Christine ( Plymouth Belvedere ) 1957
Christine
Highschool geek Arnie Cunningham falls in love with ‘Christine’, a bright red 1958 Plymouth Fury which has seen much better days. Setting himself the task of restoring the car to its original condition, his friends notice that the car is not the only thing that is changing.
Theme Tune
“Bad To The Bone” George Thorogood & The Destroyers
On the day I was born
The nurses all gathered ’round
And they gazed in wide wonder
At the joy they had found
The head nurse spoke up
Said “leave this one alone”
She could tell right away
That I was bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the bone
I broke a thousand hearts
Before I met you
I’ll break a thousand more, baby
Before I am through
I wanna be yours pretty baby
Yours and yours alone
I’m here to tell ya honey
That I’m bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the bone
Cast
Keith Gordon … Arnie Cunningham
John Stockwell … Dennis Guilder
Alexandra Paul … Leigh Cabot
Robert Prosky … Will Darnell
Harry Dean Stanton … Detective Rudolph Junkins
Trivia
To simulate the car regenerating itself, hydraulic pumps were installed on the inside of some of the film’s numerous Plymouth Fury “stunt doubles”, a mock-up in plastic that looked more like metal on camera than actual metal as it bent and deformed. These pumps were attached to cables, which were in turn attached to the cars’ bodywork and when they compressed, they would “suck” the paneling inwards. Footage of the inward crumpling body was then reversed, giving the appearance of the car spontaneously retaking form.
The Plymouth Belvedere is an American automobile model which was produced by Plymouth from 1954 to 1970.
Introduced on March 31, the 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere arrived as a two-door pillarless hardtop. It was Plymouth’s first vehicle of such design and was built in response to Chevrolet’s Bel Air. That vehicle, the first two-door hardtop in the low-priced American market, was introduced in 1950 and ended that model year with great success.
The Cranbook Belvedere was not a separate model. Rather, it was the specific name only used for the two-door hardtop version of the Cranbrook. Being built on that car’s 118.5 in (3,010 mm) wheelbase gave the two-door Belvedere very favorable proportions. Powering the Belvedere was the familiar flathead straight-6 engine. Displacement was 217.8 in3 (3.6 L), the compression ratio was a relatively low 7.00:1, and output was 97 hp (72 kW) (SAE gross). First-year prices started at US$2,114.
Trivia
Although the car in the film is identified as a 1958 Plymouth Fury—and in 1983 radio ads promoting the film, voice over artists announced, “she’s a ’57 Fury”—two other Plymouth models, the Belvedere and the Savoy, were also used to portray the malevolent automobile onscreen. John Carpenter placed ads throughout Southern California searching for models of the car, and was able to purchase twenty-four of them in various states of disrepair, which were used to build a total of seventeen models of the Fury.
Quote
Arnie Cunningham: Whoa, whoa. You better watch what you say about my car. She’s real sensitive.
Trivia
When Christine hunts down the members of Buddy Repperton’s gang, her windows are blacked out. This is presumably to give Christine a “sinister” appearance, but also, more practically, to conceal the stunt driver. However, this reportedly made it difficult for the driver to see, since these scenes were all filmed at night.
Quote
George LeBay: Her name’s Christine.
Arnie Cunningham: I like that.
Dennis Guilder: Come on Arnie, we gotta get goin’, huh?
George LeBay: My brother bought her back in September ’57. That’s when you got your new model year, in September. Brand-new, she was. She had the smell of a brand-new car. That’s just about the finest smell in the world.
Info
| Cinematography | Donald M. Morgan |
|---|---|
| Edited by | Marion Rothman |
| Music by |
John Carpenter Alan Howarth |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
|
Production
companies |
Delphi Premier Productions
Polar Film |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
December 9, 1983 |
|
Running time
|
110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $21 million (US) |
Trivia
The Camaro that Christine drags backwards at the gas station can be seen to have no engine and no interior, as it is a “shell” stunt-double car.
QUIZ 1
Which of these Story’s was Not Written by Stephen King ?
A. In the Deathroom
B. The Reaper’s Image
C. Dreams in the Witch House
D. The Boogeyman
Press for Answer
C. Dreams in the Witch House
Scroll Down for More
QUIZ 2
How does eventually Christine die ?
A. They blow her up
B. Kills herself
C. Bulldozer
D. Fire
Press for Answer
C. Bulldozer
Scroll Down for More
QUIZ 1
Which of these Story’s was Not Written by Stephen King ?
A. In the Deathroom
B. The Reaper’s Image
C. Dreams in the Witch House
D. The Boogeyman
‘The Dreams in the Witch House’ is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction. Written in January/February 1932, it was first published in the July 1933 issue of Weird Tales.
-
- The Boogeyman
-
- The Reaper's Image
-
- Dreams in the Witch House
-
- In the Deathroom
QUIZ 2
How does Christine eventually die ?
A. They blow her up
B. Kills herself
C. Bulldozer
D. Fire
Dennis and Leigh attack Christine with the bulldozer but she continually repairs herself and strikes back. The battle continues until they repeatedly drive back and forth over the car, damaging Christine so much that she is unable to regenerate. Christine’s remains are compacted by a car crusher in a junkyard. The solid single cube is then dropped on the ground in front of them. The three become alarmed when they hear 1950s rock ‘n’ roll music apparently coming from the cube, but it turns out to be coming from a worker’s portable radio; Leigh subsequently comments, “God, I hate rock ‘n’ roll.”
The film ends as the camera zooms in to the cube and a small piece of the front grille twitches slightly and then “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood starts playing.
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