Director: Charles Bail
Written by: Charles Bail, Leon Capetanos
Cast: Michael Sarrazin, Norman Burton, Gary Busey, Raul Julia

Year / Country: 1976, USA
Running Time: 102 mins.

In the seventies, the classic ‘Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash Run’ took place. One long run from New York to Los Angeles, organized by Brock Yates who later wrote a movie script about it. This became The Cannonball Run, a 1981 comedy starring Burt Reynolds. Two films about this race preceded it; Cannonball! and The Gumball Rally, both released in 1976.

This movie is the best of the three. It beats The Cannonball Run because it lacks the corny jokes. It is actually pretty funny at times and features some great characters. Most memorable are Gary Busey as a crazy mechanic and Raul Julia as the overly romantic Italian driver Franco. There are female drivers as well. One of them is a young Susan Flannery AKA Stephanie Forrester from The Bold and the Beautiful. Yes, really!

Besides the effective use of humor, the driving action beats that of Cannonball!, because you get an actual sense of high speed. Especially during a spectacular sequence in New York, where the race begins and in which the contestants drive through the city with at least 100 miles per hour. All the drivers use amazing cars, including a Cobra, Ferrari, Porsche, Dodge, Rolls, Mercedes, Bentley and Camaro. One guy, Lapchick the Mad Hungarian, even drives a Kawasaki bike. An awesome sight for racing fans as this movie is to the fans of this movie genre.

Rating:

Biography: Charles Bail AKA Chuck Bail (1935 – 2020) has an impressive show business career that spanned from the fifties up until the nineties. He basically did everything from performing to directing and being a stunt coordinator. He started his career as stuntman and guest star on many famous western shows. After that, he directed episodes for famous television series such as Knight Rider and Dragnet. He also directed several films, such as the blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. Bail is currently retired and lives in Texas.

Filmography: Black Samson (1974, short), Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975), The Gumball Rally (1976), CHiPs (1981-83, TV episodes), Manimal (1983, TV episodes), Knight Rider (1985/86, TV episodes), Choke Canyon (1986), Dragnet (1989-91, TV episodes), Adam 12 (1990/91, TV episodes), Baywatch Nights (995/96, TV episodes), Street Corner justice (1996)