Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) on Netflix
The Driver and the Mechanic race local drivers for money in a primer-gray 1955 Chevrolet. They take in the Girl, a hitchhiker, and meet GTO, who proposes a cross-country race.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.2/1014,595 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Driver and the Mechanic live on the road in a modified 1955 Chevrolet, driving through the Southwest and earning money by taking on local drivers in spontaneous races. They are devoted to the car and speak to each other only when needed. Heading east on Route 66, they pick up the Girl, whom they first see at a Flagstaff diner. In New Mexico they cross paths with GTO, another driver, and the two groups form a tense rivalry. GTO knows little about cars, yet a race to Washington, D.C. is suggested, with the loser's car as the stake.
Cast
- Bill Kelleras Texas Hitchhiker
- David Drakeas Needles Station Attendant
- Richard Ruthas Needles Station Mechanic
Show all 20 cast
- Don Samuelsas Texas Policeman #1
- Charles Mooreas Texas Policeman #2
- W.H. Harrisonas Parts Store Owner
- Illa Ginnavenas Waitress in Roadhouse
- A.J. Solarias Tennessee Hitchhiker
- Melissa Hellmanas Little Girl with Old Woman Picked Up by G.T.O.
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Esquire put it on its April 1971 cover as its nomination for movie of the year without explanation or review, then listed its own prediction among that year's Dubious Achievements.
- Despite heavy advance buzz, studio head Lew Wasserman watched the finished film, hated it, and refused to promote it, so it opened in New York on the Fourth of July weekend without a single newspaper ad.
- Director Hellman deliberately kept his three inexperienced lead actors from reading the full script in advance, handing them only the pages for each scene on the day it was shot.
- In 1994, Seattle's Scarecrow Video invited Hellman to show the film at their store, then collected 2,000 signatures, including Werner Herzog's, for a petition to get the long-unavailable film released on video.
- Director Hellman cut the film himself, and his first assembly of it ran three and a half hours long.
