Cadillac Movies
Cecelia Seiner
This is a profession more colorful in the movies than in life, I suspect, and Eastwood milks it for what it's worth, hiding behind a variety of disguises to trick his quarry. He runs a phony radio prize game, pretends to be a cop and a rodeo clown, and pretends to be a doorman at a Reno casino. This silliness might work in a movie like "Every Which Way But Loose," but "Pink Cadillac" has a disturbing subplot about a secret army of white racists - and so the comedy seems out of place.
In the film, Eastwood finds himself on the trail of a runaway mother (Bernadette Peters), whose lame-brained husband has been recruited by the white supremists. She steals his 1959 Cadillac convertible for her getaway, little realizing that the right-wingers have hidden a quarter of a million dollars in bills under the convertible top. The woman is out on bail, and Eastwood is assigned to find her. But by the time he does, she's got the whole secret army on her tail. And, of course, Eastwood and Peters fall in love.
This plot is sort of a cross between "Midnight Run," with Robert De Niro as a bondsman becoming the friend of his quarry, and "Betrayed," with Debra Winger as an undercover agent who falls in love with a white supremist. There's little that's new in the material, and nobody seems to have asked whether the emotional charge of blatant racism belongs in a lightweight story like this - even if the racists are the villains.
There's another problem, and that's the idiotic behavior of most of the characters in the film. How can we take a thriller scene seriously when the characters don't? Observe, for example, a crucial moment when Eastwood gets the drop on the leader of the right-wing army and puts him and Peters in a car. "I'll drop you off a mile from the camp," he says - guaranteeing their getaway. But then what does he do? Drops the right-winger, off about 25 yards down the road, putting Eastwood back in danger.
Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on that scene. It's one of the few unpredictable moments in the movie. The whole progression of the romance between the skip tracer and the woman has been seen many times before, and Eastwood and Peters do not seem to feel, or express, a convincing bond. Indeed, the whole life of the Peters character is so artificial that it would be amazing if we did feel chemistry: This isn't a real woman, so how can she have real feelings? What really bothered me, though, was that white supremist army. I can imagine, and have seen, serious movies about outlaw racism in America. But to use a racist army as material for the villains in a light little action-comedy seems inappropriate.
When the racist leader's dialogue ran down the usual litany of racist slurs, I felt uncomfortable; in the times we live in, the offensiveness of such words should be observed, and they should not be used thoughtlessly.
This topic covers all versions of the Batmobile, including the George Barris Lincoln Futura for the 1960s tv series and more recent original designs for the Batman and DC movies. Please be sure to specify which model interests you most.
In the 1943 serial film Batman, a black 1939 Cadillac Series 75 convertible was used by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, as well as their secret identities Batman and Robin. (It was driven with the top down as Bruce and Dick, and with the top up when they were in disguise.) Alfred chauffeured the Dynamic Duo in both identities.
Well that's because a lot of the shops and landscapes they use are based on ACTUAL places along Route 66. Some of them are so inconspicuous you may not have picked up on there. However, a few are pretty easily recognized. Let's take a look at a few of them.
This is where the tourist cars in the movie would go to rest their engines at night. They were shaped like cones, Indian teepees if you will. Those are real! There is a place in Holbrook, Arizona right there on Route 66 called the Wigwam Motel that features those exact type of rooms and a big neon sign, just like in the movies. Check out the scene below.
You remember Ramone right? He owned the auto body shop there in Radiator Springs and did a lot of painting of cars. Well, there's a tower that announces his place in green neon. That tower was based off of the old U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas. Elvis Presley and other big stars would stay at this hotel on their travels. It ended up as an abandoned building, but it's been restored since then. It's now a big gift shop and even features stuff from the Cars movies inside. You should be able to get a look below.
This is one of the main places in Cars, right on the edge of Radiator Springs. If you look at it, you'll notice there are some leaning peaks in it. They bear a striking resemblance to Cadillac Ranch don't they? Well that's because those peaks were modeled after the leaning Cadillacs!! I mean, with the name Cadillac Range, it just makes sense right? Check it out below.
- 1949 Series 62 convertible. This first one was sent in by movie buff, James R. King, in June 2002; he says: A movie which should be on your list is 711 Ocean Drive starring Edmond O'Brien and Joanne Dru. Edmond O'Brien character gets a new '49 Cad and in one scene he pins a guy against a fence with it and the fence breaks and the guy falls off a pier and drowns. The scene was reproduced in the notorious French book, Sadism in the Movies. Later, he escapes in the car and is chased by the police to Hoover Dam and there are lots of shots of the car speeding along, etc. I recall that the car is a Coupe de Ville but I have a tape of the movie so I'll have to check to be sure. Thanks, James.
Other trivia: James mentions another book by John O'Hara called Appointment in Samarra. It was never made into a movie, but the main character is the president of a Cadillac dealership. He commits suicide by sitting in his Cadillac in a closed garage with the motor running - probably the reason it's never been filmed. Here are some 'Cadillac' excerpts from that book:
Harry Reilly now practically owned the Gibbsville-Cadillac Motor Car Company, of which Julian was president.
Listen to you? Why, Mrs. English, one of the most attractive features of the Cadillac is the minimum of noise in the motor.
He had bought a Cadillac, from Julian, instead of a Lincoln from the Ford dealer, who was a Catholic.
'What?' I said.'Why the Cadillac is named after a Catholic,' I said 'Old Duke Cadillac, he was a Catholic.'
The idea of them was a mechanic could ride the motorcycle to, say, the Davis' garage, hook some kind of gadget on the Davis' Cadillac, and drive the car, with the motorcycle trailing along behind, back to the Gibbsville-Cadillac Motor Car Company for servicing or repairs. That was another idea that was going to make a saving, but the saving, Julian was
sure, had failed to make a showing on the books.
The result is, any time one of his bootlegger friends is on the market for a high-priced automobile, Ed sees to it that we make the sale. You don't see Ludendorf selling Packards to any of Ed Charney's pals.
- An Australian surfing movie released in the early nineties, features a group of surfers
cruising the north coast of N.S.W. in a bright red convertible with a white soft top [tip
from Aussie enthusiast, Alan Macoustra]
Movie and Cadillac enthusiasts Brad Faul of Burlington, NJ writes: Hello, I really enjoyed looking at your Cadillac movie page. I went through some of my movies, and grabbed stills of the Cadillacs that haven't been put on the page yet. This first one is for the 1984 action movie starring Vincent Spano and Michael Winslow, "Alphabet City." I have to send the picture separate, as my email will not let me grab folders. I also will send you Cadillacs from the movie Kingpin and Dazed and Confused. If you liked these submissions, let me know. I have several other movies with great Cadillac footage that I'd be more than happy to send to you. Thank you for your time! In "Alphabet City," The Seville is being driven by the Mafia guys that come to kill "Johnny Chunga," the main star. The limo was going to take his sister away to be a prostituted, so he beats up the driver and saves her (he slams his leg in the door, ouch!)
- It revolves around a 1957-58 Eldorado Convertible and 2 teenage girls visiting Southern California. At the end of the first movie, the cousin returns home in a 1959 Series 62 convertible. He dies accidentally in the opening scenes of the sequel. The hearse used at the funeral is also a 1959 Cadillac model
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