The Cars That Ate Paris
The Cars That Ate Paris | |
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British Empire Films | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes 74 minutes (US cut) |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | $250,000[1] |
The Cars That Ate Paris is a 1974 Australian
Plot
The film begins with an urban couple driving through the countryside in what looks like a cinema advertisement. The scene comes to a halt with a fatal accident. The rural Australian town of Paris arranges fatal accidents to visitors driving through. Townspeople collect items from the luggage of the deceased passengers whilst survivors are taken to the local hospital where they are given lobotomies with power tools and kept as "veggies" for medical experiments by the earnest town surgeon. The young men of the town salvage and modify the wrecked vehicles into a variety of strange-looking cars destined for destruction.
Arthur Waldo (
Arthur unsuccessfully attempts to leave Paris but due to a previous incident where he was exonerated of
The Mayor appoints Arthur the town parking inspector complete with
Cast
- John Meillon as Mayor
- Terry Camilleri as Arthur
- Kevin Miles as the Doctor
- Rick Scully as George
- Max Gillies as Metcalf
- Danny Adcock as Policeman
- Bruce Spence as Charlie
- Kevin Golsby as Insurance man
- Chris Haywood as Darryl
- Peter Armstrong as Gorman
- Joe Burrow as Ganger
- Deryck Barnes as Smedley
- Edward Howell as Tringham
- Max Phipps as Reverend Mulray
- Melissa Jaffer as Beth
- Tim Robertson as Les
- Herbie Nelson as Man in house
Production
Peter Weir got the idea to make the film while driving through Europe where road signs on the main French roads diverted him into what he perceived as strange little villages.[2] It originally started as a comedy to star Grahame Bond but later evolved.[citation needed] Piers Davies and Keith Gow also had input.[3] He then took the movie to the McElroy brothers, who had previously worked in a large variety of positions on a number of films. Most of the budget came from the Australian Film Development Corporation with additional funds from Royce Smeal Film Productions in Sydney. Shooting began in October 1973, primarily on location in Sofala, New South Wales.[1]
Release
The producers unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate an American release for the film with Roger Corman after it was shown with great success at the Cannes Film Festival.[4] Shortly afterwards Corman recruited Paul Bartel to direct his Death Race 2000;[5] Bartel had not seen The Cars That Ate Paris but he was aware that Corman had a print of the film.[6]
The movie struggled to find an audience in Australia, changing distributors and using ad campaigns that pitched it alternately as a horror film and an art film. However it has become a cult film.[1] By 1980, $112,500 had been returned to the producers.[3] It received an American release in 1976 by New Line Cinema under the title The Cars That Eat People with added on narration and other changes.[7]
In 1992, it was adapted as a
Legendary director Stanley Kubrick included The Cars That Ate Paris on the list of his 93 favourite films.[citation needed]
Reception
As of 17 October 2023[update], the film holds a 65% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 17 reviews.[8]
See also
Further reading
- Gordon Glenn & Scott Murray, "Production Report: The Cars That Ate Paris", Cinema Papers, January 1974 pp. 18–26
References
- ^ a b c Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p. 277
- ^ p. 41 Rayner, Jonathan R. The Films of Peter Weir Continuum, 2003
- ^ a b David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 pp. 62–67
- ^ p.122 The Bulletin
- ^ pp. 54-55 Rayner, Jonathan The Films of Peter Weir 2006 Continuum International Publishing Group
- ^ p.64 Stratton, David The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival Angus & Robertson, 1980
- ^ "The Cars That Ate Paris". Peterwiercave.com.
- ^ The Cars That Ate Paris at Rotten Tomatoes
External links
- The Cars That Ate Paris at IMDb
- The Cars That Ate Paris at AllMovie
- The Cars That Ate Paris at the TCM Movie Database
- The Cars That Ate Paris at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Cars That Ate Paris at Australian National Film and Sound Archive
- The Cars That Ate Paris at Oz Movies