Herbie Rides Again (1974)

The living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay), Gordon Buford (story)

Stars:

Helen Hayes, Ken Berry, Stefanie Powers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Hayes	...	Mrs. Steinmetz
Ken Berry	...	Willoughby Whitfield
Stefanie Powers	...	Nicole
John McIntire	...	Mr. Judson
Keenan Wynn	...	Alonzo Hawk
Huntz Hall	...	Judge
Ivor Barry	...	Chauffeur
Dan Tobin	...	Lawyer
Vito Scotti	...	Taxi Driver
Raymond Bailey	...	Lawyer
Liam Dunn	...	Doctor
Elaine Devry	...	Secretary
Chuck McCann	...	Loostgarten
Richard X. Slattery	...	Traffic Commissioner
Hank Jones	...	Sir Lancelot

Storyline

Alonzo Hawk is a mean-spirited property developer who has bought several blocks of land in the downtown district in order to build a gigantic shopping mall. There is one problem however; an elderly widow named Steinmetz won't sell the one remaining lot that Hawk needs to proceed with his scheme. So he resorts to all manner of chicanery, legal or otherwise, to get it. Fortunately, the widow Steinmetz has an ace up her sleeve in the form of Herbie, the miraculous Volkswagen.

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Plot Keywords:

vehicle driving by itself | fisherman's wharf | reference to rudolph valentino | reference to sessue hayakawa | uncle nephew relationship | 

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Taglines:

The Loveable Bug's back doin' his thing!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Love Bug Rides Again

Filming Locations:

Castagnola's Restaurant - 286 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$38,229,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 84 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Disney Herbie movie not to feature the phrase 'Love Bug' in the title though it was part of taglines for the film which read: "'The Love Bug's back doin' his thing!" and "'The Love Bug's back doin' in a new hilarious adventure!".

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Goofs

During the Golden Gate Bridge sequence when Herbie is going backwards down the Bridge, he begins to disappear pixel by pixel before he goes off screen.

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Quotes

Alonzo Hawk: [being stopped by a policeman in traffic] The traffic commissioner shall hear of this!
Traffic Commissioner: I *am* the commissioner.
Alonzo Hawk: Then what're you doing in that monkey suit? A traffic commissioner would dress in dignified clothes.
Traffic Commissioner: This happens to be my dress uniform. I was on my way to the ceremony for I Am A Policeman Day.

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Connections

Referenced in Ernest Rides Again (1993)

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Soundtracks

Carnival of the Animals - The Swan
(uncredited)
Written by Camille Saint-Saëns

User Reviews

The best of the series.

"The Love Bug" runs this entry a very close second, but the energy of "Herbie Rides Again" makes it perfect for kids. There are many great scenes and sequences that appeal to the younger set, and the normally 'bo-ring' opening credits are spiced up with stock footage of buildings being demolished. That immediately made me pay attention when I was a little whipper-snapper!

Disney should have stopped this series at this point. The next film, "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," was pedestrian, and only saving grace was that it, A) features Don Knotts, and B) is 1,000 times better than "Herbie Goes Bananas," the only good thing about which is the whacky title.