I remember hearing about that movie for years, and after watching *Grindhouse * the other week I was inspired to get it from Netflix. I really enjoyed it in spite of some of the unintentionally weird things (Mary’s inexplicable half-british accent, the none-too-subtle homoeroticism between larry and his mechanic).
But most of all, the infamous ending just knocked me out of my seat. I can totally see the influence on Tarantino’s Death Proof now.
When I was 10 years old, and this was before HBO existed, we had something called “cable theater club” where they’d show uncut movies. there would maybe be 10 movies a month, repeated about 100 times a month. One of them was “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry”. I watched this dozens of times. One of my friends would always come over when I told him “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” was on… Eventually we knew every scene and every line in that movie.
I wonder if it’s on dvd?
Well, apparently it is on dvd :9
That ending fucking rocked!
I saw this at a drive-in theatre when I was a kid.
‘Larry! I’ve got to unload!’
Mt favorite movie ending of all time!
Saw it on late TV several times as a kid. Kind of iconic for me since then. Was about the firs title I thought of when I put together a “Love on the Lam” section in my video store. I’ve played it on the store monitors several times, and was thrilled to hear it referenced in Grindhouse.
(A recommendation for fans of DMCL: Electraglide in Blue.)
(spoilers, natch)
And yes, it is one of the greatest endings of all time.
I think what makes the ending perfect is that you saw it all the time. When you watch the movie again, look for the ending. It’s always in the background somewhere. So while a total shocker, it didn’t come out of nowhere. That’s good film-making!
A couple of years ago in a **Great Car Chases ** thread I posted this:
*One I have never heard mentioned in discussions of great car chases is *Dirty Mary Crazy Larry ** which has some terrifically shot chase scenes in a rural rather than urban environment. It also has just about the most memorable end to a chase scene of any movie other than the original The Italian Job.
Great if Grindhouse increases its popularity.
Because of this thread, I ordered the movie from Amazon. It arrived yesterday so guess what I watched last night? I’d seen part of it before but never the first half. Honestly, I was a little surprised by how good of a show it was. Not good in a Man For All Seasons sense, but very compelling with respect to a documentary of the times, attitudes, perceptions, etc. Plus, how could the previous owner of a '66 Impala and Charger fan not enjoy it?
What did I watch after? Heh, the other movie I’d just ordered with it, Vanishing Point. Yeah, last night kinda rocked. I told my wife that this morning. She said “Well, I did keep hearing the cars…”
This morning I went in and scromped my six year old awake, tickling her unmercifully. The first thing she said was “Dad, I really liked that movie last night. The ending was cool.” See, she’d curled up next to me for DMCL. Yep, even a six year old could appreciate this 'un.