Vanishing Point
Born Today
Home / Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point

Year:
Duration:
99 min | UK:106 min
Genres:
Action | Thriller
IMDB rate:
7.3
Director:
Richard C. Sarafian
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1971-03-13
Filming Locations: Page, Arizona, USA
Earnings
Gross: SEK 880,385 (Sweden) Copyright Holder Copyright © MCMLXXI by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. All Rights Reserved (on print)
Cast
Actor
Character
Gilda Texter
Gilda Texter
Vanishing Point
Barry Newman
Kowalski
Cleavon Little
Super Soul
Dean Jagger
Prospector
Victoria Medlin
Vera
Paul Koslo
Young Cop
Robert Donner
Older Cop (as Bob Donner)
Timothy Scott
Angel
Anthony James
First Male Hitchhiker
Arthur Malet
Second Male Hitchhiker
Karl Swenson
Clerk at Delivery Agency
Severn Darden
J. Hovah
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
J. Hovah's Singers
Lee Weaver
Jake
Cherie Foster
First Girl
Valerie Kairys
Second Girl
Tom Reese
Sheriff
Owen Bush
Communications Officer
John Amos
Super Soul's Engineer
Val Avery
Police Officer
Rita Coolidge
J. Hovah's Singer (uncredited)
David Gates
Pianist at Revival Meeting (uncredited)
Ted Neeley
J. Hovah singer (uncredited)
Charlotte Rampling
Hitchhiker (uncredited)
Bruce Rhodewalt
CHP Communications Officer (uncredited)
Meg Wyllie
Police Dispatcher (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Kowalski's first name is used in this movie. In Denver, Kowalski's drug dealer, Jake says to him: "What's happening, Jim?" However, "Jim" is not in the subtitles for that scene.
Share this
Director Richard C. Sarafian's original choice for the role of Kowalski was Gene Hackman, but the studio, 20th Century Fox, insisted on using Barry Newman if the movie was going to be made.
Share this
According to Sarafian on the commentary, he made the film on a budget of 1.3 million. Sarafian also admitted that he had surpassed the allotted budget by $80k due to execute producer Richard Zanuck taking a like for the film. Zanuck then hired eight different teams of Dolby artists to bring a visceral aesthetic to the Challenger. In the end, Sarafian lost 2.5 points which he joked were "Vanishing Points!"
Share this
Goofs
At 150:56, when the prospector is wrangling the snake a green tripod leg and equipment shadows are visible.
Share this
The car crashed at the end is a 1967 Chevy Camaro, not a 1970 Dodge Challenger
Share this
In the opening sequence, when the Challenger makes the bootleg turn in front of the bulldozers, you can see that the driver is apparently wearing a curly wig (to match Barry Newman's hair) over a helmet, making his head look ridiculously oversized.
Share this
Quotes
Kowalski: What do you do with those things?
Share this
Hitchhiker: Patiently. That's the only way to wait for somebody.
Share this
Super Soul: And there goes the Challenger, being chased by the blue, blue meanies on wheels. The vicious traffic squad cars are after our lone driver, the last American hero, the electric centaur, the, the demi-god, the super driver of the golden west! Two nasty Nazi cars are close behind the beautiful lone driver. The police numbers are gettin' closer, closer, closer to our soul hero, in his soul mobile, yeah baby! They about to strike. They gonna get him. Smash him. Rape... the last beautiful free soul on this planet.
Share this
Faq
Q
What are the differences between the US-Version and the UK-Version of this movie?
A
The UK-Version of Vanishing Point features the missing Charlotte Rampling hitchhiker-scene, that has been cut for all other releases of the movie. Hence the UK-Version runs nearly 7 minutes longer and is only featured on the US-DVD, which is a flipper disc with the US-Version on the other side. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.Interesting to hear the longer version being called the 'UK' version. I saw this film in the UK on first release and I've caught it on UK terrestrial TV a number of times over the last 39 years. Every time I've watched the film the hitch-hiker scene was missing. In fact the first time I saw this scene was last night when it was shown on the Sky Satellite channel.
Share this
Photos from cast
Gilda Texter
Beer cartoon oktoberfest beer clip art Willibech beer glassware