The Gumball Rally (1976)

An eclectic group of people take part in a secret, and illegal, cross country road race.

Director:

Charles Bail (as Chuck Bail)

Writers:

Leon Capetanos (screenplay), Charles Bail (story) (as Chuck Bail)

Stars:

Michael Sarrazin, Tim McIntire, Raul Julia

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Sarrazin	...	Michael Bannon - Cobra Team
Norman Burton	...	Lieutenant Roscoe (as Normann Burton)
Gary Busey	...	Gibson - Camaro Team
John Durren	...	Ace Preston / Mr. Guts - Camaro Team
Susan Flannery	...	Alice - Porsche Team
Harvey Jason	...	Lapchik the Mad Hungarian - Kawasaki
Steven Keats	...	Kandinsky - Dodge Team
Tim McIntire	...	Steve 'Smitty' Smith - Ferrari Team
Joanne Nail	...	Jane - Porsche Team
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Barney Donahue - Mercedes Team
Tricia O'Neil	...	Angie - Rolls Royce
Lázaro Pérez	...	Jose - Rolls Royce (as Lazaro Perez)
Nicholas Pryor	...	Prof. Samuel Graves - Cobra Team
Vaughn Taylor	...	Andy McAllister - Mercedes Team
Wally Taylor	...	Avila - Dodge Team

Storyline

A group of people from different backgrounds have one thing in common: when they hear the world "gumball" whispered by one of the others, they know that it's time for the Gumball Rally: a no-holds barred, secret, winner-take-all rally across the USA.

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Plot Keywords:

carsploitation | boyfriend girlfriend relationship | kiss | love interest | competition | 

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Taglines:

It's a hilarious coast-to-coast, 180 mile-an-hour, go-for-broke, outrageous road race with the world's most expensive cars. And it's all just for glory and a gumball machine.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

28 July 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chewing Gum Rallye

Filming Locations:

I-10 at Exit 167, Riggs Rd., Sun Lakes, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Artists, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Lapchick a shout out to silent film star, Charlie Chaplin. When ever he appears on screen, silent movie piano music plays, the character has no dialogue (save the final word in the film), the star who plays him, Harvey Jason, bears a resemblance to Chaplin, and if you scramble the letters in Lapchick, you can almost spell Chaplin.

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Goofs

Toward the end (at about 1:28:50 we see Lapchik (the motorcyclist) on the highway. His jacket is almost totally gone; he's naked from the waist up other than a few tatters from his T-shirt. A short while later, in LA (starting at about 1:29:30, then at the very end, at 1:43:37, when he crashes into the ocean) he still has his full jacket.

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Quotes

Smith: So Mike... what is this, a vintage car event?
Bannon: Well Smitty, you know some things get meaner as they get older.

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Crazy Credits

No actor credits are shown at the beginning of the film,The only credits shown at the beginning are those of the Writer, Director, Producer and Director of Photography, the actor credits are not shown until the end of the film.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

User Reviews

The film that best captures the pure joy of open-road driving.

So, you've just spent thousands of dollars on a new home entertainment center and you want to take it for a spin around the block... what movie do you watch? 'Gumball Rally' would be a lovely choice. It's pure simple fun filled with raw visceral sights and sounds. Leave the serious films till later, this one will make you feel you've gotten your money's worth. Capturing the heart and soul of the real life "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash" of the '70s, it's the tale of an unofficial, illegal, recurring race from New York to Los Angeles... anything goes. And what goes? Lapchick, the Mad Hungarian, trying to spend 36 hours non-stop on a motorcycle; a van filled with hundreds of gallons of fuel so they don't have to delay for fuel stops; Raul Julia as the Italian race driver Franco and his famous first rule of Italian driving. And in that over-filmed concrete gully known as the LA River there is the BEST sequence ever shot there when a Ferrari Daytona duels with a 427 Cobra... they didn't rely simply on trick shots and undercranked cameras, often the cars were really driven to their limits. Forget the later, far inferior 'Cannonball' movies; the 'Gumball' people actually knew their cars, and they'll have you craving a powerful engine, a full tank of gas, and the open road.