Movies - Deadline Auto Theft

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	Movies - Deadline Auto Theft

Deadline Auto Theft is an 1983 independent film written and directed by H.B 'Toby' Halicki. It centers around a group of car thieves and the 48 cars they must steal in a matter of days. The film is infamous for having wrecked and destroyed 186 cars in a 17 minute car car chase scene and a 40 minute car chase scene. The cars were a 1974 Bricklin SV-1 and a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 named Eleanor. H.B 'Toby' Halicki simply went out his way as a director by combining the best of Gone In 60 Seconds and The Junkman. He was able to reprise he role as the legendary car thief who can't be stopped. He asked his friend Hoyt Axton to play the police captain hot on his trail.

Plot Summary

After the attempted theft of his daughter's (Judi Gibbs) husband's car (Dan Grimaldi), LAPD Captain Gibbs (Hoyt Axton) declares war on master car thief Maindrian Pace (H.B 'Toby' Halicki), whose insurance investigation company provides the perfect front. A South American drug lord pays Pace and his team to steal 48 cars for him, all but one, a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, are in the bag, so they set out on the job while the police frantically try to track him down. As Pace prepares to rip-off the fastback, codenamed "Eleanor", in Long Beach, he is unaware that his boss Jerry Daugirda has tipped off the police after a business dispute. Detectives (Butch Stockton and Phil Woods are waiting and pursue Pace through five cities as he desperately tries to get away. While Police pursue Pace in "Eleanor", the last of the cars needed to fulfill their contract, through southern California as he tries to get away.

Every section of this sequence was filmed on live city streets or freeways, often containing real pedestrians running from Pace's car. In a notable scene, Eleanor is seen to be involved in an accident as a result of misjudging the freeway and colliding with a lamp post. This scene was, in fact, a real accident, as Halicki misjudged both the lane and speed of a car travelling behind. He was injured in the crash, but the scene was left in and Eleanor is seen leaving the site of the accident as the chase continues.

The jump scene contained at the end of the chase is also notable and set the standards for a number of subsequently produced pictures. Acting as the climax to the lengthy chase sequence, Eleanor is seen to jump over the scene of another accident after debris from a seperate car allows it to catch air. The jump manages to achieve 30 feet of distance - a feat which would not be easily replicable without the use of modern CGI techniques - and the Mustang barely manages to land safely as it meets the ground in a rather awkward fashion, injuring Halicki once again.

Shortly after this jump, the chase, which occupies most of the screen time, is ended by Pace as he spots another yellow Mustang pulling into a car wash. He asks for his car to be washed and then dupes the owner of the undamaged Mustang into a fictitious meeting with the garage's manager before stealing her car and switching the plates. Pace subsequently leaves the garage with the stolen car as the owner of the car wash (who matches the description of Pace, who was wearing a grey wig and a grey jacket during the chase) is arrested and then Captain Gibbs arrives and sees that it is not Pace and tells the men to let him go and then Pace drives off into the sunset.

The Cast And Crew Of Deadline Auto Theft

H.B 'Toby' Halicki .... Maindrian Pace/Vicinski/Mr. Villis
Hoyt Axton .... Captain Gibbs
Lang Jeffries .... Lt. Arthur
Pat Hartigan .... Lt. Reed
Maureen Coddington .... Officer DuPree/Hungary Tiger Girl
John Halicki .... Sgt. Hawkins
Judi Gibbs .... Herself (Playboy Center Fold Girl)
Dan Grimaldi .... Carl Augusta
Marion Busia .... Pumpkin Chase
Jerry Daugirda .... Eugene Chase
James McIntyre .... Stanley Chase
George Cole .... Atlee Jackson
Ronald Halicki .... Corlis Pace/The Crane Operator
Markos Kotsikos .... Uncle Joe Chase
Tony Ostermeier .... Orvall (The Air Cover Helicopter Thief)
Sharon McCreedy .... Helicopter Pilot
Bruce Cameron .... Farley
Dennis Stouffer .... Detective at Rosecrans Carwash/Policeman
Chip Giannettino .... Policeman
Phil Boroff .... Policeman
Garland Brown .... Policeman
George Barris .... Policeman
Christopher Stone .... Policeman/The Los Angeles Flood Control Man
Freddy Canon .... Policeman
Richard L. Muse .... Policeman
Lynda Day George .... Policewoman
Rita Rickard .... Policewoman
Susan Shaw .... Policewoman
Bud Wacen .... Himself
Christine White .... Herself/The Lady At The Rosecrans Carwash
Kelly Busia .... The Real Estate Girl In The Park
Edward Havens .... Kid in park
Sak Yamamoto .... Himself (City of Carson mayor)
Edward Abrahms .... Harold Blight Smith
J.C. Agajanian Jr. .... Himself/The Light Blue Unmarked Detective
Wally Burr .... Male Police Dispatcher
Terence H. Winkless .... Lyle Waggoner's Car Cleaner
Butch Stockton .... 1-Baker-11 detective (driver)
Phil Woods .... 1-Baker-11 detective (passenger)
Hal McClain .... Himself (KFOX host)
Jonathan E. Fricke .... Himself (KFOX interviewer)
Jack Vacek .... Merle/WK90 Officer (voice)/Cal In The Flying Fox/The Los Angeles Flood Control Man
Billy Englehart .... Lowrider
Anthony Cole .... Lowrider
Mark Cole .... Lowrider
Michael Cole .... Lowrider
Edward Booker .... Lowrider
Don Simmons .... Lowrider
Ron Simmons .... Lowrider
Nicolas Cage .... Little Boy at the Roscrans Car Wash

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