Movie Review: Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
H.B. Halicki Mercantile Co., USA, 1974. 

Between 1974-1989 indie car movie legend H.B. Halicki 'The Car Crash King' starred, directed and produced a bunch of car movies known for wild stunts and numerous crashes.

Insurance investigator Maindrian Pace (H.B. Halicki) has a garage side business. However his real business is selling stolen cars making them seem legal using seal numbers salvaged from scrapped cars. Pace makes a deal with a crime lord: he must steal 48 cars in couple of days. His co-worker Eugene Chase (Jerry Daugirda) must postpone his honeymoon because of the job. The gang and Pace's girlfriend Pumpkin (Marion Busia) then start the job with one condition: all of the cars must have insurance. The list contains variety of cars including limousines, truck, Rolls-Royces and exotic cars. 

Maindrian Pace

Eugene Chase

Pumpkin

Most of the thefts go relatively easy, but acquiring 1973 Ford Mustang codenamed 'Eleanor' causes troubles. Also one car comes with bags of heroin in the trunk. Getting rid of it strains the partnership of Maindrian and Eugene. Sgt. Hawkins (John Halicki) comes to visit the garage just as the guys are trying to get rid of the drugs. 

Atlee Jackson (George Cole)

'Test-driving' a Manta

Sgt. Hawkins (John Halicki) visits the garage

When Pace goes to steal Eleanor a crazy 40 minute chase begins. Rubber burns and 93 cars are wrecked. 

"Gone in 60 Seconds" utilized real police and firemen as supporting actors and many of the actors were Halicki's relatives or friends. Also then-Mayor of Carson Sak Yamamoto appears as himself.

The outlaw style filming caused some ruckus as many bystanders did not know about the film project. At times is a very rough film and there was no official script, but it is clearly inspired and inventive low budget grindhouse film-making. The characters are paper-thin but no one watches these films for Oscar-winning performances or great for plot. The vintage cars and final chase are the reason to watch the film. Also it is a relic of the era when movies used real stunts and effects instead aid of computers. The hairstyles and cityscapes are preserved in this time capsule of 1970s California. Car carnage is made a bit more serious towards the end with injured people being pulled from the car wrecks.

Unfortunately the original Country style music has been replaced with some generic sounding thriller score in the DVD-editions. These kind of car chase films must have Country music! What is worse the removed songs affect also the overall mood of the movie, ruining at least one scene that was meant to be kind of romantic.

Rating: Good

Starring: H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre, George Cole, Ronald Halicki, Markos Kotsikos, Butch Stockton, Phil Woods, J.C. Agajanian Jr., Christopher J.C. Agajanian, Gary Bettenhausen, Edward Booker, Anthony Cole, Mark Cole, Michael Cole, Billy Englehart, Jonathan E. Fricke, Parnelli Jones, Hal McClain, Don Simmons, Ron Simmons, Sak Yamamoto, Edward Abrahms, Wally Burr, Maureen Coddington, Cheryl Dunn, Monica Englander, Emily Fladland, Frank Halicki, John Halicki, Nancy Halicki, Rudy Halicki, Edward Havens, Philip Kachaturian, Mel Kenyon, Gary Patterson, Jack Popejoy, Dennis Stouffer, Jack Vacek, Bud Wackeen, Bunny Walsh, Taylor Webb, Jeff Winkless, Terence H. Winkless, Christine Wright 

Director: H.B. Halicki