Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

I too watched DMCL again last month after a period of many years, and I have to say that I love it, even though it's truly crap. The dialogue's hackneyed, the plot's over-simplistic and filled with randomly-inserted chunks of juvenile self-indulgence and Susan George's performance tends to make me claw at my ears like a mangy dog but if, like me, you hate what the computer age has done to the car chase, you can't help but enjoy it.

The fact is, you've got a bright yellow '69 Charger at full pelt, outrunning a bunch of genuine Mopar pursuit cars and being rammed by a helicopter - filmed on a road, with a camera. What more do you want? In terms of real action, with no digital effects, speeded-up film or dodgy miniatures, it's up there with The Gumball Rally. And yes, the scene with Vic Morrow standing at that crossroads as the helicopter swoops down to meet him does have a certain resonance.

This film is pretty poor, make no mistake, but as an example of how cars were crashed in the good old days I reckon it should be in a museum...

If you're an aspiring writer/director or just a fan of the cinema? Then you have to watch, "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry". The movie isn't just another 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flick. It's the 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flick to end all other 70's Drive-In exploitation car chase flicks that came before it. Movies like Vanishing Point, White Lightening and The Seven Ups.

While films like 'Bullet' and 'The French Connection' set the standard for car chase scenes in urban jungles. It was Vanishing Point that took the car chase across country, and established a brand new 70's genre called the "Car Chase Movie". Like B monster movies from decades past, they were short on plot and even shorter on character development, but long in action packed car chases. It was an entire new genre of its own creation starting in the late 60's with Steve McQueen's 'Bullit', and eventually going out with a bang in the late 70's with films like 'Smokey and the Bandit', followed by early 80's blockbusters like 'The Blues Brothers' and 'Cannonball Run'. The Blues Brothers being probably the best of all the Car Chase movies that combined musical comedy with exciting urban and cross country high octane action car chases and crashes.

While, 'Smokey and the Bandit' and 'The Blues Brothers' were overall far superior movies to the Drive-In exploitation car chase flicks of the early and mid 70's, it's easy to spot that a lot of the great car chase scenes in those later movies were directly inspired by "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry", which were themselves inspired by earlier films like Vanishing Point and Bullet, but later expanded upon in 'Dirty Mary,Crazy Larry'.

That's really the main reason why I believe "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" is a must see flick. It serves as a transitional film from earlier movies that first established the new 70' genre, with some bold improvisation of stunt coordination using the established genre as its foundation, that made 'DMCL' a source of inspiration for later and greater movies. Check it out and see if you agree with this review.

Ostensibly a mindless, flashy car-chase-&-crash B-flick has all the usual drive-in elements, but there's more going on here than at first appears. Two NASCAR enthusiasts, needing to buy a new entry vehicle, concoct an elaborate plan to rob a grocery store; Larry is the talent behind the wheel, Deke is the contemplative brains of the outfit. Soon they're saddled with good-time girl Mary, stubborn and sassy, who proves her mettle on a wild ride getting out of town. From Richard Unekis' book "The Chase", with a plot that is exactly that, yet the script by Leigh Chapman and Antonio Santean is surprisingly funny and literate and John Hough's direction is exceptionally tight with very little nonsense. Peter Fonda is appropriately manic, loose and shaggy, and Susan George has fun playing low-class (she has a tough time camouflaging her British accent, but it passes); every time Mary uses her brains, it provides more shading and substance in the character. Adam Roarke is a revelation as accomplice Deke, a sensitive, complicated man with heart and soul; he's not above larceny--he even masterminds it--but he's a thinker, and a realist. This film should have broken Roarke as a star in Hollywood, he is incredibly good. Vic Morrow has the standard role of the lawman on the trio's trail (he plays cat-and-mouse with them, and vice-versa, which is routine) and it's nice to see Roddy McDowall in a non-hysterical role as the supermarket manager. The chases are terrifically charged with adrenaline and excitement, and while the character animosities are trivial, the movie is stylish and wire-drawn. Apparently a big hit with Quentin Tarantino, who used a film-clip in his "Jackie Brown" (and adopted this picture's violent, jokey tone as well). Good show: *** from ****

I saw this when it came out in 74, I was 19, an appropriate age to best appreciate car chase movies. Also believe I saw it at a drive-in, best place for these flicks. It was a bit strange seeing Peter Fonda, going from the ultimate counter-culture drug hippie in "Easy Rider" to playing a NASCAR driver gone a bit bad, more of a working class hero. Fonda is likeable in the role, Adam Rourke is sympathetic as his mechanic and Susan George plays an obnoxious tramp pretty well. Plus nobody could play a rotten and evil cop as well as Vic Morrow did in this and few other movies. It's fun to catch every few years. And a good lesson at the end-always pay attention to railroad crossings!

In Director John Hough's DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY, Larry (Peter Fonda) and Deke (Adam Roarke), along with Larry's latest fling, Mary (Susan George), are on the run after robbing a grocery store.

That's pretty much it. So, if you're looking for a character-driven drama with thought-provoking dialogue, then you'd better watch the latest Oscar contenders. However, if you love chase scenes featuring souped-up vehicles, including a glorious day-glow green 440 Charger and a bada$$ police cruiser, then nirvana awaits you!

This movie is basically a skeletal story to hang incredible car chases on, and boy does it deliver! Fonda is in his element, cackling his way through each barricade, and jumping over things at impossible speeds! In the annals of such films, this ranks up there with VANISHING POINT!

EXTRA POINTS: For Ms. George's choice of wardrobe, especially the top! Have mercy!...