“In this town a speeding ticket is a death sentence,” is the lead-in to a 1970s movie that was filmed in the canyons of Ventura County, north of Los Angeles. The California Kid starred such stalwarts as Martin Sheen (Charlie’s smarter father), Vic Morrow and Nick Nolte.
Sporting one of the less celebrated chase scenes from Hollywood’s past, the movie pits Sheen in a ’34 Ford 3-window coupe against the sadistic town Sheriff (Morrow) in his late 1950’s full-sized Plymouth. Frankly, running either of these vintage cars at speed, through what is most likely Piru Canyon Road, is a frightening thought at the best of times.
Thank goodness for Hollywood effects, although you may question exactly what happened at the end to trigger the demise of the Sheriff. Its not entirely clear to me, but what the heck, its a good chase in some beautiful country that is probably a lot more developed these days.
Apparently, some of the production staff didn’t collect enough B-roll during the shooting of the film. According to IMDB.com, the hot rod’s engine seen in a close-up shot is not that of Sheen’s ’34 Ford, but is a masked-up shot of the engine from the American Graffiti ’32 Ford coupe.
Here, we’ve got both the chase scene and the first couple of minutes from the movie itself. Enjoy!
Chase Scene:
Movie Intro:
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