I have a confession to make before I even get to my Traumafession: I have never seen the Clint Eastwood movie The Gauntlet. My dad took me to see other Eastwood-Sondra Locke vehicles, namely the goofy but fun Any Which Way films, but never this 1977 crime flick.
So how does a picture I've never watched end up as something that traumatized me as a youngster? Look no further than the 30-second TV spot.
Put aside for the time being that someone in a position of power at Warner Bros. decided that the advertisement for a tense, edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting action film required a voiceover by radio's American Top 40 host, Kasey Kasem. The really scary moment happens at around the 12-second mark in the ad.
It is then that the passenger-side door of a racing ambulance opens, and Sandra Locke spills out of it. She clings to the door for dear life while the freeway flashes by beneath her. She screams as she hangs scant inches above the tarmac. What makes matters worse is that she seems to be dressed in only a blue t-shirt and short-shorts. Talk about road rash!
Who is she? Who is chasing her? Why is she in an ambulance? Why is the ambulance driving so fast? Why isn't she wearing her seatbelt? None of these questions mattered to my then 6-year-old brain. The only fact I gathered in that one-second-long clip was that car doors opened for no good goldang reason while you drove on the highway, so you better be ready at all times!
After seeing this ad for The Gauntlet, I was very wary of sitting next to the door while accompanying my parents to the grocery store, the mall, or to Grandma's house. Remember: this was the 1970s. As a little kid, no one cared much about my safety. I didn't have to ride in a special seat in the back of the car. Heck, my sister used to sit on the central fold-down armrest in the front seat of our Pontiac Grand Prix – sans seatbelt! The chances of being launched head first through the windshield or bouncing like a superball off the dashboard during a head-on collision were quite a few percentage points higher than the door inexplicably opening while being chased down Route 65 by evil cops who wanted to make sure I couldn't rat them out.
Yet, as a little kid, I made darn sure that the door was shut firmly and locked tightly before we backed out of the driveway. I didn't even like touching the door's armrest or handle until the car was at a full stop. I assumed that when my dad took the car in for its yearly inspection, the first thing on the to-do list was "Make sure doors do not open on their own during high-speed chases."
To this day, when I get into a vehicle, the image of Sondra Locke will flash through my mind, and I'll keep as close a watch on the door as Woody Allen did on Christopher Walken's hands on the steering wheel in Annie Hall.
-James Lewis of LARPing Real Life
Good to see Clint Eastwood getting some love as I'm a big fan of his films. I have never seen that tv spot, but it makes me wish we still lived in a world where Casey Kasem was voicing Shaggy as well as voice overs in trailers and films like The Gauntlet were "now playing everywhere".
Thanks, Ghastly1! I'm a big fan of Eastwood's no-nonsense style of filmmaking, too. It's very straightforward and "simple," but also incredibly effective and affective.
At first, when I found the trailer, I thought it was for a TV broadcast of the film – due to Kasey Kasem's voiceover. The "now playing everywhere" bit kinda shocked me.
The trailer for "The Devils' Rain" scared the willies out of me as a kid. Saw it before some family friendly content at the Drive In. I don't think they cared what trailers they showed before what features back in the day.
Just watched "The Changeling" a few days back. Totally forgot that it was an Eastwood film – good stuff.
I love Clint Eastwood as an actor or director. PLAY MISTY FOR ME, THE BEGUILED and TIGHTROPE are all big favorites of mine as well as Dirty Harry series & “The Man with No Name†trilogy!
Wish he wasn’t such a big dick to Sondra Locke though! I read her autobiography and he seemed like a real jerk but I can’t help liking his work anyway. Hopefully she can kick him in the shins in the afterworld and all will be fine.
Additionally, can I just say that THE GAUNTLET poster by Frank Franzetta is such a beautiful thing! I want that on a T-shirt right now. what a great artist. He did a couple images for Battlestar Galactica that I’ve always dug too.
Thanks again for sharing this great post James!
The Gauntlet also has a great score by Jerry Fielding, with excellent work by saxophonist Art Pepper. I’m throwing this information into the discussion because I am a big jazz nerd. As is Clint – I wouldn’t be surprised if hiring Pepper was his suggestion.
Yes, SmallDarkCloud! I'm a big, big fan of jazz, too, and I love tat Clint uses it in many of his films. I wish more pictures had full-on jazz scores. I've been listening to a lot of Ennio Morricone scores from the 1970s lately — his jazzier work is incredible. Makes those gialli even weirder!
Chuckles72, The Devil's rain is an unsung classic! Those black pits where their eyes should be — GAH! Too scary! I can only imagine what a child seeing that in a trailer would make of it.
Unk, that poster is a beautiful work of art. It's nice to see Frazetta paint something other than fantasy. I'd love a great big version of it for my wall.