December 4, 2024 • 91 mins
*Apologies for the audio quality in this episode; we experienced some difficulties and then had to use backup files - PLEASE bear with us.
Today, we are going to travel back to July 1980 for the satirical black comedy, Used Cars. And as always, we’ll touch on all the other “happenings” of the time.
I’m delighted to have Evan Moody & Andrew Groothuis from Nothing Worthwhile with Moody & Groo (also on Last of the Action Heroes Podcast Network with "VanDammit!") with me today! Andrew is 49 years old and originally from New York. He's worked in the film & tv business for ten years, retired to Florida in 2012, and been teaching High School social studies ever since.
Here's where you can find them:
https://www.facebook.com/nothingworthwhile1985
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/nww-132-goldberg-vs-ddp-1998--62980237
Please get in touch to tell me what you think - RetromadePodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie (01:10):
Hello, Hello,
I'm Katie
and welcome to Retro Made,UR Pop Culture Rewind.
Today, we're going to go backall the way to July of 1980.
I wasn't even born yet for thesatirical black comedy Used
Cars.
And as always, we'll touch on allthe other happenings of the time.
(01:31):
I am very excited to have new gueststo the show to help me fill out
my final episodes of this season.
Evan Moody and Andrew, did I
get that?
Right?
Awesome.
Well, thank you guys for joiningme and tell us a little bit about
you and the shows that you do.
(03:08):
Ooh.
(03:39):
Well, thanks again.
(04:47):
Well, without further ado, let's open thetime capsule to set the stage for this.
Popular TV, according to Nielsen ratings,this is the 79 80 season, which is wild.
So three's company was thenumber one show and listeners.
I just covered that in depthin the last episode, actually.
(05:10):
Alice mash Dallas flow, which I'venot seen, but is a spinoff of Alice.
The Jeffersons, The Dukes of Hazzard,One Day at a Time, Archie Bunker's
Place, which this was its premiereseason, Eight is Enough, and Taxi.
Were you guys watching those?
(05:31):
Do you remember that?
(05:53):
Mm hmm.
(06:30):
me.
too.
(07:06):
The early 80s, a very different feelfrom, you know, when we get later
into the mid 80s, it's more saturatedwith all those sitcoms from the 80s.
And that's like my jam, but I'm likeThree's Company The Jeffersons, like
these I've seen in syndication and Taxiis one that I am now just discovering.
It's on some, I don'tknow, cozy TV or something.
(07:27):
And I love Tony Danza.
So I'm enjoying.
Discovering Taxi.
Huge.
(07:54):
I love them Yeah.
Yep.
(08:22):
So there's a couple shows that endedthis season that weren't necessarily
in the top rated shows, but I wantedto call them out because they're fun.
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
I remember watchingthat on Cartoon Express.
Yeah, it was a cartoon, but I loved it.
Yeah, I loved
that.
The Rope.
(08:44):
You haven't
seen that one?
Oh, it's
good.
It's good.
the The Ropers.
now,
well, we, so we, it was.
It was
(09:04):
kind of unfortunate becausethey were supposed to be able
to come back if it didn't fare.
Well, it was a spin off the,you know, Helen and Stanley, if
it didn't go beyond 1 season.
They couldn't come back andit went 1 and a half seasons.
And so that's why we got Mr.
early.
(09:32):
Yeah, I, agree.
I agree.
Oh, well, He
(09:57):
yeah,
Also the Shogun mini series, which I'venot seen, but I've heard a lot about.
Did you guys watch that mini series?
I don't know.
I am, is that likeJapanese like martial arts?
(10:18):
Yeah.
Also Hawaii Five 0, this wasits final season, and I didn't
realize that it started in 1968.
(10:47):
Mm-Hmm.
I don't think I have either.
I think I conflate that with Magnum pi.
Yeah.
One of one show that premiered thisseason that I haven't had an opportunity
(11:08):
to talk about and it's one of myfavorites, is The Facts of Life.
It
premiered in 1980 or
1979.
Yeah.
love, it
(11:28):
Mm-Hmm?
was she?
Mm-Hmm.
Really?
(12:06):
Blair.
Yeah.
She rode motorcycles.
(12:37):
I'd love to see that.
Well, this first season was verydifferent from the later seasons.
It had all those other girls,including a young Molly Ringwald.
(12:57):
She was their housekeeper.
I think.
Wasn't
she
Mm hmm.
(13:26):
Oh,
okay.
I love it.
Oh, I love crossover.
Yeah.
(13:47):
Mm
hmm.
Now I know you guys are wrestling guys.
So I purposefully looked up who thebig wrestling guys were from 1980.
You'll have to tell me if I'm wrong,
but I, I
asked chat.
I know I know most of thembecause I did watch wrestling
(14:08):
in the 80s with my grandpa.
He was a big wrestling guy, but,you know, mine, I was more later
80s, but I totally Hulk Hogan,Ric Flair totally know those guys.
Dusty Rhodes, I don't really know,but I've heard of him Andre, the
giant Harley race and Bob Backlund.
(14:29):
I don't know who they are.
And
(15:58):
He wasn't big
yet.
Yeah.
(16:21):
I was also reading so I know whoRoddy Piper is and he was according
to chat rising star at the time.
He wasn't big yet, but he was on his way.
And then I, know who Terry Funk is.
More from movies later, like, over thetop, but I didn't know he had a brother,
Dory Funk Jr.
(16:51):
Oh,
and then superstar Billy Graham.
I don't know who that is.
Who's that?
(17:13):
Oh,
okay.
Yeah, he must've been like on hisway out at 1980 was maybe, you had
(17:36):
mentioned he was big in the seventies.
Do you guys remember anybody elsefrom the time that I didn't list?
(18:40):
Okay.
Wrestling 80s anonymous.
Well, let's move on to music billboards.
This is a specific week, thetop billboards, July 11th, 1980.
I don't even think Iknow what this song is.
The number one song is called comingup by Paul McCartney and the wings.
(19:03):
I don't think I know that
Billy Joel has the numbertwo song with, it's,
you, should, you should, number two song.
(19:39):
Look at you guys picking albums, are you,
are those album names?
Oh, wow.
(20:11):
what are.
we locked
into
that?
Do you, do you
have an alternative guess,
Evan?
(20:32):
It's still rock and roll to me.
(20:59):
I do know the number three song.
It's a song that we sang inlike choir in high school.
The Rose by Bette
Midler.
(21:23):
It is a, good song.
It is very
Good
(22:03):
I do not know the number four song.
I've never even heard of it.
It's an Elton John song.
Little
genie.
Little Jean.
Do I know that?
Hmm.
(22:28):
Okay.
I just went to a yacht rock show.
My first
one ever
here.
(22:48):
Yeah.
(23:31):
Okay.
Yeah.
I, I don't know.
I've never heard of the song nor the groupfor the number five song, the Spinners
Cupid, it's
Cupid slash I've loved you for a long
time.
(24:05):
Well, I I think I know the number sixsong, but I didn't know the artist.
I think I know Steal Away.
The artist is
Robby Dupree
Okay
(25:07):
Uh
Funky Town by The
Lips is number seven.
I didn't know the name of the group.
Olivia Newton I do know this.
I
do
know the song.
Olivia Newton John has the number
eight song.
It's not
(25:27):
physical Can you
name one other?
No.
I
don't know if I know it.
Magic
(25:48):
Jermaine Jackson with let's get serious.
I don't think I know that
song.
I don't know.
Jermaine
Jackson,
Yes.
And rounding out the top 10 is let melove you tonight by pure prairie league.
(26:11):
You guys know that
(26:34):
let's move on to what wasgoing on in the world.
The Summer Olympics, 22nd SummerOlympics games open in Moscow,
led by the United States.
But this was when 66 nations boycotted theevent because of the Soviet Afghan war.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
(27:00):
yes, Also starring KurtRussell in the movie.
Yes.
(27:25):
Are you a history teacher?
What subject do you teach?
Oh, well, it actually is fitting becausethose things come up in the movie.
Both of those things
that you talked about
were in the movie.
(27:46):
Yeah.
7 people died in a stampede to seePope John Paul, the 2nd in Brazil.
Do you guys remember hearing about that?
Mm mm.
(28:10):
Hurricane Alan forms in the AtlanticOcean, so that would have been your
guys side, will go on to become thestrongest hurricane ever recorded in
the Atlantic Basin with winds of 190miles per hour, which for the rest of
the world is 305 kilometers per hour.
(29:01):
Peter Sellers died.
He was Bobo Pink Panther, the Goon Show.
He was only 54.
I don't know what he died of,
but He died
(29:27):
Mm
hmm.
Oh.
Yeah.
yeah,
(30:05):
Oh, that's fun.
I love it.
Well, that happens in thismovie that we're going to
cover it too.
I kind of
it's fun when that happens.
A couple of people got married.
Raquel Welsh married
French American TV documentaryproducer Andre Weinfeld.
They divorced in 1990.
No, that
(30:25):
wasn't.
She was with
no, you're thinking of
Susan stranger.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, that's right.
That's right.
She was good call.
I, I missed I missed your job.
She
was
after.
Oh, she's she's 1 ofthe historical beauties.
Yeah, actor, Michaelbean, webs, Carlene Olson.
(30:46):
I think they might still be married.
And Elizabeth Warren, SenatorElizabeth Warren marries her.
Law professor husband, Bruce Mann, DonnaSummer got married to Bruce Sudano.
He was a, an award winning arranger,but those famous people got married.
(31:06):
Oh, Donna Summer.
She's, she's.
Not still
with us,
is she
Okay,
(31:38):
that's what happened.
Oh,
1 more death.
The only reason I noted it wasbecause you won't even know him.
It's just that it's the lastshot of Iran Persia at the time.
He was only 60, so he in Cairo, he died.
(32:04):
Was it really?
Was it really?
Yes,
he got tracks.
(32:39):
His documentary was really interesting.
Did you
guys see that?
Okay, so in addition to used cars.
The big movies that wereout at this time, airplane,
Cheech
and Chong.
We'll talk about that, but Cheech andChong's next movie, Caddyshack and Star
(33:02):
Wars episode 5, the Empire Strikes Back.
It was released in May.
In July, it was stilltopping the box office.
(33:37):
No, no, you don't.
You don't.
There's no movies anymore.
Actually, I say that and there's onemovie out now that I want to see.
But other than that, that very
rarely happens.
The
the new gladiator.
Yeah.
Yeah,
you're right.
This season on retro made, I've dedicatedto who I deem the ultimate , every
man, Patrick Swayze and Kurt Russell.
(33:58):
Do you guys have any feelingsor fandom that you would like to
share about either of them beforewe start talking about used cars?
(36:47):
Mm hmm.
Agreed.
I mean, obviously I picked these two fora couple of reasons, but all those movies
you mentioned we've covered on RetroMade.
So you guys go back andlisten to them if you haven't,
listeners.
Thank you.
I mean, it's impossible to not likeKurt even like this season doing this.
(37:11):
There's a fair number of movies that Ihadn't seen before, but there's only 1
movie that Kurt did that I did not enjoy.
It's probably a
genre issue for me.
Stargate.
I,
(37:39):
did not like.
it.
Yeah.
(38:06):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
(38:27):
But he's the every man
in those movies.
He's
just your average husband or your average,you know, and so he's put in these.
Yeah, no, he's great.
Do you guys think that KurtRussell and Patrick Swayze?
Resemble each other at all back
in the day.
Yeah.
All right.
(38:47):
I asked all my first time gueststhat so I was just curious
but, they
do like
(39:07):
they're very like you you canyou can Yeah, like they're
very they're they again.
They're like every man.
They're like they're not this muscledup roided they're just kind of your
they're attract extremely attractivebut in a normal achievable way
and
Yeah.
(39:48):
oh you
Yeah.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
(40:12):
Fit.
Mm hmm.
Mm mm.
(41:23):
But he's so cool, too.
Kurtz
really
exudes coolness.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
I think II
hear you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(42:08):
Oh, my God.
That was good.
A hundred percent.
He is.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
(42:30):
It's very
nice to hear that.
I've seen it, but so long ago,I don't recall anything from it.
I thought about covering it,but I'm, I'm not going because
(42:50):
it's not in the 80s or the
90s.
So
I'm not.
Oh,
Yeah, I don't remember anything.
Well, no worries.
(43:10):
I think it's finally time for usto start discussing the movie.
We're here to talk about.
So let's get into the movie.
Use cars July 11th, 1980.
It's it's rated are very clearly.
It's pretty long.
It's almost 2 hours.
And Robert Zemeckis is the directorand I love all of his movies.
(43:33):
So he also is one of the writers,but he's super well known.
One of my favorites isRomancing the Stone.
I love that movie.
But also Death Becomes Her, Who FramedRoger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, back to
all the Back to the Future movies.
And there's a lot of the same actorsin this film, as well as in some
of the Back to the Future movies.
(43:53):
So Robert Zemeckis.
God, it's so good!
(44:37):
yeah,
(46:10):
I didn't see a signature with it,but it was also I didn't realize
this executive produced by JohnMilius and Steven Spielberg, which
is interesting.
(46:32):
They were, on like a World War 2 comedyand they just didn't have time to do it.
So Zemeckis did it and they produced
it.
Yeah.
I've never seen it.
(47:01):
The other, the other writerwas Bob Gale, so both.
Robert Zemeckis directed it, but he wasalso one of the writers and, and they,
I think they might be like, they teamedup on the Back to the Future movies.
So that's where he's, whatBob Gale is known for.
The music was Patrick Williams, whichI had not heard that before, but he
(47:21):
has scored more than 200 films.
Yeah.
He, he, received a 1980 Oscarnomination for Breaking Away.
Not heard of that.
He also,
Yeah.
is it?
(47:43):
Oh,
I've not heard of it.
Okay.
Okay.
I will.
He also did all of me swingshift, which we covered
also with Kurt Yeah.
Yeah.
Cuba, the grass harp, and, and he didthe music for Columbo, the Mary Tyler
(48:07):
Moore show and the Bob Newhart show.
Mm hmm.
(48:35):
Well, we have KurtRussell as our star here.
A very young, very, ugh, I just love him.
He's so attractive.
He's so charming.
I love Kurt Russell.
He plays Rudy Russo.
And then, I was mentioning movies thatpeople play multiple characters as fun.
So, this is a screwball where JackWarden plays, Twins, Roy and Luke Fuchs.
(49:00):
They're rivaling car dealership owners.
Oh, I did want to mention this is a 6.
7 on IMDb.
I'm curious what youguys think about that.
Mm
hmm.
(49:56):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is actually becausethe best movie, what is that, Shawshank?
And it's like a
9.
1 or something.
(50:51):
Well, I have a feeling that most peoplehave not seen this movie, so I will
provide a little synopsis for you.
When the owner of a strugglingused car lot is killed, it's up to
the lot's hotshot salesman, KurtRussell, to save the property from
falling into the hands of the owner'sruthless brother and used car rival.
Yeah, so that's jack wardenplaying the rival owners.
(51:14):
And he's a twice Oscar nominatedfor supporting roles in
heaven can wait and shampoo.
He was also in 12 angry men.
And he was Saul fromwhile you were sleeping.
It's been a long timesince I've seen that movie
(52:26):
Oh, oh, that's right.
I
agree he is underrated and I was readingthat he didn't want to do this movie.
The way they convinced him isbecause whoever was saying,
(52:50):
oh, actors really like to play.
Drunk, dead, or more than onepart, and he gets to play both
dead and more than one part.
Yeah,
and then the, so Kurt Russell's themain you know, your typical like
shady, shyster type used car salesman.
The other one is Jeff.
(53:11):
He's the other sleazy salesmanhas played by Garrett Graham.
And I didn't really know him from a lot.
Did you guys
yeah,
(54:20):
They did a good job.
Each character had like a story,like they did build characters.
He's very superstitious and hehas to overcome that, like that
bar scene
with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah,
there's a lot of setups.
I think that's 1 of the thingsthis movie did really well there.
There was a ton of setups thatat the beginning, you're like, I
wonder where they're showing methis and it is paid off later.
(54:43):
Usually.
Mm hmm.
Frank McRae.
Did you guys enjoy seeing him?
(55:15):
Oh, my God.
Well, you'll know some of them.
So he was in Rocky 2.
He's his boss.
He's Rocky's boss.
(55:36):
He has to fire him.
He was also in lock
up.
Also, Fist.
So he's, he's a Sylvester Sloan.
He brings him in.
He likes him a lot.
Oh, also Paradise Alley,which I actually haven't seen.
And Red Dawn, which we, he's ateacher at the beginning in Red
Dawn.
(55:58):
Yes, he's huge.
He towers over Kurt Russell.
So he plays the, his name is Jim.
He's the mechanic, but then when thecar dealership cut into a a football
game with a commercial that's illegal.
(56:19):
And then they get a tonof, business the next day.
And so they're like, well, Iguess you got to be a car salesman.
And he's dressed uplike your typical, like
used car salesman.
He's like, I don't know how to sell cars.
Yeah, he is.
It's good.
He's funny.
(57:15):
You know, it, it went on for a reallylong time, but somehow it did work.
Like it was funny.
They managed to make that scene withthe naked girl hilarious for a really
long time by showing the different typesof people watching it on TV and yeah.
And, and Jeff.
He's like, Oh, my God, the car's red.
And he's he he can't deal with a red car.
(57:36):
It's yeah.
(57:59):
Yeah.
He puts gum
on a bumper, hold
It in place.
(59:08):
Good point.
And it's like every stereotypicalused car guy is put in.
Yeah,
(59:33):
well, you guys mentioned squiggy and
and Lenny
Lenny
and I had never seen that showand I remember I was when I was
doing the research for this.
I was like, Michael McKeon is in this.
And, and then I had, I was like, oh,I didn't recognize him, but like, when
I first watched it, a young MichaelMcKeon, because I only know him as
(59:54):
like the brother in Better Call Saul.
But, yeah, and then David Lander.
So there are a team in
this too.
(01:00:57):
and it and Laverne andShirley was still in
production when
this movie was released.
Yeah, Yeah.
(01:01:23):
Spinal tap.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I it's cause I haven't seena lot of those older things.
So I only know him as an older man.
(01:02:25):
A lot of people in back to the future.
We're in this
also.
Did you guys notice who the judge was?
I about died.
I, he was phenomenal.
(01:02:48):
I was like, what acharacter of this judge is.
And then I was like, why doeshe look so familiar to me?
It's grandpa.
Yeah.
Oh,
really?
(01:03:22):
Oh,
(01:03:46):
and he says on the way to go measurethe cars, I could have played 8
rounds of golf, 8 rounds of golf.
Her whole thing.
Yeah.
Well, I was kind of wondering.
I'm like, this was 19.
I was like, did he, was he prettyyoung when he played grandpa?
(01:04:09):
I mean, he couldn't have been.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
I forgot.
I didn't want to pass over the lovelywoman who plays Luke's long lost daughter
and the love interest of Kurt Russell.
(01:04:29):
Her name in the movie is Barbara Fuchs.
Her actual name is Deborah Harmon.
Do you guys know her from anything?
(01:04:49):
Ooh, I don't know.
It's possible.
You guys probably haven't seen this show.
It only lasted a season or two, butit was a spinoff of Growing Pains
called Just
the Ten of Us.
(01:05:25):
She, she plays his wife,
Elizabeth, in Just
the Ten of Us.
He was also in Patrick Swayze's firstever movie role in 1979, Skatetown USA.
I covered it on the show and he's in that.
It's also like a crazy wild.
(01:05:46):
It's similar to this almostlike, it's just you're like,
how did this movie get made?
It's just like wackadoo.
It's
fun.
(01:06:09):
I
don't know why I
loved it.
The Lubbock Babes,
they like had a singing
group.
yeah,
yeah, Marie.
Yeah, Heather Longenkamp.
Heather Longenkamp.
(01:06:34):
yeah.
This movie didn't make money.
So, I mean, it did technically.
It cost 8 million to make and grossed.
Any guesses?
I mean, technically,
(01:06:55):
I know I listen.
So
8,
8 million.
(01:07:15):
You are, you,
(01:07:49):
well, I have noticed you are verygood at the guessing of the box
office.
So you're very close.
11.
7.
11.
7.
The reason I say it didn't do well isbecause nobody's heard of it Like you guys
hadn't seen this before had you I hadn't
(01:08:15):
Oh, Okay.
just cuz the cars Mm hmm.
(01:08:54):
one of the big movies that I mentionedwas airplane came out at the same
time Used cars, we haven't heard ofit, but it has a good IMDb rating.
Well, according to the Zemeckis andGale, the release of it was botched.
They kind of screwed up the marketingbecause they moved up the release.
It was originally going to belater in August or something.
I want to say and it testedreally, really well with audience.
(01:09:18):
In fact, the movie received the highesttest audience ratings of any movie of
any genre in Columbia Pictures history.
But it was a disappointing box office.
It was released the same weekas airplane, which was heavily
promoted and this wasn't.
This wasn't like, they moved it upand then they didn't really market it.
Speaking of underrated, the, theNew York times called used cars.
(01:09:41):
1 of the most underratedcomedies of all time.
And it's among American filmInstitute's 2000 list of 500
movies nominated for the top.
100 funniest American movies
so what do you guys do you agree?
What do you guys thinkabout the movie overall?
(01:10:33):
Mm hmm.
(01:12:31):
It's more elevated.
It's, it's interesting because thereis a fair number of slapstick you
know, situational comedic stuff.
But then there's a lot of subtlety tolike you said we like just the opening
scene, like you said, when he's turningthe mileage back, we don't see the person.
And we just see the handsof the person and his like.
Used car, pinky rings, you know, like youget a feel for, Oh, that's, I see what's
(01:12:55):
happening here.
I don't know, Yeah.
(01:13:32):
I did love, I mean, it wouldn't be ina movie now, but every couple he meets
when he finds out what their ethnicity orlast name is, then he uses the last name.
Oh, the Lopez's I'm, I'mRodriguez or whatever.
Oh, the
O'Brien.
Oh, I'm
O'Fallon.
yeah.
(01:13:59):
Yeah, yeah,
yeah, it was, and it somehow workedlike those people weren't offended.
You know, they're like, oh, yeah.
The clothes.
I mean, just the epitome of astereotypical used car salesman with
the colorful jackets and the, whatis the material polyester pants?
(01:14:24):
And the Fred Flintstone wide short tie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah
I don't know what I was expecting,but I was really surprised watching.
I really didn't know anything about it.
I thought it was going to be kindof boring like a drama almost.
And I was not expecting so muchadventure and action and just the
(01:14:47):
screwball satirical nature of it.
I don't know.
I was really.
I didn't realize that's what it was.
And so it was like afun, pleasant surprise.
(01:16:13):
Well, the guy that dies is like a goodhearted person and the brother is evil.
And then he just, you know,the typical shady used carsman.
But of course, Kurt gets the girlin the end, the answering machine,
first of all, I didn't realize therewere answering machines in 1980.
Second of all, it was thishuge piece of equipment.
(01:17:09):
What did you guys think of the dog, Toby?
I'm curious what your
thoughts are.
(01:17:36):
He was incredibly well trained.
He could pick, he was told togo get a screwdriver and he's
like, no, no, no, a fill up
screwdriver.
And so he goes
and gets a different so a lot of times.
I'm not a bit.
I love animals anddogs, but I'm in movies.
I'm sort of like, I'm notreally a fan of kids in a.
(01:17:57):
In movies either, but every once in awhile, there's a standout and I think this
dog was like, they really utilized him.
He was part of the whole everythingand that scene where he plays dead.
I was a little worried.
I was like, in 90, isthat really a dead dog?
Because he was so limp andhis tongue was hanging out.
It was like, he was dead.
He, they dated that dog for that scene.
(01:18:19):
So he was.
Agreed.
Mm
hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm
(01:19:25):
hmm.
(01:20:22):
Everyone.
You had mentioned Gru, theIranian conflict at the time.
So, where it shows up in this movieis , there's a commercial where Jeff
actually shoots up with real, apparentlyit's real ammunition shooting these
cars up and he's interviewed by the FBI.
You know, and he's like, I don't know.
I saw some guys with like
(01:20:43):
towels on their head
and weird weird beards.
And I think there
were Some Iranian students yeah, Yeah.
(01:21:50):
No, the classic cars.
So I, okay.
I was a little confused aboutthe student driver teacher.
And I was like, what's, what's going on.
They're paying for old junkcars for the student drivers.
And then.
Kurt tries to say, oh, no, thosereally old what, what we would
consider now to be classic cars.
(01:22:10):
He's like, those are the ones weshould give the student drivers.
Well, those ones were from Greece.
The
actual cars from Greece,
right?
Convertible.
And the
scorpion mercury
(01:22:31):
with It
(01:23:10):
was a real, so it wasfilmed in Mesa, Arizona.
And I guess that wasa real active highway.
And it was made filming difficult.
Cheryl Rickson played the woman whoseclothes got pulled off on the car hood.
Do you guys know who she is?
She's Australian, I guess.
(01:23:44):
Circuit Oh, yeah.
(01:24:25):
Oh, I think so too.
yeah,
I didn't know who she was, but theCheryl Rickson, who, so she was the
1977 penthouse pet of the month andpet of the year in 1979, apparently.
(01:24:48):
So
I wondered it.
That's why I was like, I wonderif they know her from that
out of the way.
Yeah.
(01:25:17):
There's like 8 kids too.
It's like a, yeah, justrunning around rampant.
I'm curious if you guys have any guesseswhat the potential alternate title of
this was and Bob Gale thought it wouldhave done better in the box office.
There was a, I'll give you a hint.
There's a slogan thatKurt says a few times,
(01:25:44):
like on
his poster for
us Senate or, state center.
Trust me.
do you guys think that wouldhave been a better time?
Okay.
(01:26:28):
Yeah, I think, I think I agree too.
I don't know.
I think they were probably justkind of 2020 looking back like, oh,
how could we have made this better?
So it did better at the box office, but.
So it wasn't originally with Columbiaoriginally, they shopped it to universal.
And they had a different person inmind for Russo Kurt's character.
(01:26:50):
Any guesses?
Not at all like Kurt, but would havebeen the perfect sleazy car salesman.
Very tan.
(01:27:17):
Not ever A list.
No, probably like a B list star.
George,
(01:27:37):
George Hamilton.
And like he
very used car salesman.
I do too.
I, yeah, agreed.
Kevin Conway passed to play Roy Fuchs.
(01:27:59):
He was offered, but he passed.
(01:28:22):
Yeah,
yeah.
A very famous actor was originallycast playing Joe Flatterty's role,
but ultimately dropped out becausehis agent erroneously double booked
(01:28:45):
him while he was filming 1941.
Which is not interesting.
John Candy.
(01:29:12):
Yeah.
Well, you guys I think this was a veryfun, silly ride with the always handsome.
And charming Kurt Russell.
But it is time to come back tothe present day reality until
the next Retro Made episode.
Evan and Andrew, I can't thankyou enough for joining me to cover
this lesser known Kurt movie.
(01:29:33):
Do you guys have any finalthoughts about used cars?
And then please don't forget totell us where we can find you guys.
(01:30:37):
Thank you.
(01:31:06):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That'd be great.
(01:31:26):
I love Jean Claude.
You know, all the, all thehandsome guys twist my arm.
But
yeah.
Well, thank you all forlistening or watching on YouTube.
And if you like the show andyou have not yet offered a
rating or review, please do so.
This is your official reminder.
(01:31:47):
And until next time, be kind, rewind.
Hello, Hello,
I'm Katie
and welcome to Retro Made,UR Pop Culture Rewind.
Today, we're going to go backall the way to July of 1980.
I wasn't even born yet for thesatirical black comedy Used
Cars.
And as always, we'll touch on allthe other happenings of the time.
(01:31):
I am very excited to have new gueststo the show to help me fill out
my final episodes of this season.
Evan Moody and Andrew, did I
get that?
Right?
Awesome.
Well, thank you guys for joiningme and tell us a little bit about
you and the shows that you do.
(03:08):
Ooh.
(03:39):
Well, thanks again.
(04:47):
Well, without further ado, let's open thetime capsule to set the stage for this.
Popular TV, according to Nielsen ratings,this is the 79 80 season, which is wild.
So three's company was thenumber one show and listeners.
I just covered that in depthin the last episode, actually.
(05:10):
Alice mash Dallas flow, which I'venot seen, but is a spinoff of Alice.
The Jeffersons, The Dukes of Hazzard,One Day at a Time, Archie Bunker's
Place, which this was its premiereseason, Eight is Enough, and Taxi.
Were you guys watching those?
(05:31):
Do you remember that?
(05:53):
Mm hmm.
(06:30):
me.
too.
(07:06):
The early 80s, a very different feelfrom, you know, when we get later
into the mid 80s, it's more saturatedwith all those sitcoms from the 80s.
And that's like my jam, but I'm likeThree's Company The Jeffersons, like
these I've seen in syndication and Taxiis one that I am now just discovering.
It's on some, I don'tknow, cozy TV or something.
(07:27):
And I love Tony Danza.
So I'm enjoying.
Discovering Taxi.
Huge.
(07:54):
I love them Yeah.
Yep.
(08:22):
So there's a couple shows that endedthis season that weren't necessarily
in the top rated shows, but I wantedto call them out because they're fun.
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
I remember watchingthat on Cartoon Express.
Yeah, it was a cartoon, but I loved it.
Yeah, I loved
that.
The Rope.
(08:44):
You haven't
seen that one?
Oh, it's
good.
It's good.
the The Ropers.
now,
well, we, so we, it was.
It was
(09:04):
kind of unfortunate becausethey were supposed to be able
to come back if it didn't fare.
Well, it was a spin off the,you know, Helen and Stanley, if
it didn't go beyond 1 season.
They couldn't come back andit went 1 and a half seasons.
And so that's why we got Mr.
early.
(09:32):
Yeah, I, agree.
I agree.
Oh, well, He
(09:57):
yeah,
Also the Shogun mini series, which I'venot seen, but I've heard a lot about.
Did you guys watch that mini series?
I don't know.
I am, is that likeJapanese like martial arts?
(10:18):
Yeah.
Also Hawaii Five 0, this wasits final season, and I didn't
realize that it started in 1968.
(10:47):
Mm-Hmm.
I don't think I have either.
I think I conflate that with Magnum pi.
Yeah.
One of one show that premiered thisseason that I haven't had an opportunity
(11:08):
to talk about and it's one of myfavorites, is The Facts of Life.
It
premiered in 1980 or
1979.
Yeah.
love, it
(11:28):
Mm-Hmm?
was she?
Mm-Hmm.
Really?
(12:06):
Blair.
Yeah.
She rode motorcycles.
(12:37):
I'd love to see that.
Well, this first season was verydifferent from the later seasons.
It had all those other girls,including a young Molly Ringwald.
(12:57):
She was their housekeeper.
I think.
Wasn't
she
Mm hmm.
(13:26):
Oh,
okay.
I love it.
Oh, I love crossover.
Yeah.
(13:47):
Mm
hmm.
Now I know you guys are wrestling guys.
So I purposefully looked up who thebig wrestling guys were from 1980.
You'll have to tell me if I'm wrong,
but I, I
asked chat.
I know I know most of thembecause I did watch wrestling
(14:08):
in the 80s with my grandpa.
He was a big wrestling guy, but,you know, mine, I was more later
80s, but I totally Hulk Hogan,Ric Flair totally know those guys.
Dusty Rhodes, I don't really know,but I've heard of him Andre, the
giant Harley race and Bob Backlund.
(14:29):
I don't know who they are.
And
(15:58):
He wasn't big
yet.
Yeah.
(16:21):
I was also reading so I know whoRoddy Piper is and he was according
to chat rising star at the time.
He wasn't big yet, but he was on his way.
And then I, know who Terry Funk is.
More from movies later, like, over thetop, but I didn't know he had a brother,
Dory Funk Jr.
(16:51):
Oh,
and then superstar Billy Graham.
I don't know who that is.
Who's that?
(17:13):
Oh,
okay.
Yeah, he must've been like on hisway out at 1980 was maybe, you had
(17:36):
mentioned he was big in the seventies.
Do you guys remember anybody elsefrom the time that I didn't list?
(18:40):
Okay.
Wrestling 80s anonymous.
Well, let's move on to music billboards.
This is a specific week, thetop billboards, July 11th, 1980.
I don't even think Iknow what this song is.
The number one song is called comingup by Paul McCartney and the wings.
(19:03):
I don't think I know that
Billy Joel has the numbertwo song with, it's,
you, should, you should, number two song.
(19:39):
Look at you guys picking albums, are you,
are those album names?
Oh, wow.
(20:11):
what are.
we locked
into
that?
Do you, do you
have an alternative guess,
Evan?
(20:32):
It's still rock and roll to me.
(20:59):
I do know the number three song.
It's a song that we sang inlike choir in high school.
The Rose by Bette
Midler.
(21:23):
It is a, good song.
It is very
Good
(22:03):
I do not know the number four song.
I've never even heard of it.
It's an Elton John song.
Little
genie.
Little Jean.
Do I know that?
Hmm.
(22:28):
Okay.
I just went to a yacht rock show.
My first
one ever
here.
(22:48):
Yeah.
(23:31):
Okay.
Yeah.
I, I don't know.
I've never heard of the song nor the groupfor the number five song, the Spinners
Cupid, it's
Cupid slash I've loved you for a long
time.
(24:05):
Well, I I think I know the number sixsong, but I didn't know the artist.
I think I know Steal Away.
The artist is
Robby Dupree
Okay
(25:07):
Uh
Funky Town by The
Lips is number seven.
I didn't know the name of the group.
Olivia Newton I do know this.
I
do
know the song.
Olivia Newton John has the number
eight song.
It's not
(25:27):
physical Can you
name one other?
No.
I
don't know if I know it.
Magic
(25:48):
Jermaine Jackson with let's get serious.
I don't think I know that
song.
I don't know.
Jermaine
Jackson,
Yes.
And rounding out the top 10 is let melove you tonight by pure prairie league.
(26:11):
You guys know that
(26:34):
let's move on to what wasgoing on in the world.
The Summer Olympics, 22nd SummerOlympics games open in Moscow,
led by the United States.
But this was when 66 nations boycotted theevent because of the Soviet Afghan war.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
(27:00):
yes, Also starring KurtRussell in the movie.
Yes.
(27:25):
Are you a history teacher?
What subject do you teach?
Oh, well, it actually is fitting becausethose things come up in the movie.
Both of those things
that you talked about
were in the movie.
(27:46):
Yeah.
7 people died in a stampede to seePope John Paul, the 2nd in Brazil.
Do you guys remember hearing about that?
Mm mm.
(28:10):
Hurricane Alan forms in the AtlanticOcean, so that would have been your
guys side, will go on to become thestrongest hurricane ever recorded in
the Atlantic Basin with winds of 190miles per hour, which for the rest of
the world is 305 kilometers per hour.
(29:01):
Peter Sellers died.
He was Bobo Pink Panther, the Goon Show.
He was only 54.
I don't know what he died of,
but He died
(29:27):
Mm
hmm.
Oh.
Yeah.
yeah,
(30:05):
Oh, that's fun.
I love it.
Well, that happens in thismovie that we're going to
cover it too.
I kind of
it's fun when that happens.
A couple of people got married.
Raquel Welsh married
French American TV documentaryproducer Andre Weinfeld.
They divorced in 1990.
No, that
(30:25):
wasn't.
She was with
no, you're thinking of
Susan stranger.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, that's right.
That's right.
She was good call.
I, I missed I missed your job.
She
was
after.
Oh, she's she's 1 ofthe historical beauties.
Yeah, actor, Michaelbean, webs, Carlene Olson.
(30:46):
I think they might still be married.
And Elizabeth Warren, SenatorElizabeth Warren marries her.
Law professor husband, Bruce Mann, DonnaSummer got married to Bruce Sudano.
He was a, an award winning arranger,but those famous people got married.
(31:06):
Oh, Donna Summer.
She's, she's.
Not still
with us,
is she
Okay,
(31:38):
that's what happened.
Oh,
1 more death.
The only reason I noted it wasbecause you won't even know him.
It's just that it's the lastshot of Iran Persia at the time.
He was only 60, so he in Cairo, he died.
(32:04):
Was it really?
Was it really?
Yes,
he got tracks.
(32:39):
His documentary was really interesting.
Did you
guys see that?
Okay, so in addition to used cars.
The big movies that wereout at this time, airplane,
Cheech
and Chong.
We'll talk about that, but Cheech andChong's next movie, Caddyshack and Star
(33:02):
Wars episode 5, the Empire Strikes Back.
It was released in May.
In July, it was stilltopping the box office.
(33:37):
No, no, you don't.
You don't.
There's no movies anymore.
Actually, I say that and there's onemovie out now that I want to see.
But other than that, that very
rarely happens.
The
the new gladiator.
Yeah.
Yeah,
you're right.
This season on retro made, I've dedicatedto who I deem the ultimate , every
man, Patrick Swayze and Kurt Russell.
(33:58):
Do you guys have any feelingsor fandom that you would like to
share about either of them beforewe start talking about used cars?
(36:47):
Mm hmm.
Agreed.
I mean, obviously I picked these two fora couple of reasons, but all those movies
you mentioned we've covered on RetroMade.
So you guys go back andlisten to them if you haven't,
listeners.
Thank you.
I mean, it's impossible to not likeKurt even like this season doing this.
(37:11):
There's a fair number of movies that Ihadn't seen before, but there's only 1
movie that Kurt did that I did not enjoy.
It's probably a
genre issue for me.
Stargate.
I,
(37:39):
did not like.
it.
Yeah.
(38:06):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
(38:27):
But he's the every man
in those movies.
He's
just your average husband or your average,you know, and so he's put in these.
Yeah, no, he's great.
Do you guys think that KurtRussell and Patrick Swayze?
Resemble each other at all back
in the day.
Yeah.
All right.
(38:47):
I asked all my first time gueststhat so I was just curious
but, they
do like
(39:07):
they're very like you you canyou can Yeah, like they're
very they're they again.
They're like every man.
They're like they're not this muscledup roided they're just kind of your
they're attract extremely attractivebut in a normal achievable way
and
Yeah.
(39:48):
oh you
Yeah.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
(40:12):
Fit.
Mm hmm.
Mm mm.
(41:23):
But he's so cool, too.
Kurtz
really
exudes coolness.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
I think II
hear you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(42:08):
Oh, my God.
That was good.
A hundred percent.
He is.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
(42:30):
It's very
nice to hear that.
I've seen it, but so long ago,I don't recall anything from it.
I thought about covering it,but I'm, I'm not going because
(42:50):
it's not in the 80s or the
90s.
So
I'm not.
Oh,
Yeah, I don't remember anything.
Well, no worries.
(43:10):
I think it's finally time for usto start discussing the movie.
We're here to talk about.
So let's get into the movie.
Use cars July 11th, 1980.
It's it's rated are very clearly.
It's pretty long.
It's almost 2 hours.
And Robert Zemeckis is the directorand I love all of his movies.
(43:33):
So he also is one of the writers,but he's super well known.
One of my favorites isRomancing the Stone.
I love that movie.
But also Death Becomes Her, Who FramedRoger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, back to
all the Back to the Future movies.
And there's a lot of the same actorsin this film, as well as in some
of the Back to the Future movies.
(43:53):
So Robert Zemeckis.
God, it's so good!
(44:37):
yeah,
(46:10):
I didn't see a signature with it,but it was also I didn't realize
this executive produced by JohnMilius and Steven Spielberg, which
is interesting.
(46:32):
They were, on like a World War 2 comedyand they just didn't have time to do it.
So Zemeckis did it and they produced
it.
Yeah.
I've never seen it.
(47:01):
The other, the other writerwas Bob Gale, so both.
Robert Zemeckis directed it, but he wasalso one of the writers and, and they,
I think they might be like, they teamedup on the Back to the Future movies.
So that's where he's, whatBob Gale is known for.
The music was Patrick Williams, whichI had not heard that before, but he
(47:21):
has scored more than 200 films.
Yeah.
He, he, received a 1980 Oscarnomination for Breaking Away.
Not heard of that.
He also,
Yeah.
is it?
(47:43):
Oh,
I've not heard of it.
Okay.
Okay.
I will.
He also did all of me swingshift, which we covered
also with Kurt Yeah.
Yeah.
Cuba, the grass harp, and, and he didthe music for Columbo, the Mary Tyler
(48:07):
Moore show and the Bob Newhart show.
Mm hmm.
(48:35):
Well, we have KurtRussell as our star here.
A very young, very, ugh, I just love him.
He's so attractive.
He's so charming.
I love Kurt Russell.
He plays Rudy Russo.
And then, I was mentioning movies thatpeople play multiple characters as fun.
So, this is a screwball where JackWarden plays, Twins, Roy and Luke Fuchs.
(49:00):
They're rivaling car dealership owners.
Oh, I did want to mention this is a 6.
7 on IMDb.
I'm curious what youguys think about that.
Mm
hmm.
(49:56):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is actually becausethe best movie, what is that, Shawshank?
And it's like a
9.
1 or something.
(50:51):
Well, I have a feeling that most peoplehave not seen this movie, so I will
provide a little synopsis for you.
When the owner of a strugglingused car lot is killed, it's up to
the lot's hotshot salesman, KurtRussell, to save the property from
falling into the hands of the owner'sruthless brother and used car rival.
Yeah, so that's jack wardenplaying the rival owners.
(51:14):
And he's a twice Oscar nominatedfor supporting roles in
heaven can wait and shampoo.
He was also in 12 angry men.
And he was Saul fromwhile you were sleeping.
It's been a long timesince I've seen that movie
(52:26):
Oh, oh, that's right.
I
agree he is underrated and I was readingthat he didn't want to do this movie.
The way they convinced him isbecause whoever was saying,
(52:50):
oh, actors really like to play.
Drunk, dead, or more than onepart, and he gets to play both
dead and more than one part.
Yeah,
and then the, so Kurt Russell's themain you know, your typical like
shady, shyster type used car salesman.
The other one is Jeff.
(53:11):
He's the other sleazy salesmanhas played by Garrett Graham.
And I didn't really know him from a lot.
Did you guys
yeah,
(54:20):
They did a good job.
Each character had like a story,like they did build characters.
He's very superstitious and hehas to overcome that, like that
bar scene
with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah,
there's a lot of setups.
I think that's 1 of the thingsthis movie did really well there.
There was a ton of setups thatat the beginning, you're like, I
wonder where they're showing methis and it is paid off later.
(54:43):
Usually.
Mm hmm.
Frank McRae.
Did you guys enjoy seeing him?
(55:15):
Oh, my God.
Well, you'll know some of them.
So he was in Rocky 2.
He's his boss.
He's Rocky's boss.
(55:36):
He has to fire him.
He was also in lock
up.
Also, Fist.
So he's, he's a Sylvester Sloan.
He brings him in.
He likes him a lot.
Oh, also Paradise Alley,which I actually haven't seen.
And Red Dawn, which we, he's ateacher at the beginning in Red
Dawn.
(55:58):
Yes, he's huge.
He towers over Kurt Russell.
So he plays the, his name is Jim.
He's the mechanic, but then when thecar dealership cut into a a football
game with a commercial that's illegal.
(56:19):
And then they get a tonof, business the next day.
And so they're like, well, Iguess you got to be a car salesman.
And he's dressed uplike your typical, like
used car salesman.
He's like, I don't know how to sell cars.
Yeah, he is.
It's good.
He's funny.
(57:15):
You know, it, it went on for a reallylong time, but somehow it did work.
Like it was funny.
They managed to make that scene withthe naked girl hilarious for a really
long time by showing the different typesof people watching it on TV and yeah.
And, and Jeff.
He's like, Oh, my God, the car's red.
And he's he he can't deal with a red car.
(57:36):
It's yeah.
(57:59):
Yeah.
He puts gum
on a bumper, hold
It in place.
(59:08):
Good point.
And it's like every stereotypicalused car guy is put in.
Yeah,
(59:33):
well, you guys mentioned squiggy and
and Lenny
Lenny
and I had never seen that showand I remember I was when I was
doing the research for this.
I was like, Michael McKeon is in this.
And, and then I had, I was like, oh,I didn't recognize him, but like, when
I first watched it, a young MichaelMcKeon, because I only know him as
(59:54):
like the brother in Better Call Saul.
But, yeah, and then David Lander.
So there are a team in
this too.
(01:00:57):
and it and Laverne andShirley was still in
production when
this movie was released.
Yeah, Yeah.
(01:01:23):
Spinal tap.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I it's cause I haven't seena lot of those older things.
So I only know him as an older man.
(01:02:25):
A lot of people in back to the future.
We're in this
also.
Did you guys notice who the judge was?
I about died.
I, he was phenomenal.
(01:02:48):
I was like, what acharacter of this judge is.
And then I was like, why doeshe look so familiar to me?
It's grandpa.
Yeah.
Oh,
really?
(01:03:22):
Oh,
(01:03:46):
and he says on the way to go measurethe cars, I could have played 8
rounds of golf, 8 rounds of golf.
Her whole thing.
Yeah.
Well, I was kind of wondering.
I'm like, this was 19.
I was like, did he, was he prettyyoung when he played grandpa?
(01:04:09):
I mean, he couldn't have been.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
I forgot.
I didn't want to pass over the lovelywoman who plays Luke's long lost daughter
and the love interest of Kurt Russell.
(01:04:29):
Her name in the movie is Barbara Fuchs.
Her actual name is Deborah Harmon.
Do you guys know her from anything?
(01:04:49):
Ooh, I don't know.
It's possible.
You guys probably haven't seen this show.
It only lasted a season or two, butit was a spinoff of Growing Pains
called Just
the Ten of Us.
(01:05:25):
She, she plays his wife,
Elizabeth, in Just
the Ten of Us.
He was also in Patrick Swayze's firstever movie role in 1979, Skatetown USA.
I covered it on the show and he's in that.
It's also like a crazy wild.
(01:05:46):
It's similar to this almostlike, it's just you're like,
how did this movie get made?
It's just like wackadoo.
It's
fun.
(01:06:09):
I
don't know why I
loved it.
The Lubbock Babes,
they like had a singing
group.
yeah,
yeah, Marie.
Yeah, Heather Longenkamp.
Heather Longenkamp.
(01:06:34):
yeah.
This movie didn't make money.
So, I mean, it did technically.
It cost 8 million to make and grossed.
Any guesses?
I mean, technically,
(01:06:55):
I know I listen.
So
8,
8 million.
(01:07:15):
You are, you,
(01:07:49):
well, I have noticed you are verygood at the guessing of the box
office.
So you're very close.
11.
7.
11.
7.
The reason I say it didn't do well isbecause nobody's heard of it Like you guys
hadn't seen this before had you I hadn't
(01:08:15):
Oh, Okay.
just cuz the cars Mm hmm.
(01:08:54):
one of the big movies that I mentionedwas airplane came out at the same
time Used cars, we haven't heard ofit, but it has a good IMDb rating.
Well, according to the Zemeckis andGale, the release of it was botched.
They kind of screwed up the marketingbecause they moved up the release.
It was originally going to belater in August or something.
I want to say and it testedreally, really well with audience.
(01:09:18):
In fact, the movie received the highesttest audience ratings of any movie of
any genre in Columbia Pictures history.
But it was a disappointing box office.
It was released the same weekas airplane, which was heavily
promoted and this wasn't.
This wasn't like, they moved it upand then they didn't really market it.
Speaking of underrated, the, theNew York times called used cars.
(01:09:41):
1 of the most underratedcomedies of all time.
And it's among American filmInstitute's 2000 list of 500
movies nominated for the top.
100 funniest American movies
so what do you guys do you agree?
What do you guys thinkabout the movie overall?
(01:10:33):
Mm hmm.
(01:12:31):
It's more elevated.
It's, it's interesting because thereis a fair number of slapstick you
know, situational comedic stuff.
But then there's a lot of subtlety tolike you said we like just the opening
scene, like you said, when he's turningthe mileage back, we don't see the person.
And we just see the handsof the person and his like.
Used car, pinky rings, you know, like youget a feel for, Oh, that's, I see what's
(01:12:55):
happening here.
I don't know, Yeah.
(01:13:32):
I did love, I mean, it wouldn't be ina movie now, but every couple he meets
when he finds out what their ethnicity orlast name is, then he uses the last name.
Oh, the Lopez's I'm, I'mRodriguez or whatever.
Oh, the
O'Brien.
Oh, I'm
O'Fallon.
yeah.
(01:13:59):
Yeah, yeah,
yeah, it was, and it somehow workedlike those people weren't offended.
You know, they're like, oh, yeah.
The clothes.
I mean, just the epitome of astereotypical used car salesman with
the colorful jackets and the, whatis the material polyester pants?
(01:14:24):
And the Fred Flintstone wide short tie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah
I don't know what I was expecting,but I was really surprised watching.
I really didn't know anything about it.
I thought it was going to be kindof boring like a drama almost.
And I was not expecting so muchadventure and action and just the
(01:14:47):
screwball satirical nature of it.
I don't know.
I was really.
I didn't realize that's what it was.
And so it was like afun, pleasant surprise.
(01:16:13):
Well, the guy that dies is like a goodhearted person and the brother is evil.
And then he just, you know,the typical shady used carsman.
But of course, Kurt gets the girlin the end, the answering machine,
first of all, I didn't realize therewere answering machines in 1980.
Second of all, it was thishuge piece of equipment.
(01:17:09):
What did you guys think of the dog, Toby?
I'm curious what your
thoughts are.
(01:17:36):
He was incredibly well trained.
He could pick, he was told togo get a screwdriver and he's
like, no, no, no, a fill up
screwdriver.
And so he goes
and gets a different so a lot of times.
I'm not a bit.
I love animals anddogs, but I'm in movies.
I'm sort of like, I'm notreally a fan of kids in a.
(01:17:57):
In movies either, but every once in awhile, there's a standout and I think this
dog was like, they really utilized him.
He was part of the whole everythingand that scene where he plays dead.
I was a little worried.
I was like, in 90, isthat really a dead dog?
Because he was so limp andhis tongue was hanging out.
It was like, he was dead.
He, they dated that dog for that scene.
(01:18:19):
So he was.
Agreed.
Mm
hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm
(01:19:25):
hmm.
(01:20:22):
Everyone.
You had mentioned Gru, theIranian conflict at the time.
So, where it shows up in this movieis , there's a commercial where Jeff
actually shoots up with real, apparentlyit's real ammunition shooting these
cars up and he's interviewed by the FBI.
You know, and he's like, I don't know.
I saw some guys with like
(01:20:43):
towels on their head
and weird weird beards.
And I think there
were Some Iranian students yeah, Yeah.
(01:21:50):
No, the classic cars.
So I, okay.
I was a little confused aboutthe student driver teacher.
And I was like, what's, what's going on.
They're paying for old junkcars for the student drivers.
And then.
Kurt tries to say, oh, no, thosereally old what, what we would
consider now to be classic cars.
(01:22:10):
He's like, those are the ones weshould give the student drivers.
Well, those ones were from Greece.
The
actual cars from Greece,
right?
Convertible.
And the
scorpion mercury
(01:22:31):
with It
(01:23:10):
was a real, so it wasfilmed in Mesa, Arizona.
And I guess that wasa real active highway.
And it was made filming difficult.
Cheryl Rickson played the woman whoseclothes got pulled off on the car hood.
Do you guys know who she is?
She's Australian, I guess.
(01:23:44):
Circuit Oh, yeah.
(01:24:25):
Oh, I think so too.
yeah,
I didn't know who she was, but theCheryl Rickson, who, so she was the
1977 penthouse pet of the month andpet of the year in 1979, apparently.
(01:24:48):
So
I wondered it.
That's why I was like, I wonderif they know her from that
out of the way.
Yeah.
(01:25:17):
There's like 8 kids too.
It's like a, yeah, justrunning around rampant.
I'm curious if you guys have any guesseswhat the potential alternate title of
this was and Bob Gale thought it wouldhave done better in the box office.
There was a, I'll give you a hint.
There's a slogan thatKurt says a few times,
(01:25:44):
like on
his poster for
us Senate or, state center.
Trust me.
do you guys think that wouldhave been a better time?
Okay.
(01:26:28):
Yeah, I think, I think I agree too.
I don't know.
I think they were probably justkind of 2020 looking back like, oh,
how could we have made this better?
So it did better at the box office, but.
So it wasn't originally with Columbiaoriginally, they shopped it to universal.
And they had a different person inmind for Russo Kurt's character.
(01:26:50):
Any guesses?
Not at all like Kurt, but would havebeen the perfect sleazy car salesman.
Very tan.
(01:27:17):
Not ever A list.
No, probably like a B list star.
George,
(01:27:37):
George Hamilton.
And like he
very used car salesman.
I do too.
I, yeah, agreed.
Kevin Conway passed to play Roy Fuchs.
(01:27:59):
He was offered, but he passed.
(01:28:22):
Yeah,
yeah.
A very famous actor was originallycast playing Joe Flatterty's role,
but ultimately dropped out becausehis agent erroneously double booked
(01:28:45):
him while he was filming 1941.
Which is not interesting.
John Candy.
(01:29:12):
Yeah.
Well, you guys I think this was a veryfun, silly ride with the always handsome.
And charming Kurt Russell.
But it is time to come back tothe present day reality until
the next Retro Made episode.
Evan and Andrew, I can't thankyou enough for joining me to cover
this lesser known Kurt movie.
(01:29:33):
Do you guys have any finalthoughts about used cars?
And then please don't forget totell us where we can find you guys.
(01:30:37):
Thank you.
(01:31:06):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That'd be great.
(01:31:26):
I love Jean Claude.
You know, all the, all thehandsome guys twist my arm.
But
yeah.
Well, thank you all forlistening or watching on YouTube.
And if you like the show andyou have not yet offered a
rating or review, please do so.
This is your official reminder.
(01:31:47):
And until next time, be kind, rewind.
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