Vanishing Point
Short description
Vanishing Point follows Kowalski, a man who makes his living driving cars from one city to another. Assigned to deliver a white 1970 Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco, he accepts a bet that he can cover the distance in under fifteen hours. When police try to stop him for reasons that remain unclear, he refuses to pull over, and a long pursuit begins. He does his best to keep anyone chasing him from getting hurt, while a blind radio DJ turns his run into a live broadcast that draws a national following.
Richard C. Sarafian directed the film, which sits between his 1965 debut Andy and later work such as Lolly-Madonna XXX and Solar Crisis. Barry Newman plays Kowalski, with Cleavon Little as Super Soul, Dean Jagger as the Prospector, Victoria Medlin as Vera Thornton, Gilda Texter as the Nude Rider and Lee Weaver as Jake, among a credited cast of 35. The screenplay is credited to Guillermo Cabrera Infante and Barry Hall, and Norman Spencer produced for 20th Century Fox and Cupid Productions.
Released in January 1971, the film runs 105 minutes and mixes action, crime, drama and thriller elements. It was made for about 2 million dollars and returned roughly 12 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 out of 10 from around 32,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.1 from 546 votes. A critics' rating of 6.8 from 20 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Charlotte Rampling appeared in a cameo role in the film, but scenes with her character were cut from the American release and remained only in the British release.
- At the end of the film, Kowalski crashes his "Challenger" at full speed into bulldozers blocking his path, causing the car to explode. In reality, a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro exploded instead of a "Dodge." This is also visible in one of the scenes where the police are examining the wreckage: an inverted "Camaro" inscription can be seen on the scorched front fender.
- Eight white "Dodge Challenger" cars were used during filming, borrowed from "Chrysler Corporation." All eight cars were then returned, but only one was in normal condition, while the other seven had been wrecked during filming. "Chrysler Corporation" was very unhappy that their cars were used in the film to transport drugs and escape the police. Ironically, this film itself became a cult classic and made the "Dodge Challenger" model iconic.
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