''Herbie Rides Again'' is a 1974 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

and the second installment of ''The Love Bug'' film series made by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

starring an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

(and quite autonomous) 1963

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

racing

Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

named Herbie. The movie was directed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

, produced by Bill Walsh and starred

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series '' Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...

Ken Berry Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series '' F Troop'', '' The Andy Griffith Show'', ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' and '' Mama's Family''. He also ap ...

, and

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most ...

reprising his villainous role as Alonzo P. Hawk (originated in the films '' The Absent-Minded Professor'' and ''

Son of Flubber ''Son of Flubber'' is a 1963 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The sequel to ''The Absent-Minded Professor'' (1961), Fred MacMurray reprises his role from the first film as N ...

'' starring

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

as Professor Ned Brainard). ''Herbie Rides Again'' was followed by two more theatrical sequels, '' Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' and '' Herbie Goes Bananas''. A later theatrical sequel, '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'', was released in 2005.

Plot

Notorious real estate magnate and

demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a bu ...

baron Alonzo P. Hawk (

) is ready to build his newest office building, the 130-story Hawk Plaza in San Francisco. His only obstacle is the 1892 firehouse inhabited by "Grandma" Steinmetz (

), widow of its former owner, Fire Captain Steinmetz, and aunt of mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz. Hawk's numerous attempts at evicting Mrs. Steinmetz have been unsuccessful, while the construction workers are growing impatient with Hawk's alleged indecision, reminding him that the whole thing is costing him $80,000 a day. Therefore, when Hawk's lawyer nephew Willoughby Whitfield (

) comes to visit him, Hawk sends him to Mrs. Steinmetz. Mrs. Steinmetz takes a liking to Willoughby due to his youthful looks and good manners, in contrast to Hawk's henchmen. She introduces him to Herbie the Love Bug (left in her custody while Tennessee and owner Jim Douglas are traveling abroad) as well as two other sentient machines: an early 20th-century

orchestrion Orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is ...

that plays on its own; and Old No. 22, a retired cable car. Steinmetz's neighbor Nicole (

) punches him in the face due to his working for Hawk, but then tries to make up to him by offering him a ride in Herbie. Herbie goes berserk after Willoughby insults him twice, eventually taking the two to a car version of a

joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...

tournament, which Herbie wins. Later at a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf, Nicole surprises Willboughy by telling him all the horrible things Hawk has done, including building a

parking garage A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bui ...

on the very same lot where

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

and his brothers learned to play

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. Willoughby is upset about this and accidentally tells her that Hawk is his uncle, which enrages Nicole. She hits him with a boiled lobster in response, sending him splashing into the water below. Having become disillusioned towards his uncle, Willoughby decides to sever all his ties with Hawk. He initially tries to go home in disguise, but is convinced by Nicole to stay after she hears him criticize his uncle while talking to his mother on the telephone. Meanwhile, Hawk decides to take it upon himself to drive Mrs. Steinmetz out, starting with stealing Herbie. Hawk is initially successful with his hotwiring skills, but while driving him on the street, Hawk insults the car, who retaliates by causing a series of traffic collisions and jams and discards Hawk at his own office door. Later, while Herbie takes Mrs. Steinmetz to market, they are chased by Hawk's men; whereupon Herbie makes several daring escapes culminating in traveling through the 1909 landmark Sheraton Palace Hotel and along a suspension cable on the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

, leaving Mrs. Steinmetz oblivious to his activity throughout. Mrs. Steinmetz asks Nicole and Willoughby to pick up some more groceries for her, and then suggests that they ought to drive to the beach. Willoughby and Nicole enjoy a nice moment at the beach and fall for each other. Hawk's chauffeur, spying on Herbie and the duo, bribes a man to park his trailer on the only road out, prompting Herbie to surf through the coastal bay to find an alternate route. When they return to the firehouse after dark, every item of furniture has been removed by Hawk; whereupon Mrs. Steinmetz, Willoughby, Nicole, and Herbie track the theft to Hawk's warehouse. The four break in and recover Steinmetz's belongings, all of which had been loaded into Old No. 22. Hawk's hired security guards catch them in the act, but Herbie's acts of pushing other items off the warehouse shelves trap them and allow the trio to escape. On the adventurous ride home that sees Herbie and Old No. 22 pursued by Hawk, Mrs. Steinmetz meets and becomes enamored with an inebriated old-timer named Judson. The next morning, Mrs. Steinmetz decides to confront Hawk herself. Accompanied by Willoughby in spite of Nicole telling him not to let her do this, Mrs. Steinmetz drives Herbie onto the window-cleaning machine of Hawk’s skyscraper to reach his office, where they overhear Hawk on the phone with Loostgarten (

Chuck McCann Charles John Thomas McCann (September 2, 1934 – April 8, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, puppeteer, commercial presenter and television host. He was best known for his work in presenting children's television programming and animation, a ...

), an independent demolition agent, about the deal to demolish the firehouse. In response, she activates the window cleaning machine to fill the office with soap and water. This done, Herbie chases Hawk around the office, then outside onto a ledge of the building, until Mrs Steinmetz calms him down. Disguising his voice to resemble his uncle's, Willoughby directs Loostgarten to demolish Hawk's own house. Late that evening, Loostgarten telephones Hawk to confirm the demolition, waking Hawk from several nightmares showing himself at the mercy of Herbie; Hawk then gives confirmation, but realizes too late that he has condemned his own residence, and subsequently attacks Loostgarten after a portion of his house is collapsed from a wrecking ball. In the morning, Hawk fakes a truce with Mrs. Steinmetz. Thinking him to be sincere, Willoughby and Nicole go for dinner, while Mrs. Steinmetz invites Judson to the firehouse for a date of their own. That evening, Hawk shows up with bulldozers and frontloaders to crush the firehouse and its inhabitants, prompting Herbie to go in search of Nicole and Willoughby. In the absence of Herbie, the only means of defense is an antique fire hose, which Judson uses against the vehicles, until it explodes and sprays all over him. Having obtained Nicole and Willoughby, Herbie rounds up several other Volkswagen Beetles from various places in the city (including a wrecked one from a junkyard), and comes after Hawk and his men as an army and ruin his scheme, taking advantage of Hawk's irrational fear of Herbie. Hawk is pursued from the grounds by Herbie, and after nearly getting knocked down by a police car, Hawk is arrested after telling his bizarre tale of an army of Volkswagen Beetles chasing him. Later, Nicole and Willoughby are married, and ride Herbie through an arch formed by his new Volkswagen Beetle friends.

Cast

as Mrs. Steinmetz *

as Willoughby Whitfield *

as Nicole Harris Whitfield *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

as Mr. Judson *

as Alonzo P. Hawk * Huntz Hall as Judge * Ivor Barry as Maxwell - Chauffeur *

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

as Taxi Driver * Liam Dunn as Doctor *

Elaine Devry Elaine Devry (born Thelma Elaine Mahnken) is an American actress. Early life Devry was born Thelma Elaine Mahnken to Fred P. and Hortense Mahnken in Compton, California, where she was raised. Her brother, Jeff, was three years her senior. She b ...

as Millicent - Secretary *

as Fred Loostgarten * Richard X. Slattery as Traffic Commissioner * Don Pedro Colley as Barnsdorf *

Larry J. Blake Larry J. Blake (April 24, 1914 – May 25, 1982) was an American actor. Career A native of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, he started his career in vaudeville as an impersonator, working his way to a headliner. After appearing at the Roxy Theatr ...

as Police Officer * Iggie Wolfington as Lawyer - Second Team * Jack Manning as Lawyer - First Team * Hal Baylor as Demolition Truck Driver * Herb Vigran as Window Washer * Edward Ashley as Announcer at Chicken Race * Beverly Carter as Chicken Run Queen *

Norm Grabowski Norman Grabowski (February 5, 1933 – October 12, 2012) was an American hot rod builder and actor. The heavy-set crew cut-wearing Grabowski appeared in minor roles in many films produced by Albert Zugsmith and Walt Disney. He was Polish-America ...

as Security Guard #2 * Irwin Charone as Lawyer - Second Team * Gail Bonney as Rich Woman in Mansion *

Burt Mustin Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor.Obituary ''Variety'', February 2, 1977, page 94. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He a ...

as Rich Man in Mansion * John Myhers as Announcer at San Francisco's Office of the President * John Stephenson as Lawyer - Second Team * Robert Carson as Lawyer - First Team *

Raymond Bailey Raymond Thomas Bailey (May 6, 1904 – April 15, 1980) was an American actor, and comedian on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series ''The Beverly Hill ...

as Lawyer - Second Team *

Arthur Space Charles Arthur Space (October 12, 1908 – January 13, 1983) was an American film, television and stage actor. He was best known as Doc Weaver, the veterinarian, in thirty-nine episodes of the CBS television series '' Lassie''. Early years Bor ...

as Beach Caretaker * John Hubbard as Angry Chauffeur * Fritz Feld as Maitre d' *

Alvy Moore Jack Alvin "Alvy" Moore (December 5, 1921 – May 4, 1997) was an American actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent Hank Kimball on the CBS television series ''Green Acres''. His character would often make a st ...

as Angry Taxi Driver *

Karl Lukas Karl Lukas, born Karol Louis Lukasiak (August 21, 1919 – January 16, 1995) was an American film and television actor. He was best known for playing Pvt. Stash Kadowski in ''The Phil Silvers Show''. Lukas guest-starred in numerous television ...

as Angry Construction Worker * Paul Micale as Fisherman's Wharf Waiter *

John Zaremba John Zaremba (October 22, 1908 – December 15, 1986) was an American actor most noted for supporting roles on science fiction films and television series. The Chicago-born Zaremba was a journalist for the '' Grand Rapids Press'' and '' Chicag ...

as Lawyer - First Team *

Alan Carney Alan Carney (December 22, 1909 – May 2, 1973) was an American actor and comedian. Biography Alan Carney was born David Boughal in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1909. His parents, Edward and Nellie (Kearney) Boughal, were Irish immigrant ...

as Judge with Cigar at Chicken Run * Ken Sansom as Lawyer - First Team * Maurice Marsac as French Waiter * Hal Williams as Policeman writing Ticket

Production notes

Casting

Fritz Feld, who appears as the Maitre d', and

, who plays the Italian cab driver, also appear in the sequel '' Herbie Goes Bananas'' as crewmen of the ship ''Sun Princess''. Dan Tobin,

, Iggie Wolfington, Robert S. Carson, and

played some of Hawk's attorneys; Disney regular Norman Grabowski played "Security guard #2;" John Myhers played the San Francisco's Office of the President announcer; and Alan Carney played a judge at the Chicken Tournament.

Deleted scenes

The GAF View-Master reel set for the film shows a still from a deleted sequence where one of Hawk's nightmares has him about to be treated by a pair of white VW Beetle doctors, who decide to "take his carburetor out and have a look at it". As they approach Hawk, he is awakened by Loostgarten.

Vehicles

The Herbies used for the film consisted both of 1963 and 1965 Beetles. The included 1965 models make for some continuity errors as the windows are larger on the 1965 cars. One of the VW Beetles used in the deleted nightmare sequence (see above) was first used in ''The Love Bug'' as a stunt car during the El Dorado race (also used for interior filming). Many years after ''Herbie Rides Again'', the car's red cross, mechanical arms, and eyeball headlights were removed and restored to their former appearance.

"World's Highest Building"

"Hawk Plaza" is shown as a shining, twin-tower 130-story San Francisco skyscraper touted as "The World's Highest Building". Coincidentally, '' The Towering Inferno'', released six months later, featured "The Glass Tower," a shining, single-tower 138-story San Francisco skyscraper touted as "The Tallest Building in the World." In actuality, New York's twin towers of the World Trade Center, "The Tallest Buildings in the World" had officially opened in 1973, and Chicago's 108-story Sears Tower claimed that title in May 1974, just one month before ''Herbie Rides Again'' was released.

Release

Box office

''Herbie Rides Again'' opened on June 6, 1974 in 2,178 theaters and 1,761 drive-in theaters. The film grossed $38,229,000 at the United States and Canada box office, generating Disney $17,500,000 in theatrical rentals. The film earned rentals of around $13,300,000 overseas, giving worldwide rentals of almost $31 million.

Home media

''Herbie Rides Again'' was released on VHS on October 15, 1981, re-released on November 6, 1985, January 5, 1992, October 28, 1994 and September 16, 1997. It was first released on DVD in Region 1 on May 4, 2004 and was re-released as a 2-DVD double feature set along with '' Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' on April 26, 2009. On September 2, 2012, ''Herbie Rides Again'' was re-released on DVD as part of ''Herbie: 4-Movie Collection'' along with ''

The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and the first in a franchise by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 19 ...

'', '' Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' and '' Herbie Goes Bananas''. The film was released on

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on December 16, 2014 as a Disney Movie Club exclusive title.

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "There's nothing harmful about 'Herbie Rides Again'; it's simply not very good." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported, "It should prove gleeful enough for the kiddies, and at the short and sweet unspooling time of 88 minutes, painless pleasantry for adult chaperones as well."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote that the film "suffers from the slackening of freshness and invention which so often bedevils sequels ... Still, 'Herbie Rides Again' preserves the bright, unreal feeling of that special Disney world which more and more is a world to itself."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the '' Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his ...

gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "a surprisingly tolerable sequel." ''Herbie Rides Again'' presently holds a score of 80% at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 5 reviews.

References

External links

* * * * {{Robert Stevenson 1974 films 1970s sports comedy films American sports comedy films American children's films American sequel films 2 Films directed by Robert Stevenson Films produced by Bill Walsh (producer) Films set in California Films set in San Francisco Films shot in San Francisco Walt Disney Pictures films Films about real estate holdout Films scored by George Bruns 1974 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films