The Cannonball Run

The Cannonball Run is a 1981 comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise and Farrah Fawcett, and was directed by Hal Needham. It was produced by Hong Kong'sGolden Harvest films and was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

One of 1981's most successful films at the box office, it was followed by Cannonball Run II (1984), and Speed Zone! (1989). This and the 1984 sequel were the final film appearances of actorDean Martin.

Plot 

Race teams have gathered in Connecticut to start a cross-country car race. One at a time, teams drive up to the starters' stand, punch a time card to indicate their time of departure, then take off.

Among the teams are:

• JJ McClure (Reynolds) and Victor Prinzim (DeLuise) drive a souped-up, but otherwise authentic, Dodge Tradesman ambulance. (The same vehicle Hal Needham and Brock Yates used in the actual 1979 race.)
• Former open-wheel icon (and Scotch-swilling) Jamie Blake (Dean Martin) and his (gambling-obsessed) teammate Morris Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis, Jr.), dressed as Catholic priests, drive a red Ferrari 308 GTS. (Based on an entry in the real 1972 race, in which three men disguised as priests ("The Flying Fathers") drove a Mercedes 280 SEL sedan, which they claimed to be "the Monsignor's car" belonging to an ecumenical council of prelates in California.)
• Jill Rivers (Tara Buckman) and Marcie Thatcher (Adrienne Barbeau), two attractive women who use their looks to their advantage, start the race in a black Lamborghini Countach.
• Jackie Chan and Michael Hui race in a high-tech, computer-laden Subaru GL Hatchback with a rocket-powered engine.
• A pair of good ol' boys, played by Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis, drive a street-legal replica of Donnie Allison's Hawaiian Tropic-sponsored NASCAR Winston Cup Chevrolet stock carowned by Hoss Ellington. (It starts off as '75-76 Laguna. After they paint it, it becomes a '76-77 Monte Carlo.)
• Roger Moore plays "heir to the Goldfarb Girdles fortune" Seymour Goldfarb, Jr., who perpetually identifies himself as actor Roger Moore and signs into the race under that name. His character behaves similarly to James Bond and only once (by his mother) is referred to by his real name. He drives a silver Aston Martin DB5.
• Jamie Farr portrays an oil-rich Middle-Eastern Sheikh driving a white Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

At the starting line, observing from the shadows, is Mr. Arthur J. Foyt (a play on the name of racer A. J. Foyt), a representative of the "Safety Enforcement Unit," who tries to stop the race because of its environmental effects and safety issues. In the car with him is a photographer and tree lover, Pamela Glover.

Beyond the starting line, JJ and Victor (driving their ambulance) come across Foyt and Glover, who have been involved in a minor fender-bender. Glover implores JJ and Victor to help, but when they tell Foyt to enter the ambulance through the back door, they kidnap Glover and take off without Foyt.

As the race progresses, Victor occasionally turns into his alter ego, superhero "Captain Chaos." The very spooky Dr. Van Helsing (Jack Elam) and his huge hypodermic needle are also in the ambulance to "help" keep Glover quiet during the race.

Various teams are shown either evading law enforcement, most of which deal with talking their way out of a possible ticket, or concocting crazy schemes to outmaneuver their opponents.

• Jill and Marcie use sex appeal as their weapon, unzipping their race suits to display copious amounts of cleavage during traffic stops. (However, this fails to work on a busty female traffic officer played in a cameo appearance by actress Valerie Perrine.)
• In New Jersey, the ambulance is pulled over by state troopers; Dr. Van Helsing drugs Glover, and JJ and Victor are able to convince the troopers that they're rushing "the Senator's wife" to UCLA for medical treatment (offering the theory that her condition prevents them from flying, or from even driving through Denver).
• The Subaru team is able to turn off their car's headlights and use infrared sensors for racing at night.
• Seymour Goldfarb is frequently shown evading police by using various James Bond-type gadgets (such as oil slicks, smoke screens, switchable number plates) installed in his Aston Martin DB5.
• Mr. Compton (Bert Convy) and "Super Chief" Finch (Warren Berlinger) disguise themselves as a newlywed couple on a motorbike, but Finch's extra weight forces the two to ride cross-country in a permanent wheelie.

The primary rivalry is between the ambulance and the Ferrari. In Ohio, Fenderbaum and Blake are able to convince Victor to pull over the ambulance in order to bless the patient on board. While Blake carries out the blessing, Fenderbaum punctures one of the ambulance's rear tires with a knife. JJ gets his revenge in Missouri by convincing a nearby police officer that the two men dressed as priests are actually sex perverts who are responsible for the flashingvictim in the ambulance.

The leading teams find themselves stopped on a desert highway, waiting for construction workers to clear the road. A biker gang (led by Peter Fonda) shows up and begins harassing Compton and Finch. It quickly gets out of hand and a free-for-all fistfight ensues. "Captain Chaos" emerges again to fight the bikers. Naturally, the Subaru team also joins in (Jackie Chan puts his martial arts skills to work) and fists and kicks fly. The construction crew announces that the road is open, so teams sprint back to their cars for the race to the finish.

The ambulance falls behind the pack until Victor once again becomes Captain Chaos. The vehicles all arrive at the final destination at the same time, so it's a foot race to the finish line. JJ hands his team's time card to Victor, then ambushes the remaining racers, leaving only Victor and one of the Lamborghini women, Marcie.

Just when it appears Victor will reach the time clock first, a spectator shouts that her "baby" has fallen into the water. Victor, still in his Captain Chaos persona, rushes to save the baby (later revealed to be her dog). allowing Marcie to clock in first and win the race.

JJ is furious and never wants to see Captain Chaos again, but Victor replies that he doesn't care because he really wants to be Captain USA. Foyt reappears and blames everyone for ruining the American highway. Seymour offers a cigar and tells Foyt to use the lighter in his car (which has an ejection seat when pushed). Nothing happens, but when Seymour presses the button himself, he goes flying into the water.

Cast 

Cannonball Run featured an all-star cast, including:

• Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise as racer J.J. McClure and his buddy, mechanic Victor Prinzim, a.k.a. "Captain Chaos."
• Roger Moore as Seymour Goldfarb, Jr., a self-parody of his role as James Bond. His car, an Aston Martin DB5, displays the UK registration plate 6633 PP, same as the one in the Bond films Goldfinger and Thunderball. (The original UK registration plate was BMT 216A before being sold to businessman Gavin Keyzar.) Molly Picon portrays his mother. Several women ride with Seymour, including model Lois Hamilton, billed as Lois Areno.
• Farrah Fawcett as tree-loving photographer Pamela Glover. J.J. calls her "Beauty."
• Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. as race car driver Jamie Blake and scam artist Morris Fenderbaum, disguised as Catholic priests. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder plays their bookie. (Snyder was Dean Martin's neighbor when they were growing up in Steubenville, Ohio.)
• George Furth as Arthur J. Foyt, who tries to have the race stopped.
• Jackie Chan as simply "Mitsubishi Driver #1" although he is introduced by the talk show host (Johnny Yune) as "Jackie Chan," the driver of the Japanese entry (despite Chan being Chinese). The entry is actually a Subaru GL (not a Mitsubishi) filled with gadgets. Michael Hui plays the Japanese engineer and navigator.
• Jamie Farr as Sheik Abdul ben Falafel, a wealthy Arab determined to win the race even if he has to buy it. Bianca Jagger makes a brief appearance as his sister. Farr's car is a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. This is the only character to appear in all three films in the Cannonball Run movie continuum.
• Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis are Mel and Terry, a couple of "good ol' boys" driving a thinly-disguised Chevrolet Malibu NASCAR stocker painted like Donnie Allison's NASCAR racer from 1979.
• Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman as Marcie Thatcher and Jill Rivers, satin-Spandex-clad "hotties" in a black Lamborghini Countach. The same Lamborghini was used in the movie's opening credits as it was being pursued by aNevada Highway Patrol car. Valerie Perrine has an uncredited cameo as a state trooper. (Their character names are not mentioned during the story, but appear in the end credits. Their names return in the sequel, though the parts were re-cast.)
• Peter Fonda has a cameo role referencing his character in The Wild Angels. The appearance of Fonda and his motorcycle gang during a halt in the race offered an excuse for Chan to demonstrate his martial arts skills during the fight sequence. Fonda's big, bald biker buddy is played by Robert Tessier.
• Bert Convy as wealthy but bored executive Bradford Compton, who planned to run the Cannonball by motorcycle with the help of an old friend, Shakey Finch (Warren Berlinger), once the world's greatest cross-country motorcyclist. The two planned to disguise themselves as newlyweds. His ally weighed heavily, forcing them into a wheelie for the entire race.
• Jack Elam as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing, same name as the famous vampire hunter. This Van Helsing is a proctologist and graduate of the University of Rangoon, and the Knoxville, Tennessee College of Faith Healing.
• Rick Aviles and Alfie Wise as Mad Dog and Batman, tow truck drivers who jump the train flatcar.
• John Fiedler as the desk clerk.
• Joe Klecko as the Polish driver in the van who gets pulled over by Mr. Foyt. (Klecko was a player in the National Football League.)
• Brock Yates, creator of the real-life Cannonball Run, plays the race organizer of who lays down the rules at the starting line.
• Director Hal Needham appears uncredited as the ambulance EMT.