The Car (1977) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - May 13, 1977

Star James Brolin is reputed to have quipped that the working, or shooting, title for this film was Wheels. A tongue-in-cheek reference to the at all in no way subtle fact that The Car is a Jaws knock-off. This film, just as yesterday's subject (William Girdler's Grizzly) did, duplicates the narrative structure of Jaws almost point-for-point. The only thing missing here is a problem denying town official. Somebody that emphatically refuses to cancel the town parade because there is no way for that psychopath to drive his measly little sedan into the center of town and through the gathered crowd of townsfolk. Not if the town sheriff (James Brolin) would do his job.

One interesting piece of trivia about this desert set oddity. The script was written by the then writing team of Dennis Shryack and Michael Butler. This creative duo would retrain the desert vistas as location and backdrop for yet another vehicle heavy action-thriller script that was produced and released at the close of the same year. The Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke road movie The Gauntlet.