BlackWolf2007

Gone in 60 Seconds was classified as an independent film - H.B. Halicki wrote, starred, directed, produced and even did his own stuntwork in the film, which, at the time, was phenomenal. In a contemporary context, however, the portions of the film preceding the chase sequences are seen as typical of a badly acted - and poorly received - 70s movie. The reason for this view is that Halicki employed family and friends (instead of professional actors) to play parts in his movie to keep the budget low. Therefore, the acting is somewhat substandard when compared to other films of the time. The characters depicted as being members of the emergency services were actual police officers, firemen, or paramedics. The then-mayor of Carson, California, Sak Yamamoto, also appeared as himself.

H.B. Halicki in the warehouse with the two 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousines.


All of the police cars damaged in the film, as well as the garbage truck that overturns, were bought at city auction by director H.B. Halicki in 1972, for an average price of $200 each. They sat in an empty lot for over a year until production on the movie began in 1973. The fire trucks seen on the Vincent Thomas Bridge during the main chase were real Long Beach FD units on their way to an emergency call. The "crash" staged for the film was blocking both lanes and they could not get past until the cars were cleared. Director Halicki asked the camera crew to film them in case there was somewhere to fit the shot into the movie. There was.
There was no official script for the movie, apart from several pages outlining main dialog sequences. Much of the action/dialog was improvised and made up by the cast and crew as they went along. This caused many problems for the editor, Warner E. Leighton, who never knew what footage was being dumped on him or where in the movie it belonged. In the DVD audio commentary, he described the script for the construction site portion of the main pursuit as a piece of cardboard with a circle on it. Director Halicki pointed at it and said, "That's the dust bowl. We went around it twice. There's your script."
Nearly every civilian vehicle seen in close proximity to the main chase (especially in downtown Long Beach) was owned by director H.B. Halicki. This resulted in several of them being seen multiple times throughout the 40-minute sequence. The second "Eleanor" (that Maindrian steals from the car wash) and the white Ford that he and Stanley spend much of their time in are visible parked in one street that Maindrian turns into before hitting the boat in Long Beach. The white Ford also shows up in many other shots.
When Maindrian is first telling Atlee about the new contract, a message on the blackboard behind them is visible saying, "Sgt. Hawkins called about Vacek case" - a reference to director of photography Jack Vacek.
The scene where the Mustang tags a car on the highway and spins into a telephone pole at 100mph was a real accident. Star/director H.B. Halicki was badly hurt and filming was stopped while he recovered. According to people on the set, after the mishap the first thing that Halicki said when he regained consciousness was "Did we get coverage?". The scene was left in.
Director/star H.B. Halicki compacted ten vertebrae performing the "big jump" in the Mustang at the end of the movie, which reached 30 feet high and cleared 128 feet. Fortunately the injury was not very serious, although according to director of photography Jack Vacek, Halicki never walked the same again.
With the exception of a few extras, the bulk of the by-standers/public in the movie are real people just going about their business who had no idea that a film was being made. This caused several incidents where people assumed a real police pursuit was in progress, with many trying to help the accident "victims". In the scene at the Carson Street off-ramp where the two cars collide after Maindrian drives against traffic, a pedestrian can be seen in the background shouting angrily at the passing police cars for not stopping to help the occupants.
93 cars are crashed in this 97 minute movie.
The license plate of the Rolls-Royce outside the airport reads "HBH", the initials of the film's star/director/writer, H.B. Halicki.
The scene in which a train derailment is observed in the film was not part of the original shooting script but it is in fact a real train that derailed and when the director heard about this he wanted to incorporate it into the film.
The 2001 video release features an all new musical score and all new sound effects. In the original video release, the sound effects made by the cars (engines, tires, crashes, etc.) is authentic.
Ronald Halicki, the director's real-life brother and Corlis Pace in the film, operated the crane that lifted "Jill", the red Challenger, to its fate in the car-crusher at the junkyard.
The workshop scenes at Chase Research were filmed at director H.B. Halicki's real-life workshop, and occasionally filming would stop for several days so he could repair cars to earn money and continue production.
'J.C. Agajanian Jr.' , who plays a detective in the roadblock sequence at Torrance Mazda Agency, was almost killed when a stunt with "Eleanor" went wrong and the Mustang slammed into his unmarked police car, which he was standing behind. The scene was left in the film.
The car that flips during the earlier night-time chase in Torrance was actually overturned by six men lifting it up from one side. The film was later skip-framed to create the desired effect.
The garbage truck that overturns when two police cars smash into the side of it was actually pulled over at the precise moment the cars hit by two tow trucks. Cables can be seen attached to the top of the garbage truck as it topples.
Much of the crowd at the gas station where Harold Smith is pulled over after the night-time Torrance chase were part of a real biker gang, who verbally abused the police officers "arresting" the actor and demanding they leave him alone. Being an independent production, the film used real civilians who happened to be wherever they were filming. It was the police officers' bad luck that at the gas station there was a real biker gang filling up.
In one scene at the construction area where the Mustang has been surrounded, a patrol car roars up a hill in pursuit and overturns. This was a real accident, and the officer inside was nearly crushed when the siren "can" on the roof caved the roof in. The scene was left in.
To achieve the effect of cars sliding into each other when hit by the patrol car at Moran Cadillac, the filmmakers put oil under the tires of the first few cars to help them slide. When it came time to do the stunt, it worked too well and many of the agency's own Cadillacs that were for sale were badly damaged. Director H.B. Halicki had to purchase all of them.
1-Baker-11 is a 1970 Mercury Montego.
Parnelli Jones still owns his Big Oly Ford Bronco, and often brings it out to car shows.
When Pumpkin tells Maindrian that they have to give Eleanor back because the car is not insured, Maindrian reads the owner's address from a newspaper - 18511 Mariposa, Gardena. This was in fact director/star H.B. Halicki's own real home address at the time.
The warhouse actually had sections for the cars and was located at the docks.
The six original songs by Philip Kachaturian featured in pre-1999 releases of the film (but since removed in the remastering process) are: "Gone in 60 Seconds" "Lois Lane Blues" "I Do Hope the Man Doesn't Catch Me" "Big Town, Big City" "Charriot Ride" "Low Rider"

On August 20, 1989, Toby began to shoot Gone In 60 Seconds 2 in which both he and Denice would be the stars, in Buffalo, New York. Toby was preparing for the most dramatic stunt sequence in the film when a 160 foot-tall water tower suddenly toppled. A cable attached to the tower snapped, whipped around, and sheared off a telephone pole, which fell on him.

gt/cs08

I have the documentry and movie dvd, AWESOME !! H.B. Halicki was a visonary, he passed away wayyyyy too young.