Thunder in Carolina | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Helmick |
Written by | Alexander Richards |
Produced by | J. Francis White |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Joseph C. Brun |
Edited by | Rex Lipton |
Music by | Walter Greene |
Production company | Darlington |
Distributed by | Howco International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Thunder in Carolina is a 1960 stock car racing film directed by Paul Helmick and starring Rory Calhoun, Alan Hale, Jr., and Connie Hines. Written by Alexander Richards, it contains 1959-vintage stock car race footage.
Filmed at a number of small dirt ovals in the South, the film is set in the 1959 edition of NASCAR's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
A stock-car veteran (Rory Calhoun) teaches a grease monkey to race in the Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C.
All filming was done during 1959 with much of the footage taken during the actual event. A film car was entered to capture on-track sequences and Rory Calhoun actually ran some laps during the race. Calhoun drives a two-tone 1957 Chevrolet, with a blue body and white top, while his friend-turned-competitor "Les York" is in a 1959 Oldsmobile.
The film is a "B" grade production in terms of budget but Thunder in Carolina managed to capture much of the sound and fury of the era.
The film had its opening engagements on June 7, 1960, in Darlington, Florence and Hartsville, South Carolina. [1]
The film was later marketed on home video as Hard Drivin' with a freeze-frame title spliced into the opening.
It grossed $271,847 in its first week in a 100 theater saturation release in the Carolinas. [2] The film was released nationally on July 15, 1960. [1] Quentin Tarantino is a fan of the film. [3]
Alan Hale Jr. was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role as Captain Jonas Grumby, better known as The Skipper, on the 1960s CBS comedy series Gilligan's Island (1964–1967), a role he reprised in three Gilligan's Island television films and two spin-off cartoon series.
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