Dirt is a 1979 documentary film about off-road racing directed by Eric Karson and Cal Naylor.[2]

Dirt
Directed byEric Karson
Cal Naylor
Screenplay byS.S. Schweitzer
Bud Freidgen
Tom Madigan
R. R Young
Produced byAllan F. Bodoh
John Patrick Graham
StarringParnelli Jones
CinematographyJim Deckard
Music byDick Halligan
Production
company
Pacific Films
Distributed byAmerican Cinema Releasing
Release date
  • 19 January 1979 (1979-01-19)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Box office$7.9 million[1]

Premise

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A man, Fred Cordon follows the off road racing circuit.[3]

Cast

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  • Clarke Gordon as Fred Gordon
  • Curtis Credel as Tommy Robertson
  • Kenny Griswold as Randy Gardner
  • Debbie Gunn as Dee Williams
  • Sunshine Parker as Swamp Rat Pickering
  • Lisa Lindgren as Janice Hoffer
  • Robert Hackman as Bob Holmes
  • Parnelli Jones as Himself
  • Rick Mears as Himself
  • Mickey Thompson as Himself
  • Malcolm Smith

Production

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The film was modeled on the motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday (1971), which had featured an executive producer of Dirt, Roger Riddell. The film was made over three and a half years. Parnelli Jones, who appears in the film, was an investor.[4]

The film involved over 13 cameraman and two helicopters covering thousands of miles to shoot the footage.[5]

Reception

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The film had was first released in Columbia and Albuquerque, then was rolled out throughout the country throughout 1979.[5]

The Los Angeles Times called it a "friendly but boring docudrama about off-road racing without focus... like watching an interminable home movie."[3]

However, it was a box office hit, earning rentals in the US and Canada of $7.9 million.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 302. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. ^ "Four films opening this week". The San Francisco Examiner. 16 April 1979. p. 28.
  3. ^ a b Gross, Linda (24 August 1979). "Docudrama about off road racing". The Los Angeles Times Part 4. p. 35.
  4. ^ "Dirt (1970)". American Film Institute.
  5. ^ a b "Racing documentary premieres in Columbia". The Columbia Record. 13 January 1979. p. 28.
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