The classic ‘Two Lane Blacktop’ is a legendary existential road movie. The star of the show is a race-prepped 1955 Chevy 150 ‘Gasser’ the protagonists use to race across the country. The car is as stripped down as the movie.
The main characters are the Driver and the Mechanic, who remain nameless enigmas throughout the run time. The filmmaker doesn’t tell us who they are, or what they’re after, and isn’t concerned with motivation. They just travel from one drag strip to another fleecing Corvettes and hot rod Ford for cash. Hardy a word is spoken between them that doesn’t involve adjusting the valves, or changing the jets on the carburetor. A young runaway girl sneaks into the car while at a rest stop. She learns no more about the men than the audience does. They’re simply nomads of the highways.
Their ride is a 1955 Chevy 150 with a 454 cubic inch V8 monster under the fiberglass flip front-end. The car has been lightened as much as possible with Lexan windows and a bare interior save for two racing seats and a roll bar. This machine is focused entirely on straight line speed. There isn’t even paint or the extra weight of a heater. The same car (painted gloss black) was used as Harris Ford’s ride in American Graffiti.
While stopped for gas, the protagonists cross paths with a middle aged drifter in a yellow 1970 Pontiac GTO who bitches out the Driver for following him through the past 3 states. The Driver denigrates the drifter by saying he’s never even noticed him before, but that a lot of cars look like his ‘bought not built’ GTO. The men agree to race across the country to Washington DC for pink slips. In contrast to the monosyllabic Driver and Mechanic, the GTO drifter talks non-stop and picks up hitchhikers just to tell tall-tales to.
Near the end of the film, GTO picks up a couple of young hitchhikers, and tell them he just won this ‘new’ car racing for pinks with his hand-built, customized ’55 Chevy. GTO then delivers the line
“There’s nothing like building up an old automobile from scratch and wiping out one of these Detroit machines. That’ll give you a set of emotions that’ll stay with you. Know what I mean? Those satisfactions are permanent.”
That’s as much character development as you’re going to get in this movie.
The two existential road movies of that era, Easy Rider will always be my favorite… and the TLB.
If we wanna see this movie as a work of art from the hippie era and dig a bit deeper, there is a very interesting study released by Variety.
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/two-lane-blacktop-50th-anniversary-monte-hellman-james-taylor-1235013008/
Hmm… never seen Easy Rider. Maybe an idea for a future fast film Friday.
… and the first picture totally deserves to be framed and hung in my dream garage.
Amazing car! Can you believe at the end of American Graffiti they destroyed that car by rolling it in a drag race?
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Ironically, the plan was to destroy the car in a drag race at the end of Two-Lane Blacktop!
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They should not destroy cars in drag races at the end of movies. There might be a Part II and then what you gonna do?
Wow, can you imagine how much that Chevy would cost today if it had survived? Such a loss.
Yes, please watch Easy Rider and make it a future Fast Film Friday.
Then again, you must watch it as a “work of art.”
OK Rubens. We’ve got a bunch of 1950s hot rod / juvenile delinquent movies already reviewed (waiting to post on future Fridays) but we’ll watch Easy Rider and do another post for our Brazilian Brother.
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But we might need help.
Absolutely, brother.
wait wait james taylor as in JAMES TAYLOR? i do love legendary and also existential so i might chexk it out. ALSO. did you see this artixle: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/cybertruck-accelerator-stuck-driving-issue-tesla-recall-musk-rcna147832 Would love to hear the chris demaras take on the tesla “truck.”
Yes! The director of this great existential road movie chose James ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ Taylor as the hero. Weird since he isn’t an actor, and hadn’t been in movies before. I guess they wanted authenticity.
On yhe matter of the Cybertruck, dear Susan, you have given us all the components for an upcoming article!
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You’ve got to love the crazy, futuristic styling on the vehicle. To hell with utility and useful space. It looks cool!
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But seeing companies repeat the errors of the past is just a JOKE. I’m old enough to remember Toyota’s “unintended acceleration” debacle. Gas pedals jammed under floor mats.
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Will we ever learn?