Cannonball! (1976)

Racing across the country from L.A. to New York, a plethora of exotic cars carry contestants hoping to win a very large sum.

Director:

Paul Bartel

Writers:

Paul Bartel (screenplay), Don Simpson (screenplay) (as Donald C. Simpson)

Stars:

David Carradine, Bill McKinney, Veronica Hamel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Carradine	...	Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman
Bill McKinney	...	Cade Redman
Veronica Hamel	...	Linda Maxwell
Gerrit Graham	...	Perman Waters
Robert Carradine	...	Jim Crandell
Belinda Balaski	...	Maryann
Judy Canova	...	Sharma Capri
Archie Hahn	...	Zippo
Carl Gottlieb	...	Terry McMillan
Mary Woronov	...	Sandy Harris, Girl in the Van #1
Diane Lee Hart	...	Wendy, Girl in the Van #2
Glynn Rubin	...	Ginny, Girl in the Van #3
James Keach	...	Wolfe Messer
Dick Miller	...	Bennie Buckman
Stanley Bennett Clay	...	Beutell (as Stanley Clay)

Storyline

Racing across the country from L.A. to New York, a plethora of exotic cars carry contestants hoping to win a very large sum.

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Plot Keywords:

illegal grand prix race | character name as title | nickname as title | on the road | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

The annual Trans-American outlaw road race - A cross country demolition derby without rules!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Carradine ended up staging all the fight scenes in the movie, including the one with him and John Herzfeld, playing Bennie's cohort Sharpe, disguised as the fake motorcycle cop. Herzfeld did some amateur boxing before becoming an actor/filmmaker.

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Goofs

In the pile-up on the freeway, the same yellow Cadillac hits the pile twice.

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Quotes

Cameraman in Helicopter: [Coy is followed into the garage where he is to stamp the winning ticket] How'd you avoid the big pile-up, Cannonball?
Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman: What pile-up?
Bennie Buckman: It was just a couple cars that crashed on the freeway. It was nothing.
Cameraman in Helicopter: Nothing? You call seventeen people in the hospital nothing? It all started with the red Trans Am. We thought it was you, at first.
Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman: Linda and Zippo were in that car. Bennie, what the hell's going on?
Bennie Buckman: They're fine. Come on, will you?
[to the cameraman]
Bennie Buckman: Just leave us alone, huh?
Cameraman in Helicopter: I saw the whole thing from ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Legendary film producer Gabriel Katzka is credited as "friend" in the ending credits.

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Alternate Versions

UK theatrical version was cut to secure an A rating. In 2004 these cuts were waived and the film was passed uncut with a 12 rating.

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Connections

References Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

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Soundtracks

Oh, How I'll Cry When You Go
Music by Paul Bartel
Lyrics by Paul Bartel

User Reviews

Great laugh!

The story of "Cannonball" is about an illegal coast-to-coast car race in the USA. Of course, also some saboteurs are on the road to guarantee a not smoothly course of events...

Obviously not as great as Paul Bartel´s predecessor "Death Race 2000" "Cannonball" is a trash classic and cheese de luxe: cheesy acting, cheesy stunts, cheesy humour, cheesy dialogues... take a lot of car chases, explosions and add some campy humour and you´ve got "Cannonball"! But it´s always great fun to watch! A highly entertaining C-grade movie which is also very interesting for the prominent supporting cast, because Roger Corman, Martin Scorcese, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante or Sly Stallone have small roles in this funny gem!

Fasten your seat belts and enjoy!!!

Details

Country:

Hong Kong USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

8 September 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cannonball

Filming Locations:

I-210 at Paxton Street, Pacoima, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,270,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cross Country Productions, Harbor Productions, New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 90 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1