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	...	Himself
Jonathan E. Fricke	...	KFOX Interviewer
Hal McClain	...	KFOX Announcer
J.C. Agajanian
J.C. Agajanian Jr.	...	Light Blue Unmarked Detective
Christopher J.C. Agajanian	...	Himself
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:

H.B. Halicki's original classic (DVD)

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

A filming location not mentioned was Dunkirk, NY. Some of the cars used in filming were sitting at his family's garage on S. Roberts in Dunkirk as recently as the early 2000s.

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Goofs

During the chain-reaction collision on the bridge, a red 1963 Oldsmobile Cutlass slams into the rear of what appears to be a green 1969 or 1970 Ford LTD. A few seconds later as a police car snakes through the carnage, we see the wrecked Cutlass but the LTD is nowhere to be seen. The LTD may have left the scene of the accident.

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Quotes

Hawkins: You know something, Vicinski, I bet five more cars have been stolen in just the time I've been here.
Maindrian Pace: No, I don't think so, Hawkins. Good night.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

The sound of the gunshot when the Long Beach officer shoots at Maindrian just before the Mustang takes out the open door of a stopped vehicle (next to the burning cars at the Carson St off-ramp) has been removed from the DVD release, making it appear that the officer is merely threatening Maindrian with the weapon, rather than shooting. Also removed are three words spoken by the Torrance PD sergeant through the bullhorn at Torrance Mazda. His original dialog, "This is the police, this is an emergency! Please clear the area, please clear the area! Come on, man!" loses the "come on, man" which is replaced with an echo of "area". Furthermore, Bud Wackeen is dubbed in the DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

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Soundtracks

Big Town, Big City
Music and Lyrics by Ronald Halicki and Philip Kachaturian
Sung by Philip Kachaturian

User Reviews

The best car-chase film of all time

The original "Gone In 60 Seconds" will be remembered by many viewers as the best car-chase film of all time. It will also be remembered as the film that featured lots of destroyed cars in a 40 minute chase. As said in the film's IMDb trivia: "93 cars are crashed in this 97 minute movie."

The best part of this whole movie is the 40-minute chase scene. So many cars are crashed and destroyed during the chase, including original city police cars. What's more, the chase scene had absolutely NO special effects, meaning that all the crashes and smashes were real. Furthermore, H.B. Halicki himself wrote, directed, and starred in the movie. He even drove the "star car" (the Mustang) throughout the chase!

My only negative comment about the film is that the beginning of the movie is very slow; so slow that you may be very eager to get to the 40-minute chase scene. However, if you have the DVD, you can just watch the film starting from the chase scene if you want to.

Overall, this movie had an awesome chase scene. It is the best chase scene ever filmed in a movie. It has to be seen to be believed.

P.S: This movie is much much better than the awful remake.