Dirt (1979 film)

Dirt is a 1979 documentary film about off-road racing directed by Eric Karson and Cal Naylor.[2]

Dirt
Directed byEric Karson
Cal Naylor
Screenplay byS.S. Schweitzer
Bud Freidgen
Tom Madigan
R. R Young
Produced byAllan F. Bodoh
John Patrick Graham
StarringParnelli Jones
CinematographyJim Deckard
Music byDick Halligan
Production
company
Pacific Films
Distributed byAmerican Cinema Releasing
Release date
19 January 1979
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Box office$7.9 million[1]

Premise

A man, Fred Cordon follows the off road racing circuit.[3]

Cast
  • Clarke Gordon as Fred Gordon
  • Curtis Credel as Tommy Robertson
  • Kenny Griswold as Randy Gardner
  • Debbie Gunn as Dee Williams
  • Sunshine Parker as Swamp Rat Pickering
  • Lisa Lindgren as Janice Hoffer
  • Robert Hackman as Bob Holmes
  • Parnelli Jones as Himself
  • Rick Mears as Himself
  • Mickey Thompson as Himself
  • Malcolm Smith

Production

The film was modeled on the motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday (1971), which had featured an executive producer of Dirt, Roger Riddell. The film was made over three and a half years. Parnelli Jones, who appears in the film, was an investor. [4]

The film involved over 13 cameraman and two helicopters covering thousands of miles to shoot the footage.[5]

Reception

The film had was first released in Columbia and Albuquerque, then was rolled out throughout the country throughout 1979.[5]

The Los Angeles Times called it a "friendly but boring docudrama about off-road racing without focus... like watching an interminable home movie."[3]

However, it was a box office hit, earning rentals in the US and Canada of $7.9 million.[1]

References
  1. Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 302. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. "Four films opening this week". The San Francisco Examiner. 16 April 1979. p. 28.
  3. Gross, Linda (24 August 1979). "Docudrama about off road racing". The Los Angeles Times Part 4. p. 35.
  4. "Dirt (1970)". American Film Institute.
  5. "Racing documentary premieres in Columbia". The Columbia Record. 13 January 1979. p. 28.
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