Stingray (film)
| Stingray | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Taylor |
| Produced by |
Bill L. Bruce Donald R. Ham |
| Written by | Richard Taylor |
| Starring |
Christopher Mitchum Les Lannom Sherry Jackson |
| Music by | J. A. C. Redford |
| Cinematography | Frank Miller |
| Edited by | Richard Taylor |
Production company | |
Release dates | August 1978 |
Running time | 105 mins |
| Country | United States |
Stingray is a 1978 action comedy film written and directed by Richard Taylor.[1] The film was released theatrically by Avco Embassy Pictures in August 1978. The plot concerns two buddies who buy a 1964 Corvette Stingray, unaware that it's filled with drugs and stolen money. The crooks responsible for planting it in the car soon give chase, along with a number of clueless police officers. It was filmed primarily in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Plot
Murray "Icy Calm" Lonigan (William Watson) and Tony Agrosio (Bert Hinchman) are two small-time drug dealers who are set up by two crooks (Anthony Miller and Edward Morrison) during a drug trade. They planted a homer (a tracking device) inside a briefcase containing $1,000,000, after finding out, they brutally shoot both of them. Desperate, they store the money and drugs into a Corvette Stingray in a used car lot. Slim (Morgan Hatch), the owner of the lot, comes out to see what's going on. With nothing or no one in sight, Slim puts a Sold sign on the Corvette's windshield.
Meanwhile at the local A&W, Lonigan and Tony are enjoying their food when two cops bust them and take them to the station. The disgruntled Lieutenant Herschel (Richard Cosentino) is forced to let them go when the police were unable to find anything in their car, but Herschel orders his partner Sgt. Murphy (Harry Gorsuch) to follow him. Soon after, we are introduced to Lonigan and Tony's leader Abigail Bratowski (Sherry Jackson) who is disguised as a nun to avoid being recognized because she's wanted by the police in several states. The three head to the car lot with Murphy on their tail, but his car soon gets disabled by jumping over a hill. Then they pick up another of their cronies Rosco (Cliff Emmich) who has a habit of urinating 3 times in one hour, something that Tony points out later on in the film.
Much to their dismay, they find out that the car is being bought by two buddies Al (Christopher Mitchum) and Elmo (Les Lannom). As they speed out of the car lot, the gang begins to pursue them, but Al soon gets pulled over for speeding by two cops, they eventually get killed and their car blows up thanks to a drive-by shooting conducted by Abigail. Tired of distractions and complications, Lonigan decides to purchase a homer of his own so he and the gang can track them down more easily. When they catch up with them again, they manage to disrupt a street concert in the park by knocking over the stage, musicians, and sound equipment. The chase is once again cut short when Abigail demands Lonigan to pull over so she can change out of her nun costume, causing another delay. Thinking that they lost them, Al and Elmo pull their gasoline-lacking car into a service station. While they're getting gas, Elmo notices a number of bags of heroin in the back seat. He pulls Al out of the phone booth, causing him to rip the receiver out. Al, irritably, listens to Elmo about the heroin he found, they decide to keep them so they can be rich instead of being hunted down by the cops and getting killed. As they begin to leave, Lonigan spots them and Al immediately peels out of the station, with Elmo forcing to take a shortcut by running into the woods, with Abigail and Rosco on his tail. Lonigan and Tony go after Al, thinking it will be an easier way to get rid of Abigail since Lonigan has had enough of her.
As the chase begins, it gets interrupted by two country hicks blocking their path, Lonigan throws a grenade into the back of their truck, causing them to stop and run for their lives. Al eventually loses them at a construction site by temporarily disabling Lonigan's car with an earthmover. Meanwhile, in the woods, Elmo hides up in a tree to avoid being spotted by Abigail and Rosco. Elmo eventually falls to the ground, but manages to run away as the two shoot at him. Frustrated, Abigail and Rosco gets into a physical fight with her machine gun and accidentally shoots and kills him. Elmo then commandeers a motorbike.
References
- ↑ Niccum, Ann (2011-06-09). "Look out! "Stingray" is back!". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
External links
- Stingray at the Internet Movie Database
- Stingray at AllMovie