The Gumball Rally (1976)

Director:

Charles Bail

Writers:

Charles Bail (story) and
Leon Capetanos (story) ...

Release Date:

28 julio 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Frase comercial:

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.

Plot:

A disparate group of drivers take part in a secret and illegal cross country road race.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Chase | Automobile Racing | Road | Illegal Grand Prix Race

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Enjoy grins per minute in this joyous flaunt of absurd speed laws

Cast

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	...	Lapchick 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
Nicholas Pryor	...	Prof. Samuel Graves - Cobra Team
Vaughn Taylor	...	Andy McAllister - Mercedes Team
Wally Taylor	...	Avila - Dodge Team

También conocida como:

Locos al volante (Spain) [es]

Duración:

105 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

380 South San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

First Artists

Trivialidades:

The Cobras used in the filming (main car and a backup) were serial numbers CSX3255 and CSX3243

Goofs:

Continuity: The Cobra has visible front-end damage when it is on the interstate towards the end of the race. In the waterways, the front end is intact.

Quotes:

Franco: [about their Ferrari] How's the bambina?
Smith: She's a-fulla gas, she's-a wait for you!
Franco: Hey, you make a good Italian!

Movie Connections:

References Tommy (1975)

Enjoy grins per minute in this joyous flaunt of absurd speed laws

Gumball Rally immortalizes Brock Yates' Cannonball Baker cross-continent (and illegal) street races in a joyously anti-establishment poke at the Nixon/Carter era 55 MPH national speed limit. (I like it far better than Yates' own subsequent Cannonball Run movies.) Gumball Rally features a cast of young stars that includes Raul Julia as the instantly seductive (and fast in multiple senses) Ferrari team driver Franco, a ringer hired by Smith (a Yates-esque scallywag played by Tim McIntyre) to co-pilot their Ferrari Daytona Spyder past Bannon's (Michael Sarrazin) painfully-quick Cobra. The two childhood rivals are joined by Gary Busey and John Durren in a full-race Camaro, a Porsche driven by two beautiful women, and a vintage Mercedes 300 driven by equally vintage old gentleman racers. Rounding out the field with varying success are a van with enough gas to make the three thousand plus mile trip without refueling, a Corvette, Jaguar, Rolls Royce being transported to California for a wealthy individual by Tricia O'Neil's mechanic boyfriend, a stealthy police cruiser, and masochistic motorcyclist.

Along the way the scofflaws outwit radar-bearing police, skirt mechanical failure, encounter a motorcycle gang, and meet environmental hazards like bored-to-sleep 55 MPH drivers in disintegrating cars, ice patches, and L.A. traffic. The fast highway driving is terrific and the start-of-race dawn blast through a waking New York City is grins per second. But the real targets of this automotive lampoon are mediocrity, sheepish conformism, and lowest common denominator laws. The heroes demonstrate complete disdain for safety-nazi rules which in turn embody elitist contempt for individual freedom, responsibility and potential. By rebelling they celebrate a joy of life that's being watered down and restricted by a parent-substitute government that knows what's good for you better than you do.

The fall 1998 Laserdisc and DVD release of Gumball Rally is a treat for freedom-loving car nuts. On the technical side, the widescreen image and digital sound transfer are extremely clean; it never sounded or looked this good in theaters. The sound of Ferrari Daytona V-12, Cobra V-8, Mercedes 300 six, race-tuned Camaro and others running wide open on American highways is authentic and spine tingling. Rapid, efficient driving by a stunt crew that includes '60s Cobra racer John Morton is the real thing too. Freshly found digital fidelity greatly enhances this fun and exuberantly irreverent flick.