''Cannonball'' (stylized on-screen as ''Cannonball!'', and released theatrically in the UK as ''Carquake'') is a 1976

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Paul Bartel Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy ''Eating Raoul'', which he co-wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies an ...

and starring

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor, director, and producer, whose career included over 200 major and minor roles in film, television and on stage. He was widely known ...

. The film is co-produced by the American studios Cross-County Productions and Harbour Productions and Hong Kong's

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shang ...

. It is one of two released in 1976 that were based on a real illegal cross-continent road race that took place for a number of years in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(the other being''

The Gumball Rally ''The Gumball Rally'' is a 1976 American action comedy film, directed and co-written by Charles Bail, a former stunt coordinator also known as Chuck Bail, about an illicit coast-to-coast road race. It was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-t ...

''). The same topic later became the basis for the films ''

The Cannonball Run ''The Cannonball Run'' is a 1981 action-comedy film directed by Hal Needham, produced by Hong Kong firm Golden Harvest, and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Filmed in Panavision, it features an all-star ensemble cast, including Burt Reynolds ...

'', ''

Cannonball Run II ''Cannonball Run II'' is a 1983 American action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest. The film is the second installment of the ''Cannonball Run'' trilogy and a sequel to ''The Ca ...

'' and ''

Speed Zone ''Speed Zone'' (also known as ''Cannonball Run III'', ''Cannonball Fever'', ''One for the Money'' and ''Speedzone Fever'') is a 1989 American action comedy film set around an illegal cross-country race (inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-to- ...

''. The film was written and directed by

, who also directed '' Death Race 2000''. The name of the film and the plot were inspired by Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker (1882–1960), who traveled across the United States several times, and by the

Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known as the Cannonball Baker or Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race run five times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, Connecticut, on the Eas ...

, an illegal cross-continent road race introduced by Brock Yates to protest against the 55 MPH speed limit.

Plot

The Trans-America Grand Prix is an illegal race held every year between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

(

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. The pier is part of the greater Santa Monic ...

) and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Recently released from jail, where he was serving a sentence for killing a girl while driving drunk, racing driver Coy "Cannonball" Buckman hopes to win the race and get his career back on track. Racing team Modern Motors have promised a contract to either him or his arch-rival Cade Redman who is also in the race – the contract will go to whichever of them wins. Coy is still on probation and when his parole officer, Linda Maxwell, with whom he is having an elaborate affair, discovers he will be crossing state lines in violation of his parole, she attempts to stop him, only to have him force her to accompany him on the race. Redman also has company in the form of country singer Perman Waters and his manager Sharma Capri who have agreed to pay Redman's race expenses in return for his taking them with him to New York in his

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over eight generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. In the United Sta ...

. Other competitors include teenage surfer sweethearts Jim Crandell and Maryann driving Maryann's father's

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

, middle-aged Terry McMillan in a Chevrolet Blazer, three waitresses, Sandy, Ginny and Wendy in a souped-up van, arrogant

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

driver Wolfe Messer in a De Tomaso Pantera, preppy

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

Beutell in a

Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a per ...

he has been hired by a wealthy elderly couple to transport to New York for them (unaware that he is using it to enter the race) and Buckman's best friend Zippo in a Pontiac Trans Am identical to Coy's. Unbeknown to Coy, his brother Bennie has bet heavily on the race and plans to use underhand methods to ensure Coy wins. As the race degenerates into a violent

demolition derby Demolition derby is a type of motorsport, usually presented at county fairs and national events. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their v ...

, Messer is blown up by Bennie, while McMillan attempts to cheat by having his Blazer flown from LAX to New York's

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...

where he waits out the race with his mistress Louisa. Beutell's borrowed Lincoln gets progressively more damaged as the race goes on, while Jim and Maryann face engine trouble with a broken fan belt. The rivalry between Coy and the increasingly unstable Redman gets out of control as the two fight and attempt to force each other off the road, with Coy crashing his Trans Am after Redman breaks the headlights. Switching to a 1969 Ford Mustang he borrows from some local hot-rodders, Coy has a last showdown with Redman, who has kicked Perman and Sharma out of his car after arguing with them. A piece of Perman's guitar, which Redman smashed in a rage after getting sick of Perman's singing and on-the-road radio broadcasts, gets lodged behind the car pedals, causing Redman to lose control and crash over the side of an unfinished bridge. He dies when the car explodes. Bennie meanwhile, has sent a gunman to kill the driver of the "other" red Trans Am as it is beating Coy. He is unaware that the driver is Zippo or that Linda is now riding with him, as Coy thought it safer for her to do so since Redman was after him. While with Zippo, she has found out that it was Zippo who was driving the car in which the girl was killed, not Coy. Coy took the blame because he knew the weaker Zippo would never survive in jail. Bennie's gunman shoots Zippo dead and the Trans Am crashes and explodes. Linda jumps clear, but is badly injured. Jim and Maryann see the wreck and pick up the comatose Linda, taking her to hospital. Behind them, the presence of the wrecked Trans Am on the freeway causes a multiple-car pileup. Terry McMillan and Louisa arrive first at the finish line, but Louisa lets slip that the Blazer was flown there and he is disqualified. The girls in the van and Coy are neck-and-neck as they cross into New York City (with Coy driving over the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey, with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named after George W ...

and the girls taking the

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and the unsigned N ...

until Sandy attempts to take a shortcut when the girls get lost and are stuck in traffic and the van crashes. Coy arrives at the finish line and is about to stamp his timecard, making him the official winner, when he is told about Zippo and Linda's accident and realizes Bennie caused it. He tears up his timecard so it can't be stamped and gives the pieces to Bennie, who is taken away by gangster Lester Marks to whom he owes all the money he bet on Coy, presumably to be killed. Assured of his racing contract, Coy is taken to the hospital to be reunited with Linda by the team manager. Having decided to finish the race in spite of believing they cannot win having lost so much time, Jim and Maryann are the next to arrive at the finish line. They are surprised and overjoyed to be told they are the winners of the $100,000 first place prize. At the hospital, Coy and Linda enjoy their reunion, while Beutell delivers the Lincoln – now completely wrecked – to its horrified owners in front of a hotel in the city.

Cast

- Coy "Cannonball" Buckman * Bill McKinney - Cade Redman, Cannonball's nemesis * Veronica Hamel - Linda Maxwell, Cannonball's parole officer and love interest *

Gerrit Graham Gerrit Graham (born November 27, 1949) is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a scriptwriter and songwriter. He is best known for his appearances in multiple films by Brian De Palma as well as appearances in two ''Star Trek'' ...

- Perman Waters * Robert Carradine - Jim Crandell * Belinda Balaski - Maryann *

Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...

- Sandy Harris (Girl in the Van #1) * Diane Lee Hart - Wendy (Girl in the Van #2) * Glynn Rubin - Ginny (Girl in the Van #3) * James Keach - Wolf Messer, the West German professional *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

- Bennie Buckman, Cannonball's older brother *

- Lester Marks * Stanley Bennett Clay - Beutell Morris *

Judy Canova Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & ...

- Sharma Capri, Perman's manager * Archie Hahn - Zippo, Cannonball's friend * Carl Gottlieb - Terry McMillan *

David Arkin David George Arkin (December 24, 1941 – January 14, 1991) was an American actor, known for his numerous supporting appearances in the films of Robert Altman. These roles were part of Altman's frequent ensemble and included Staff Sergeant Voll ...

- Dennis Caldwell * Louisa Moritz - Louisa * Patrick Wright - Brad Phillips, organizer of the Trans-American Grand Prix *

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with Counterculture of th ...

- Kid *

Allan Arkush Allan Arkush (born April 30, 1948) is an American director and producer of films, television and videos. He is a regular collaborator with Joe Dante. Early life Arkush grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated in 1966 from Fort Lee High ...

- Panama *

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and film director, director. His film ''The Accused (1988 film), The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster the Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best Actress ...

- All-Night Gas Station Attendant *

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

- Los Angeles County District Attorney * Don Simpson - L.A. County Assistant District Attorney *

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

- Mafioso #1 *

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

- Mafioso #2 (uncredited) The cameo by

is uncredited, while

and Don Simpson appear as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

s. Directors

and

have cameos, and former beach movie star and

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

voice actor

Aron Kincaid Aron Kincaid (born Norman Neale Williams II; June 15, 1940 – January 6, 2011) was an American actor, known for voicing Killer Croc on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and Sky Lynx on '' The Transformers''. He also voiced characters for ' ...

appears in a small role as one of two cops who pull over the girls in the van.

Production

Development

Producer Sam Gelfman wanted to make a film about the Cannonball race. After the success of ''Death Race 2000'' he hired Paul Bartel to direct and David Carradine to star, and set up the film at Fox. However Fox decided not to make it. Gelfman had Don Simpson rewrite the script then obtained finance from a group of investors including New World, Run Run Shaw and Gustave Berne. Bartel later said he worked for a year on '' Death Race 2000'' for $5,000 "so when it was finished I desperately needed money. The only thing anybody wanted from me was another car picture, hence ''Cannonball''. Corman had drummed into me the idea that if ''Death Race'' had been 'harder' and 'more real' it would have been more popular. Like a fool, I believed him". Bartel says: "I am not, and never have been, very much interested in cars and racing" so he decided to load up the film "cameos and character gimmicks that did interest me". His favourite scene was the one where Bartel, playing a nightclub owner, plays the piano and sings while two gangsters beat up Dick Miller.

Reception

The film was chosen to open the Edinburgh Film Festival. However it was less successful than ''Death Race 2000''.

References

External links

* * *
''Cannonball''
at the Internet Movie Cars Database (IMCDb)
Cannonball Run World Events
{{Paul Bartel 1976 films American road comedy-drama films Hong Kong comedy-drama films 1970s road comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films American auto racing films Hong Kong auto racing films Films directed by Paul Bartel 1970s American films 1970s Hong Kong films 1976 comedy-drama films English-language Hong Kong films English-language comedy-drama films Shaw Brothers Studio films New World Pictures films