Gone In 60 Seconds (1974)

H.B. Halicki’s independent film features one of the most famous car chases in movie history.

The Plot (spoilers)

While Maindrian Pace (H.B. “Toby” Halicki) of Chase Research is investigating an accident for an insurance company in which a semi truck struck a train, a used car dealer buys at auction a totaled 1973 Dodge Challenger, which finds its way to Pace’s auto shop, where it is stripped down. Pace and his crew strip the junked car for its serial numbers and anything else that would identify it, then go out and steal an undamaged 1973 Challenger that matches it and switch the serial numbers and other parts, and the undamaged car goes up for sale on the car lot.

Maindrian Pace (in the denim jacket) investigates the train derailment

Pace meets with an Argentinean named Vilas, who offers him $400,000, half up front, to steal 48 specific cars for him and have them all delivered to the dock by 5pm next Saturday. Pace and his associate Atlee Jackson (George Cole) start making plans. Pace has given each car on the list a woman’s name as a codename. Pace has a family wedding to go to in New York, and has Atlee start researching the list of cars, using the information they have access to as insurance investigators.

Pace and Atlee discuss the upcoming heist

Atlee calls Pace at the wedding reception, telling him that he doesn’t think they have enough time to get all the cars, but Pace tells him not to worry. Pace asks the groom, Eugene Chase (Jerry Daugirda), who is brother of Pace’s girlfriend Pumpkin (Marion Busia) and is a part owner in the family business along with Pumpkin and their brother Stanley (James McIntyre), to postpone his honeymoon to help them. Eugene reluctantly agrees.

Pace coerces Eugene to help

Arriving back in Los Angeles with Eugene, the crew steal a Rolls-Royce from the airport and spot “Eleanor,” a yellow 1973 Ford Mustang, which Pace’s brother Corliss (Ronald Halicki) tries to steal but the driver is still sitting in the car. After the team goes over the plan, and Pumpkin reminds Pace only to steal cars that are insured, they go to the race track and steal J.C. Agajanian’s Rolls-Royce from a car race. Pace has tracked down “Eleanor” and steals it out of the owner’s garage, but as he does so, the intoxicated owner is taking his dog outside and takes off after him in his second car. The owner attracts the attention of the police who pull him over and arrest him for drunk driving.

Someone's having a bad night

The owner explains that his Mustang was stolen and he was chasing it, so the police take him home, only to find the Mustang is in the garage where it belongs, so the police take him to jail. In the office, Eugene confronts Pace for returning the Mustang, and Pace says he realized the owner was an insurance adjuster who unfairly denied claims and Pace wanted to get even with him. The team easily steals the limos on the list by making fake reservations to various limo companies and funeral homes. They also have the opportunity to steal a DeTomaso Pantera, and another “Eleanor” Mustang.

Pace in disguise to steal a limo

Atlee tries to steal a Cadillac from the Hungry Tiger restaurant, but it’s the restaurant owner’s car and the restaurant’s namesake tiger is in the backseat and scares him off. Meanwhile the team steals several more of the cars on the list.

Now THAT'S a security system!

The 1973 Dodge Challenger from earlier in the movie was recognized by the insurance adjuster that handled the original claim on it by its vanity plate, and Chase Research was hired to investigate the used car lot. The lot brokered the Challenger to another used car dealer and Pace steals it with a tow truck, evading a security guard who gave chase, and takes it to a salvage yard and immediately has it shredded, so there would be no evidence for the investigation to follow.

"Jill" the Challenger meets her fate

Chase Research is also hired to investigate the theft of Parnelli Jones’ Big Oly Bronco, which actually Atlee stole the previous night, leading Pace to have to convincingly pretend to investigate a car he was responsible for stealing. Pace also notices another Eleanor pulling into the International Towers and keeps it in mind in case he ever needs another one.

Pace and Parnelli Jones discuss his stolen Big Oly Bronco

Atlee steals Lyle Waggoner’s Italia from a detailer across the street from CBS television city and the team steal other rare cars including a Stutz and a Manta during a test drive.

Leaving the Manta salesman on the side of the road

They steal a Cadillac Eldorado which they find to be stuffed with drugs worth about a million dollars. They narrowly avoid being caught with the drugs when one of Pace’s detective friends drops by. Eugene wants to sell the drugs, but Pace says they’ll talk about it in the morning. Early in the morning he takes the Cadillac into the middle of nowhere, soaks it is gasoline and burns it.

Burning a new Cadillac

The team has all 48 cars for the contract, but Pumpkin discovers that Eleanor wasn’t insured when the owner places an ad asking for it to be returned. Eugene storms it asking what happened to the Eldorado and when Pace tells him he burned it, Eugene gets angry with Pace for destroying a million dollars worth of drugs. Pace leaves to return Eleanor, saying he’s only doing it because he knows there’s another one in Long Beach at the International Towers.

Pace gets bad news about Eleanor

Pace goes to the warehouse to get the Eleanor he’s going to return, while Eugene places an anonymous call to the police tipping them off to stake out the International Towers.

Pace in disguise passing the Big Oly Bronco and the Stutz

Pace taking Eleanor back

A pair of officers in an unmarked car see Pace dropped off in disguise. Pace steals Eleanor from the underground garage but as he leaves the car alarm is triggered in view of the police. Pace stops to disconnect the alarm and the police get suspicious. Pace spots the unmarked police car and knows he’s in for a chase as he takes off.

Pace is about to take off with the new Eleanor

The police try to stop him, immediately colliding with Eleanor. As they police chase Eleanor around the International Towers, Hal McClain, a DJ for KFOX 1280 AM Radio, based at the International Towers, reports on the chase.

Eleanor vs Police early in the chase

Marked patrol cars join in the chase that includes sidewalks and a park and they surround Pace and Eleanor in the park and force them to stop. It seems like the pursuit has quickly come to an end as the police draw their guns. Pace sees an opening and escapes with Eleanor. As they flee Long Beach with the police in pursuit they and the police cause several accidents.

An particularly bad day for this convertible owner

Pace eventually gets on the Harbor Freeway toward Los Angeles and leads the police to a dusty construction area where he is briefly surrounded again but end up losing many of the police cars as they collide with one another before he gets back on the freeway.

Police Car Casualties Start Stacking Up

Racing along at over 80 miles per hour, Pace clips a Cadillac, causing him to lose control of Eleanor and spin out, knocking down a light pole. The police think that will stop him but it doesn’t and he keeps going, escaping up a nearby exit ramp. The police turn around on the freeway and go after him through the city of Carson, causing several accidents.

Eleanor takes out the light pole

The police try to set up a road block in front of a Datsun dealership, and Pace leads the chase through the dealership and others to Ronald Moran Cadillac where a police car damages several new Cadillacs domino-style and Pace leads the chase into the dealer’s service area, where he is nearly surrounded again but he manages to slip out once again.

A police car takes out a few new Cadillacs

Pace in unknowingly headed for a serious 4-car collision, unrelated to his chase, that is completely blocking the road ahead. By the time he sees it, it is too late to stop and he hits one of the wrecked cars which catapults Eleanor over the wreck and out of reach of the police. Amazingly, Eleanor is still drivable after this jump and Pace continues his escape.

Rough Landing

Pace spots another Eleanor pulling into an automatic car wash. He pulls in and has his wrecked Eleanor washed, then goes to the other end and tells the owner of the other Eleanor that he works for the car wash and they made a mistake and have to rewash the car. Pace drives off in the undamaged Eleanor, stops to change the license plates and takes off his disguise before making his getaway. Meanwhile, the DJ is visited by police detectives and discovers that he’s been unknowingly reporting on the theft of his own car.

Pace cons his way into a new Eleanor

The police spot the wrecked Eleanor at the car wash and arrest the car wash manager, who resembles Pace in his disguise. Pace gets through a police roadblock and escapes to freedom with an undamaged Eleanor.

The car wash manager takes the rap

My Review:

The entire point of Gone In 60 Seconds is to get to the huge car chase at the end, and there is never any doubt about that, considering the movie is presented by the “H.B. Halicki Mercantile Co. & Junk Yard” and stars “Eleanor.” The plot isn’t very deep, and the characters aren’t developed beyond what they need to be for the plot. Sometimes its difficult just to tell the characters apart, which is even more difficult due to the fact that they sometimes wear disguises. The acting, while not great, isn’t that bad, at least not by 1970s standards, though there isn’t a whole lot of acting to be done since most of the plot involves cars and little dialogue. The plot, while basic, is at least fairly logical and gives enough background into the operation to make it seem plausible. It wasn’t really necessary to make the characters more than common thieves, but Halicki went to the trouble. I like the idea that they run a mostly-legitimate insurance investigation firm to cover their tracks, and the movie explains how they swap wrecked cars with stolen ones. I find it a little hard to believe that they could work so closely with the police and not get caught, but I suppose their legitimate business keeps them from being suspected. The naming of the characters could have been better; it’s a little confusing having Maindrian PACE working at CHASE Research. It also doesn’t make sense for Pace to return the uninsured “Eleanor” before stealing another one.

The real point of the movie is the car chase, which is very good. Unusual for a Hollywood car chase, Eleanor is seriously damaged only seconds into the chase, and the damage keeps getting worse. Many, many other cars are destroyed in the process of the chase and there are some fake-outs, where you think the action might be over before it starts up again. The chase culminates with Eleanor making a spectacular 128-foot jump 30 feet in the air, which is shown in slow motion so the audience can appreciate it and then replayed at full speed. The final resolution where Pace gets away with an undamaged Eleanor is clever and enjoyable, even if it is unbelievably unlikely.

Gone in 60 Seconds is a great movie for anyone who likes movies about cars or car chases.