Vanishing Point

Kowalski works for a car delivery service. He takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Fransisco..

• Director:Richard C. Sarafian
• Genre:Action | Drama
• Runtime:106 minutes

Cast

Barry Newman : Kowalski
Cleavon Little : Super Soul
Dean Jagger : Prospector
Victoria Medlin : Vera Thornton
Paul Koslo : Charlie, Young Nevada Patrolman

Barry Newman plays a car delivery driver named Kowalski (Kowalski’s first name is never given in the movie — apparently, it’s a very peculiar name, as the only character who comes close to saying what it is cannot even begin to pronounce it as he’s reading it on a sheet of paper) who works for Argo’s Car Delivery Service in Denver, Colorado and is assigned to deliver a white 1970 Dodge Challenger to San Francisco. Flashbacks which appear throughout the movie hint that he has either lost everything he has ever wanted and was reduced to taking the job of a car delivery driver as a last resort, or he is (what is called today) an adrenaline junkie. He is a Vietnam veteran, a former law enforcement officer, former race car driver, and former motorcycle racer. He lost his job as a cop apparently after being framed in a drug bust, perhaps in retaliation for his preventing his partner from raping a young girl. He seemingly gave up his automobile and motorcycle racing careers after two near-fatal accidents. His girlfriend in the movie, is not actually his girlfriend, but someone he was supposed to arrest, but fell in love with. All this is revealed when Vera (the love of Kowalski) says “Wouldn’t it be funny after all if you did have to arrest me? I mean, me trying to turn you on, and you trying to turn me in?”. After that, she drowns while surfing in the winter. This is also in the script, when Kowalski says “You’re crazy surfing in the middle of winter.” and Vera replies with “I’m going out again. Maybe I’ll catch an 8-footer. I’ll ride it in your honor. Sayonara. Remember me.” Part of this movie was filmed in the small town of Rifle,Co. This scene was when he was crossing a white metal bridge and was stopped by the Utah State Police.

As the movie opens, Kowalski is near the end of his chase by the California Highway Patrol, where two bulldozers and a CBS News truck are setting up. After seeing the bulldozers, he turns around, only to run into three patrol cars further up the road. He then drives off the road to think, then gets back into the car and continues to drive back toward the roadblock. As the white Challenger passes a black Chrysler Imperial, the movie freezes, and the Challenger vanishes on Sunday at 10:02 am. Read more

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