kotsikos	...	Uncle Joe Chase
Parnelli Jones	...	Parnelli Jones
Gary Bettenhausen	...	Self
Jonathan E. Fricke	...	KFOX Interviewer
Hal McClain	...	KFOX Announcer
J.C. Agajanian	...	Self
J.C. Agajanian Jr.	...	Light Blue Unmarked Detective
Christopher J.C. Agajanian	...	Self
Billy Englehart	...	Billy

Storyline

Insurance investigator Maindrian Pace and his team lead double-lives as unstoppable car thieves. When a South American drug lord pays Pace to steal 48 cars for him, all but one, a 1973 Ford Mustang, are in the bag. As Pace prepares to rip-off the fastback, codenamed "Eleanor", in Long Beach, he is unaware that his boss has tipped off the police after a business dispute. Detectives are waiting and pursue Pace through five cities as he desperately tries to get away.

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Plot Keywords:

named car | coors beer | marijuana smoking | cigar smoking | telephone call | 

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Taglines:

Let the wrecking begin

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

To achieve the effect of cars sliding into each other when hit by the patrol car at Moran Cadillac, the filmmakers put oil under the tires of the first few cars to help them slide. When it came time to do the stunt, it worked too well and many of the agency's own Cadillacs that were for sale were badly damaged. Director H.B. Halicki had to purchase all of them.

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Goofs

After hitting the boat trailer, the Mustang sideswipes a blue Ford Cortina. In the background of this shot, the first Long Beach PD Dodge Coronet can be seen turning into the street behind it, however the next shot shows 1-Baker-11 clipping the boat and directly behind the Mustang. The Coronet (and 1-Baker-5) are then seen turning into the street behind 1-Baker-11.

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Quotes

Maindrian Pace: What are you doing out this late at night?
Hawkins: Ah, I just finished taking a report down at Whittlesey Motors. It seems somebody ripped-off a Manta.
Maindrian Pace: What's a Manta?
Hawkins: The thirty-fifth expensive car stolen in three days! You heard about that, didn't you?
Maindrian Pace: Listen, all I hear is the insurance companies screaming at us every time they lose a lousy dime.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits stop after only one acting credit: "Eleanor."

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Alternate Versions

The line "Unit 10 and 1-Baker-5, 10-4, stand-by on Ocean", said at the start of the chase by the female dispatcher (over the shot of the first black-and-white and unmarked Mercury leaving the Long Beach PD parking lot), has been removed from the DVD release. Also missing is half of a line spoken over shots of the big crash in Redondo Beach at the end of the chase. In the DVD, we hear, "Redondo Fire this is Mobile Rescue 2. We're at the scene of a four-car collision with multiple injuries. Have a ladder truck respond Code 3, we'll need the jaws-of-life", before it cuts off as we see the shot of Maindrian driving. Originally, the dialog continued over this shot and we said, "Have Goodhew respond Code 3, and give us an ETA please."

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma V: 70s Action Attack! (2020)

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Soundtracks

Hope The Man Doesn't Catch Me
Music and Lyrics by Ronald Halicki and Philip Kachaturian
Sung by Philip Kachaturian

User Reviews

A Real Independent Film

In this day of "so called" independent film making, the majority of

which is backed by big studio money and ruined by the meddling

of "suits", it's so refreshing to see a truly independent film! "Gone

In 60 Seconds" was written, produced, directed and distributed by

the same man, H.B. Halicki, who also stars AND did most of the

stunt driving! This is truly a film the likes of which we will never see

again, thanks to our over-protective, sue-happy, society of wimps

and victims. Several comments are made about the acting in this

film. I would say that for none of the cast being professionals, they

handled themselves very well. And as for this being Halicki's first

film as a director, he must've known a few things and/or had some

great tech people working with him because the film is cut

together so wonderfully. Then too there is the sheer guilty

pleasure of see cars obliterated. I wish I could've seen this on the

big screen. So, if you're looking for a film with a lot of meaning,

skip this one. If you just want to enjoy a well crafted little film, and

see lots of Plymouth police cars get crunched--run out and get

GONE IN 60 SECONDS (but drive safely, please)!

Details

Official Sites:

maintained by writer/director's widow

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gone in Sixty Seconds

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

H.B. Halicki Mercantile

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 93 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby (DVD re-release) DTS (DVD re-release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1