A few years ago I picked up a book called Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters. On page 42 and 43 are the posters for Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and Vanishing point. Also on page 42 is a flyer for a 1975 (Drive-in I assume) double bill of with both films. The flyer / poster bears the slogan "3 1/2 hours of high performance action as two of the great chase films return ... together". Now I've seen both films  over the years (Vanishing Point more, because its the better movie), but ever since I picked up the book I have wanted to watch them back to back as a double bill. With cult movie magpie Quentin Tarantino referencing both films in his "Grindhouse" movie Death Proof it reminded me of this, love or hate QT he does have the effect of putting older movies back in the public consciousness. Anyway you have obviously figured out where this is leading, I did indeed enjoy 3 1/2 hours of high performance action ...

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry was first up and it’s a pretty simple film with a simple premise. Iconic actor Peter Fonda (The Trip, Easy Rider, Race with the Devil, The Cannonball Run) stars as Larry. Larry is a down on his luck NASCAR driver, who feels he never really has a chance of winning because he lacks the money for a top of the range car. Susan George who is best known for her role as Amy Sumner the wife of Dustin Hoffman's character in Sam Peckinpah's mighty Straw Dogs stars as Mary. Mary is one of those laid back sexually active swinging chicks / groupies looking for excitement and the men that can provide it. The film opens up with Larry leaving Mary in bed after a night of passion and joining his friend and ace mechanic Deke Sommers (Adam Roarke). Today is the day Larry and Deke pull a heist to rob a supermarket of all its cash and get out of town. Deke keeps the managers wife and child hostage in their house while Larry pays him (Roddy McDowall) a visit to collect the cash. On leaving the supermarket Larry finds Mary sat in the getaway car unhappy to have been screwed and left without a goodbye. He now has no choice but to take her along for the ride. Picking up Deke, the three of them flee the town and head for the state line however grizzled cop Everett Franklin (Vic Morrow) has no intention of letting them get out of his jurisdiction and will do everything in his power to stop their escape. And so ensues a game of cat and mouse that makes this one of the most drive time heavy movies of all time.

Of course a driving action movie from 1973 completely differs from the modern concept. There's no "Michael Bay" style CGI cars flying in the air as trucks jack-knife left right and centre .... while the road becomes a series of enormous explosions. In the likes of Dirty Mary Crazy Larry the majority of cars are just run off the road and are brought to a standstill in the dust. This is one of those films that's probably not as good as you remember, but it has a great nostalgia factor whether that be because you where old enough to have seen it on the big screen back in the day or like me saw it as originally as a kid back when the likes of Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball run and The Dukes of Hazard TV show where essential viewing. Sure it’s dated, but unlike films from the 80's it dated in that "Cool" way. I think that’s a lot to do with fashion and music, where 80's fashions still look ridiculous for the most part I would not blink if I saw a modern girl wearing Susan Georges bikini crop top warn jeans combo.

Realistically this is a movie about driving and muscle cars a lot of your enjoyment will hinge on a simple fact. Whether of not you think the 1969 Dodge Charger is a cool piece of machinery or not. I think it’s pretty cool and that's pretty much what I think of the movie, its not essential viewing unless you're really, really into seeing old school muscle cars on the big screen, but its pretty cool and the ending is a classic.