Two-Lane Blacktop
Two-Lane Blacktop | |
---|---|
Directed by | Monte Hellman |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Will Corry |
Produced by | Michael S. Laughlin |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jack Deerson |
Edited by | Monte Hellman |
Production company | Michael Laughlin Enterprises |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $875,000 |
Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 American road movie directed and edited by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird.[1]
Plot
Two
Needing money, the Driver, the Mechanic and GTO compete at a race track in Memphis. While the Driver finishes his race, the Girl hops into GTO's car and they leave. The Driver pursues them to a diner located on US-129 (a location today known as the Tail of the Dragon) where the Girl has just rejected GTO's idea to visit Chicago. The Driver proposes going to Columbus, Ohio, to get parts, but the Girl rejects him too. Instead, she leaves with a stranger on a motorcycle, abandoning her belongings in the parking lot. Later, GTO picks up two soldiers and tells them that he won his car by beating two men driving a custom-built 1955 Chevrolet 150 in a cross-country race. At an airstrip in East Tennessee, the Driver races against a Chevrolet El Camino. The film ends abruptly.
Cast
- James Taylor as The Driver
- Warren Oates as GTO
- Laurie Bird as The Girl
- Dennis Wilson as The Mechanic
- Rudolph Wurlitzer as Hot Rod Driver
- Bill Keller as Texas Hitchhiker
- H.D. Stanton as Oklahoma Hitchhiker
- Richard Ruth as the gas station attendant in Needles, and builder of the '55 Chevies used in the movie
- Don Samuels as Texas Policeman #1
- Charles Moore as Texas Policeman #2
- Alan Vint as Man in Roadhouse
- George Mitchell as Truck Driver at Accident
- A. J. Solari as Tennessee Hitchhiker
- Katherine Squire as Old Woman
- Melissa Hellman as Little Girl with Old Woman picked up by GTO
- James Mitchum as Man #2 at Race Track (billed as Jim Mitcham)
- Kreag Caffey as Boy with Motorcycle
Production
Two-Lane Blacktop originated with producer
In February 1970, Hellman began location scouting and was a few weeks from principal photography when Cinema Center suddenly canceled the project.[2] He shopped the script around to several Hollywood studios that liked it, but wanted a say in the casting. However, Ned Tanen, a young executive at Universal Pictures gave Hellman $850,000 to make the film and gave him control of the final cut.[2] Hellman saw a picture of James Taylor on a billboard on the Sunset Strip and asked the musician to come and do a screen test.[5] Four days before beginning principal photography the role of the Mechanic was still not cast. Hellman was desperate and tested people he met in garages. A friend of casting director Fred Roos suggested musician Dennis Wilson.[7] Wilson was the last actor cast and Hellman chose him because he felt that the musician "had lived that role, that he really grew up with cars".[5]
Principal photography began on August 13, 1970, in Los Angeles and lasted for eight weeks with a crew of 30, three matching Chevrolets and two matching G.T.O.s traveling through the southwest towards Memphis, Tennessee.[2][7] Gregory Sandor shot the entire film, but due to union issues Jack Deerson was hired and credited as director of photography.[8] Hellman insisted on going across country, like the characters in the film, because he felt it was the only way to convince the audience that the characters raced across the United States. He said, "I knew it would affect the actors — and it did, obviously. It affected everybody".[2] Hellman took an unconventional approach of not letting his three lead, inexperienced actors read the script. Instead, he gave them pages of dialogue on the day of shooting. The actors felt uncomfortable with this approach.[2] In particular, James Taylor, used to having control when it came to his music, was upset at being unable to read the script in advance. Hellman eventually gave him permission to do so, but Taylor never did read it.[7]
Hellman shot almost the entire script as written. The first cut of the film was three-and-a-half hours long,
Soundtrack
Unlike other existential road movies of the time (such as Easy Rider and Vanishing Point), Two-Lane Blacktop does not rely heavily on music, nor was a soundtrack album released. The music featured in the film covers many genres, including rock, folk, blues, country, bluegrass, and R&B. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson did not contribute any music.
However, there are some notable tracks featured in the film, including "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors, "Maybellene" performed by John Hammond, the traditional folk tune "Stealin'" performed by Arlo Guthrie, and "Me and Bobby McGee" performed by the song's author Kris Kristofferson. A song titled "Truckload Of Art" written and performed by Terry Allen can be briefly heard coming out of the GTO.
In 2003 Plain Records issued a tribute album made in honor of this cult classic called "You Can Never Go Fast Enough" featuring exclusive tracks by Wilco, Sonic Youth, Will Oldham/Alan Licht, Calexico & Giant Sand, Suntanama, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Charalambides, Mark Eitzel/Marc Capelle, Roy Montgomery and Alvarius B with rare tracks by Cat Power, Roscoe Holcomb, Lead Belly and Sandy Bull.
Reception
Esquire magazine published the entire screenplay in its April 1971 issue, and referred to it on the cover as "Our nomination for movie of the year", though it failed to include any explanation for this decision or any critical commentary, and also failed to review the film when it was released that fall. The film opened and disappeared so quickly that at the end of 1971, Esquire included its own cover prediction as part of its annual Dubious Achievements of the Year Awards.[citation needed]
The film has since become a cult film.[14] On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 93% based on reviews from 40 critics.[15] On Metacritic it has a score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[16] The Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2012 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[17][18][19]
Home video
Two-Lane Blacktop was unavailable on video for years because
For years, Universal had been looking for a partner to give Two-Lane Blacktop a proper release befitting its cult film status.[4] However, efforts to release it had always been hampered by issues with music rights, in particular the use of "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors. Director William Lustig, also a "technical advisor" for Anchor Bay, got Hellman to approach the surviving band members to get their approval. In 1999, Michigan-based Anchor Bay Entertainment licensed the film from Universal and released it on VHS and DVD, with an audio commentary by Hellman and associate producer Gary Kurtz and a documentary on Hellman directed by George Hickenlooper.[4] The limited edition DVD was packed in a metal tin and extras included a 48-page booklet featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and liner notes about director Monte Hellman, a 5" X 7" theatrical poster replica, and a die-struck miniature car key chain. Anchor Bay released a regular edition without the poster and key chain.
At a July 2007 screening of the film, Hellman revealed that the
Legacy
Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule film of U.S. Route 66 during the pre-interstate highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue.[22] [23] It has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as Vanishing Point, Easy Rider, and Electra Glide in Blue.
Brock Yates, organizer of the Cannonball Run, cites Two-Lane Blacktop an inspiration for the race and commented on it in his Car and Driver column announcing the first Cannonball.[24][25]
See also
References
- JSTOR 1211543.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Walker, Beverly (Winter 1970–71). "Two-Lane Blacktop". Sight and Sound.
- ^ Criterion CollectionDVD.
- ^ a b c d e f Liebenson, Donald (November 3, 1999). "Classic Two-Lane Blacktop Takes the Long Road to Video". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
- ^ Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
- ^ O'Brien, Joe (May 2008). "On the Drift: Rudy Wurlitzer and the Road to Nowhere". Arthur magazine.
- ^ a b c d Benoit, Shelly (March 1971). "The Making of Two-Lane Blacktop". Show magazine.
- ^ "Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1971). "Two-Lane Blacktop". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (July 8, 1971). "Cross-Country Ride and a Chase in Spain". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ Cocks, Jay (July 12, 1971). "Wheels: Hi Test". Time. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- Village Voice. Archived from the originalon December 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (October 26, 1985). "Two-Lane Blacktop". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ISBN 0-517-20185-2.
- ^ "Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
- ^ "Two-Lane Blacktop". Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
- ^ Wolgamott, L. Kent (September 18, 2013). "At The Movies: 'Rush' and the best racing movies ever". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
- ^ "2012 National Film Registry Picks in A League of Their Own". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
- ^ Phipps, Keith (November 10, 1999). "Monte Hellman: Two-Lane Revisited". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- IndieWIRE. Archived from the originalon September 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ Brody, Richard (May 20, 2014). "DVD of the Week: "Two-Lane Blacktop"". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ "'Two-Lane Blacktop' | Critics' Picks". The New York Times. January 13, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ King, Susan (3 January 2011). "Classic Hollywood: counterculture road films". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Classic Hollywood: Road films from the counterculture". Los Angeles Times. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015.
External links
- Two-Lane Blacktop essay by Sam Adams at National Film Registry
- Two-Lane Blacktop at IMDb
- Two-Lane Blacktop at AllMovie
- Two-Lane Blacktop: Slow Ride an essay by Kent Jones at the Criterion Collection
- Behind The Camera: Two-Lane Blacktop