Review for Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

‘Dirty Mary Crazy Larry’ may be ostensibly a car chase movie but’s a damn good one, despite some obvious flaw. Apart from anything else is just looks so damn good with early seventies US motors being driven at high speed by an ultra-hip, sunglasses wearing, gum chewing Peter Fonda with the gorgeous looking Susan George (hot on the heels of her stand-out performance in ‘Straw Dogs’) sitting next to him in a denim bikini top and jeans. What’s not to like? (Well, arguably Susan George’s accent which does for the US accent what Dick Van Dyke did for an English accent in ‘Mary Poppins’ but let’s not spoil things by focusing too much on that!).


Released in 1974 and based on the 1963 Richard Unekis novel titled The Chase (later renamed Pursuit) and directed by John Hough, it’s the story o ftwo NASCAR hopefuls, driver Larry Rayder (Peter Fonda) and his mechanic Deke Sommers (Adam Roarke).


Needing some serious cash to get back in action the film opens with them extorting $150,000 in cash from a supermarket manager whilst they hold his family against their will (which created a problem for me because it made me not really like them much for the rest of the film as a result).


When they start their escape they’re joined by an unexpected passenger, Larry’s one night local pick-up, Mary Coombs (Susan George). So instead of the planned two (driver and navigator) all three head off into the sunset in their ultra-cool 1966 Chevvie Impala. Nice!


Before long the very jaded local Sherriff Captain Franklin (Vic Morrow) is hot on their trail and before long the chase becomes personal . Despite a giant fleet of patrol cars and road blocks on all major exits, nothing seems to be able to stop the perpetrators on their trail to cross the state line to Mexico.


What follows is plenty of breath-taking, high octane car chase action, some almost unbelievably awesome, well before CGI meant you could cheat a bit. Without spoiling things too much, the scene with the helicopter is an absolute jaw-dropper.
Whilst it’s influence must have been felt by lighter films like ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ and TV shows like ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, ‘Dirty Mary Crazy Larry’ does have a slightly darker underbelly. The trio all have problems of their own which they are trying to forget and there are moments of poignant reflection on the way, albeit sprinkled fairly sparingly through the car chases. The film’s end was both a shock and surprise but I certainly don’t want to spoil that here.


It’s an impressive movie that clearly had a big budget and the aerial shots are spectacular. Be warned, a lot of cars were hurt in the making of this movie. David Soul was originally penned for the lead role but it was felt that, as an unknown at the time, it was too big a budget to risk. It’s easy to imagine him the role though and I’m sure he’d have done an excellent job.


I received a DVD-R as a screener that didn't really work very well or have any menus though I’m assuming that the quality (see the grabs) was representative of the finished release. It’s a so-so transfer, a little heavy on grain, though perfectly acceptable if unremarkable. As far as I could tell there are no extras.

If you love cars and 70’s car chases then this is an essential addition to your collection. I’d give this a spin over any of the ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ franchise any day of the week.