The Gumball Rally (1976) on Netflix
Michael Bannon, a wealthy candymaker, issues the code word Gumball to fellow enthusiasts. They meet in a New York garage for a cross-country race. Lieutenant Roscoe wants to stop them.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.2/104,963 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes33%
Trailer
Plot summary
The code word Gumball comes from Michael Bannon, a wealthy candymaker who is bored. Fellow automobile enthusiasts answer it and meet in a New York garage to set out on a secret race across the country in the shortest possible time. There are no rules and one winner takes everything. The teams drive a Ferrari Daytona, a Porsche 911, a Chevrolet Camaro, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, a Kawasaki motorcycle and a Dodge police car. Lieutenant Roscoe of the Los Angeles Police Department has spent years trying to arrest Bannon and his group, and he flies in to stop the race before it begins.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Gumball Rally (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash run by Brock Yates, which also inspired Cannonball (1976), Cannonball Run (1981) and Speed Zone (1989), as well as an actual event, the American Gumball Rally and Gumball 3000 international race.
- The original plan of using tow rigs for the driving proved untenable because of the attention it garnered, so the actors were given basic training to perform some of the driving themselves.
- The film contains the first moving car into moving tractor-trailer stunt, a move that later became a trademark of Knight Rider, alongside the standard gag of workers carrying a large glass window only to have it shattered by a speeding vehicle.
