History Lesson: Electronic Music and Sporty-Looking Junkyard Employees Enhance Driver Safety
I wrote about this fine movie four years ago yesterday, but so far it hasn’t attracted the cult following I think it deserves. Entitled “What’s The Big Hurry” and released in 1970 to no-doubt-bewildered Driver’s Ed students, the film was directed by Sid Davis and features extremely weird electronic music by Louis Barron. Junkyard employees pulling a GM A-body’s wiper motor with a gas-axe, long pans past wrecked Porsche 914s and VW Beetles, and all of it taking place in Huntington Park, California.
Yes, one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time!
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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Yes, it's good. I don't think this holds up to Caterpillar's "Shake Hands With Danger" however.
Someone explain 5:30 to me. Were Jane and her friend driving to the movie in...a police car? Maybe they were both cops? Who REALLY LIKED Robert Redford? good find, i lol'ed