Human Highway (1982) on Netflix
Otto Quartz inherits a failing diner and gas station beside a leaking nuclear plant. Money is short, so he must let one employee go. His mechanic, Lionel Switch, dreams of rock stardom.
- Watch on NetflixThis title is not on Netflix right now. Please check back later for updates.
- Watch on NordVPN
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb5.8/10921 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Otto Quartz inherits a failing gas station and diner from his father and finds there is not enough money to keep all the staff. He tells them one of them must go, and picks the waitress Kathryn, who throws a tantrum and weeps in a booth below a picture of the old man. Irene, another waitress, overhears Otto's plan to destroy the buildings and collect the insurance, and asks to be cut in. Lionel Switch, the garage mechanic, wants to be a rock star and is sweet on Charlotte Goodnight, a waitress who prefers Earl Duke, the milkman. When a limousine pulls up, Lionel learns his idol, the singer Frankie Fontaine, is inside, and insists the car needs work.
Cast
Show all 14 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Human Highway (1982)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While playing the addled cook, Dennis Hopper was doing knife tricks with a real knife on set; when Sally Kirkland tried to take it from him she severed a tendon, spent time in hospital, and sued him, claiming he was out of control. Hopper admitted to drug abuse during that period.
- Neil Young financed the film himself, spending $3 million of his own money over four years of production.
- Mark Mothersbaugh, as Devo's Booji Boy, slipped the line "rust never sleeps" into the "Hey Hey, My My" footage shot with Neil Young at Different Fur in San Francisco, and the line inspired Young's works of the same name.
- The film's score was the first by Mark Mothersbaugh, later known for Rushmore and The Lego Movie; in the cast he also plays Booji Boy and one of Devo's nuclear garbage men.
