TWO-LANE BLACKTOP

:''This article is about the movie Two-Lane Blacktop. For the hard rock band, see Two Lane Blacktop.''
'''Two-Lane Blacktop''' is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, and Dennis Wilson.
''Esquire'' magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, but the film was not a huge commercial success. The film has since become a cult classic. Brock Yates, organizer of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (better known as the Cannonball Run) cites ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' as one source of inspiration for the creation of the race, and commented on it in his ''Car and Driver'' column announcing the first Cannonball.
''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. As such it has become popular with fans of Route 66. ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' 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''.

Contents

Plot summary

Budget

Soundtrack

DVD

Trivia

See also

External links

Plot summary

The premise involves two drag racers (played by Taylor and Wilson) who live on the road in their 1955 Chevy and drift from town to town, making their only income challenging local residents to races. The movie follows them driving east on Route 66 from Needles, California. They pick up a hitchhiker in Flagstaff, Arizona (played by Bird). In New Mexico, they encounter another drag racing drifter (played by Oates, driving an "Orbit Orange" 1970 Pontiac GTO "Judge") and challenge him to a cross-country race to Washington, D.C., with the winner of the race getting the title to the others' car. The characters are never identified by name in the movie, given only names such as "The Driver," "The Mechanic," "The GTO," and "The Girl". The movie follows the group east through small towns in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee; however, they never make it to Washington, D.C.
After sleeping with both the Driver and the Mechanic during the winding course of the journey, The Girl disappoints both the Driver and the Mechanic when she abruptly leaves with the GTO while they are competing at a local racetrack in Arkansas. The Driver pursues them intently, finding them at a diner where the Girl has just rejected the GTO's idea to visit Chicago. The Driver proposes going to Columbus, Ohio to pick up some parts, but the Girl immediately rejects him. She hops on the back of a long-haired stranger's motorcycle, dropping her bag in the parking lot. The three men abruptly depart from the diner in their respective cars. The driver of the GTO, who tells a different story about himself to each of the many hitchhikers he picks up, stops for a final pair of soldiers. The GTO driver tells his passengers that he had won the car while driving a home-built '55 Chevy, emphasizing the circular (bordering on aimless) theme of the film. The film ends during a drag race at an airstrip in East Tennessee. The sound drops out, then the film seems to slow until it catches in the projector and burns.

Budget

This film was considered a low budget film at the time of its production. It only cost an estimated $850,000.00 to complete. In its initial release, it was expected to only make the rounds through the then thriving Drive-in theater market, where low budget and B-movies found a thriving audience. Instead, due to the fact of its primary characters being James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, this film experienced a surprising, though short lived, successful run in the traditional theater market.

Soundtrack

Unlike other Existential road movies of the time, ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' does not rely heavily on music, nor was a soundtrack released. The music featured in the film covers many genres, including Rock, Folk, Blues, Country, Bluegrass, and R&B. Perhaps surprisingly, there isn't any music by written or performed by James Taylor or Dennis Wilson (with or without The Beach Boys).
The film features three notable songs:

★ "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors

★ "Stealin'" by Arlo Guthrie

★ "Me and Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson

DVD

Anchor Bay Entertainment released a limited edition of the movie on October 24, 2004 with only 15,000 copies made. The disc was housed 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 on October 19, 1999 without the poster and key chain. Both versions are currently out-of-print and are sold for over $100.
At a July 2007 screening of the film, Hellman revealed that the Criterion Collection will be releasing a two-disc special edition DVD that will feature a new documentary made by Hellman that will include an interview with Kristofferson about how "Me and Bobby McGee" has become so closely associated with the film. Festival iPOPs Mark Rabinowitz

Trivia

★ Two of the '55 Chevys used in the filming of ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' were later used in the filming of ''American Graffiti''. In the early 2000s, Chevy High Performance magazine ran an article about the 1955 Chevrolets used in the film, where a third car exists (this is the car seen at the gas station) - the builder of the car (Richard Ruth) confirmed that the third car (located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) does exist.

★ The camera car from ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' was also used in a later movie ''(Smokey and the Bandit'') but it was only heard and not seen. The director of ''Smokey and the Bandit'' felt that the Trans-Am used in the movie didn't have the sound he wanted, so he had the sound of the '55 Chevy's engine dubbed over the sound of the Trans Am's engine.

★ In 2003 Plain Recordings released a ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' tribute album entitled ''You Can Never Go Fast Enough'' featuring Will Oldham, Calexico, Mark Eitzel, Giant Sand, Leadbelly, Sonic Youth, Cat Power and others.

★ Rob Zombie wrote a song called "Two-Lane Blacktop," available on his 2003 ''Past, Present & Future'' collection. The song loosely covers the plot of the movie.

★ Filmed from August to October of 1970. Dennis Wilson was forced to miss several concert appearances including the Big Sur Folk Festival at the Monterey Fairgrounds due to his commitment to the film.

See also

★ List of counterculture films

External links

★

★ www.geocities.com/hennad_55/ fan page