L'ultima corsa

I was the Production Accountant on this movie, and I also got to do some voice-over work on it, so I'm not entirely unbiased, but if it were awful, I would say so. I thought it was a fun film, not a critically acclaimed masterpiece, by any means, but there were plenty of laughs along the way. The Bible states that laughter does good like a medicine, so watching this movie could be good for your health.

So many of the actors in this picture hadn't yet reached their peak at the time we made this film. Susan Sarandon, of course, is one who has since gone on to much greater fame. Melanie Mayron was seen on TV on a weekly basis as a photographer in the "Thirty-Something" TV drama series. Robert Englund later became known as Freddie Krueger, still haunting people's dreams. One of my personal favorite actors on this show was Dub Taylor, who played the sheriff. He was an excellent comedic actor, and a truly nice, sincere person. We all had fun working on this show, and I think that fun comes through.

Henry Fonda plays Elegant John, an old trucker who steals back his prized rig in California and takes off with almost no money. His Kenworth tractor has the name Eleanor on it. Elegant John once met Eleanor Roosevelt. He pulls a Fruehauf van with a "sunroof". Why is he called Elegant John? Well, sonny, if you drive five million miles without being late or having a wreck, you deserve to be called Elegant. Elegant John picks up Bible-thumping hitchhiker Beebo Crozier, who is going to Florida to learn motel management. Elegant John stops and gets fuel. Beebo reluctantly pays for fuel. The two stop at a whorehouse for truckers at Cheyenne, Wyoming, a possible homage to Fonda's movie The Cheyenne Social Club. The prostitutes are about to be raided, and the madam hires Elegant John to take them to the coast of South Carolina to start another prostitution business. Thus Elegant John's trip will be coast to coast. They go through Kansas and have a commotion near Springfield, Missouri, with Dub Taylor's character Harley Davidson. After that, there's a truck stop dancing scene to the music of Orleans' "Still the One", which is pop rock in a country sort of way. The movie claims that it's a compliment for a truck driver to be called a cowboy, but I've seen where an out-of-place, amateur, careless truck driver is called a cowboy or a cotton picker. There's a great Smokey roadblock in Georgia to stop them. Will Elegant John's Kenworth plow through a bunch of old Mopars? Will Elegant John live to see the Atlantic Ocean? And what is Beebo going to do with his life, now that it has taken an unexpected turn? This movie is just a hodgepodge of elements thrown together for drive-in fare.

It has to be said that this is a pretty terrible film. Nevertheless I watched it again recently and quite enjoyed it so I feel I ought to say something positive. First of all you would think that a film with a cast which includes Henry Fonda, Eileen Brennan, Dub Taylor and Susan Sarandon should have something going for it. The tone of the overall film is of a rather cartoonish comedy but the early scenes hint at something more substantial. Henry Fonda as Elegant John is ill and probably dying and the cross country drive he undertakes is his way of defying death. Yet this theme is never explored any further. Elegant John's reminiscences about meeting Eleanor Roosevelt in the Depression era clearly evoke Henry Fonda's role in John Ford's film "The Grapes of Wrath". Indeed when Elegant John picks up Beebo this exactly parallels the opening scene of "The Grapes of Wrath" when Tom Joad hitches a lift. None of this is played out in the rest of the film The women from the whorehouse are endearing and funny and if the film had stuck to playing out their adventures it might have been much more rewarding. But half way through the film something goes horribly wrong. Perhaps the filmmakers lost their nerve, ran short of funds or had the film cut to ribbons in editing but the latter part of the film bears no relation to what has gone before. The women virtually disappear without explanation. The irritating John Byner and Austin Pendleton characters appear and take over. This whole element of the film feels like a reshoot or reedit grafted on to the earlier picture. Pity. There is also, incidentally, a really excellent score by Craig Safan which deserved far better.

The story line is dull at the beginning. Yet it evolves wonderfully. The characters are wonderful. Robert Englund, Susan Sarandon and Henry Fonda are great together. The story takes place in a simpler time with simpler people. The scenery in the movie is gorgeous. Takes place over the road. You get to see many different places. There's funny parts that will make you laugh out loud and sad parts that may make you cry. It's a really peaceful movie. Although the ending is terrible as it leaves the story open and ends the story swiftly and tragically. The watcher is left to wonder what exactly happened to the characters.

"The Last of the Cowboys" (also known as "The Great Smokey Roadblock") is a film made in the final years of a great actor, Henry Fonda. While Fonda made some terrific movies during this time, the quality of the productions varied widely...from "On Golden Pond" and "Gideon's Trumpet" to crap like "Meteor" and "The Swarm". Sadly, "The Last of the Cowboys" is closer in quality to the latter two films.

John Howard (Fonda) is a sick man, as he's been diagnosed with cancer. However, instead of getting treatment, he leaves the hospital in order to 'steal' his 18 wheeler, as when he got sick the bank repossessed it. Now with his truck, he's out to make one final run. Along the way, he picks up a religious drifter (Robert Englund...definitely playing against type) and a group of prostitutes...and he's out to get them to Kansas City or get caught by the police trying.

This is a VERY meandering film and the plot is strange, as it's hard to tell whether they wanted it to be a lighter story or a compelling one about death. According to IMDB, some post-production tinkering de-emphasized the death and dying aspect of the tale to try to improve the marketability of the movie...and to capitalize on the success of films like "Smokey and the Bandit" (hence the name change for this film).

So is it any good? Well, it has a strike against it because it promotes the 'hooker with a heart of gold' cliche. The realities for such women sure are different than in this movie! And as for the story, it's sad to see Fonda in it as he's fine playing the old, dying man but the goofy avoiding the police aspect of the story didn't work so well with him in the lead.