Art film and road movie collide for "Vanishing Point", an existential car chase across the desert in a post "Easy Rider" America. Barry Newman stars as Kowalski, a taciturn driver who bets that he can drive a new Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. He loads up on amphetamines and begins his odyssey through the contemporary west while a funky black DJ (Cleavon Little) turns the driver into a folk hero and broadcasts advice on dodging the cops. It's like a counterculture precursor to "Smokey and the Bandit", with the road as the last bastion of freedom and the DJ as a combination commentator and mystical guide. The slim plot offers a network of society drop-outs that aid the "last free Man on Earth" (as the DJ describes him) on his obscure but obviously symbolic quest while flashbacks paint Kowalski as a world-weary hero. It doesn't really make much sense, but the amazing car chases and excellent stunt work are stunningly set against the American west, beautifully captured by cinematographer John A. Alonzo. "Vanishing Point" is most assuredly a product of its time, the heady, anything-goes era of rebellion in the early 1970s.
Barry Newman | Kowalski |
Cleavon Little | Super Soul |
Dean Jagger | Prospector |
Victoria Medlin | Vera |
Paul Koslo | Young Cop |
Robert Donner | Older Cop (as Bob Donner) |
John A. Alonzo | Cinematographer |
Stefan Arnsten | Editor |
Timothy Scott | Angel |
Gilda Texter | Nude Rider |
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 |
Delaney Bramlett | J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends) |
Lee Weaver | Jake |
Bonnie Bramlett | J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends) |
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) |
Charlotte Rampling | Hitchhiker |
Bruce Rhodewalt | CHP Communications Officer (uncredited) |
Meg Wyllie | Police Dispatcher (uncredited) |