Paula Powers, daughter of wealthy gubernatorial candidate Bigby Powers, decides to reject her parents' attempt at matchmaking and run off to Vegas to marry her sweetheart, Sam Freeman. As they drive away in a stolen Rolls-Royce, spurned suitor Collins Hedgeworth follows behind in hot pursuit, along with a cadre of goons hoping to get the $25,000 reward that's been offered for Paula's return. Can the young lovers make it to Vegas for a quickie wedding before the forces of conformity and privilege arrive to put a stop to their romance? A rich girl steals her dad's Rolls Royce and heads off to Las Vegas to get married. However, her angry parents, a jealous suitor, and a bunch of reward seekers are determined to stop her. Before Ron Howard made his most famous movies, he started with this ultra-wacky car chase story. Sam Freeman (Howard) and Paula Powers (Nancy Morgan) try to announce their marriage plans to her parents', but the latter refuse to accept it. So, Sam and Paula run away in a car. As the story progresses, the whole situation snowballs. That is, more and more people get drug in. And of course, a bunch of cars get wrecked. Much like in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", everyone drives in every direction at top speed, damn the peripheral consequences.<br/><br/>One thing that really caught my eye was that Marion Ross starred in "Grand Theft Auto". You may remember her as Marion Cunningham on "Happy Days". I guess that you could say that Richie decided to cast his mom. Maybe it would look like this:<br/><br/>Marion: "Now Richard, always remember to be careful behind the wheel."<br/><br/>(Richie zooms off.) <br/><br/>Marion: "He always took after Howard when it came to driving."<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Either way, the movie's outlandish (in fact, it's done like a B-movie), but it's impossible not to like. Forget Smokey and the Bandit, check out Grand Theft Auto if you want a car-chase movie in the comedy genre! This was also Ron Howard's directorial debut. And everyone knows him as Opie from The Andy Griffith Show, and Richie from Happy Days. It's about these teenagers who go joyriding in stolen cars, and they get into the most deliriously funny situations anyone could imagine in a car-chase movie!<br/><br/>I don't care if this movie didn't get any good reviews or if it wasn't considered 'cool', but hey, after all it was Ron Howard's first movie he ever produced. The movie may have lowbrow humor, but it's still an awesome movie worth watching! I saw this movie for the first time when I was a preteen, and to this day I still find it to be outrageously funny! If you're in the mood for a serious car-chase movie, rent something like Bullitt or The French Connection. If you want to see a funny one, rent this movie! IMHO, I think it's the funniest movie of 1977!
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295 weeks ago