IMDb RATING
6.3/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
A deranged desert town sheriff has a murderous habit of forcing speeders to their deaths, until a young man with a souped-up hotrod arrives to possibly end it.A deranged desert town sheriff has a murderous habit of forcing speeders to their deaths, until a young man with a souped-up hotrod arrives to possibly end it.A deranged desert town sheriff has a murderous habit of forcing speeders to their deaths, until a young man with a souped-up hotrod arrives to possibly end it.
Don Mantooth
- Jack
- (as Donald Mantooth)
Joe Estevez
- Don McCord
- (as Joseph Estevez)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJoe Estevez, who played the sailor driving the car (Don McCord), is the real-life younger brother of Martin Sheen, who played Don's brother in the movie.
- GoofsThe engine in the real '34 Ford was just a plain 302 Ford with a single four-barrel carb. To make it appear more of a hot-rod engine, the engine actually shown to Sheriff Roy Childress is the 327 Chevy from the yellow '32 coupe from American Graffiti (1973) with four two-barrel carbs.
- Quotes
Howard: Your Honor, I plead nolo contendere.
Judge J.A. Hooker: That's the same as guilty. That will be a one hundred dollar fine or 10 days in the county jail.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Third Annual 'on Cinema' Oscar Special (2015)
Featured review
Better Than Your Average Made For TV Movie
The executive producer Paul Mason was very fortunate to have acquired such a talented group of actors for this made for TV movie back in 1974. You won't get any better than Nick Nolte, Martin Sheen and Vic Morrow joining forces in this low budget movie. I quite enjoyed the drama and the action that The California Kid presented using the small town of Clarksberg as the back drop for the movie in 1958.
The Sheriff Roy Childress is played by Vic Morrow whose salary is drawn by how much the judge can fine the unsuspecting visitors who go over the posted speed limit even by 5 miles per hour. And if the speedsters try and avoid capture, well Vic Morrow just runs them off the cliff as they attempt to allude capture and make the state border.
A lot of the interaction takes place at the local town restaurant where the waitress Maggie played by Michelle Phillips serves the best hot coffee in town. Then one day a hot rodder named Michael McCord played by Martin Sheen comes driving in to town. We soon find out that Mr. McCord is not in town by accident, but seeking answers as to how is brother died falling over a cliff outside of town while driving with a friend.
Martin Sheen is such a super star that he can take a basic script and elevate the movie from a 2 star to a 4 star rating by himself. Adding to the star quality you have Nick Nolte as the local mechanic Buzz Stafford whose younger brother also recently died at the hands of the mean Sheriff Roy Childress.
The movie will keep you wishing for revenge for the young murder victims and that Sheriff Roy Childress will get his comeuppance. The late model 1950's circa cars ridden by Sheriff Roy and by Michael McCord are awesome to look at and watch during the speed racing scenes.
The epilogue leaves the fans with the feeling that justice has been served. How? Well you will just have to watch the movie for yourself. You won't be disappointed in this 1970's made for TV movie. Keep in mind that both Nick Nolte and Martin Sheen went on to the big screen and starred in some of the biggest box office movies over the next three decades. We were lucky to have them both on our television sets starring in The California Kid.
The Sheriff Roy Childress is played by Vic Morrow whose salary is drawn by how much the judge can fine the unsuspecting visitors who go over the posted speed limit even by 5 miles per hour. And if the speedsters try and avoid capture, well Vic Morrow just runs them off the cliff as they attempt to allude capture and make the state border.
A lot of the interaction takes place at the local town restaurant where the waitress Maggie played by Michelle Phillips serves the best hot coffee in town. Then one day a hot rodder named Michael McCord played by Martin Sheen comes driving in to town. We soon find out that Mr. McCord is not in town by accident, but seeking answers as to how is brother died falling over a cliff outside of town while driving with a friend.
Martin Sheen is such a super star that he can take a basic script and elevate the movie from a 2 star to a 4 star rating by himself. Adding to the star quality you have Nick Nolte as the local mechanic Buzz Stafford whose younger brother also recently died at the hands of the mean Sheriff Roy Childress.
The movie will keep you wishing for revenge for the young murder victims and that Sheriff Roy Childress will get his comeuppance. The late model 1950's circa cars ridden by Sheriff Roy and by Michael McCord are awesome to look at and watch during the speed racing scenes.
The epilogue leaves the fans with the feeling that justice has been served. How? Well you will just have to watch the movie for yourself. You won't be disappointed in this 1970's made for TV movie. Keep in mind that both Nick Nolte and Martin Sheen went on to the big screen and starred in some of the biggest box office movies over the next three decades. We were lucky to have them both on our television sets starring in The California Kid.
helpful•30
- Ed-Shullivan
- Oct 21, 2013
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- California Kid
- Filming locations
- Piru, California, USA(as Clarksberg 1958)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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