(Foreword: this essay contains just a few spoilers of a movie that was originally released over three decades ago. Adjust your expectations accordingly.)
In the fall of 1990, I went with two friends to the local outpost of Showcase Cinemas just outside of Flint city limits to watch in first run the film adaptation of the Stephen King book Misery. I can’t remember exactly how Fred, Raymond and I had decided on Misery of all the choices at the cineplex, but I do remember that the TV commercials for it seemed to emphasize a lot of action taking place. I wasn’t particularly a Stephen King fan at that point, but I wasn’t not a fan, either. To me, this was just a night out at the local cinema with some buds, one of whom had a car.
The former Showcase Cinemas. Built 1980, closed 2007, and demolished 2016.
(Flint suburb) Burton, Michigan. Thursday, August 18, 2011.
Going to the movies in Flint was, and still is, a different kind of experience than for probably most of middle America. I say this with love and not at all with the intent of reinforcing any negative stereotypes. I’m stating this with the no-nonsense directness typical of someone born and raised in Flint. Anyone expecting to go to this type of action or suspense film in a library-quiet setting, with other audience members sitting silently, still, and upright with their arms politely folded and legs neatly stretched in front of them would be in for surprises. Depending on the type of film, location of the cinema, and time of the showing, a movie-watching experience in Flint would involve much more audience participation than in, say, more affluent suburbs or other parts of the United States that don’t have this kind of urban, working class flavor.
To be clear, there was no hooting or hollering when my family of origin went for viewing of serious films like Chariots Of Fire or Glory when they first came out. Also, as recently as three years ago, the stunningly renovated Capitol Theatre in downtown Flint was showing vintage Rankin-Bass stop-motion holiday films to the well-mannered joy and delight of a wonderful cross-section of the people of Flint. With a film like Misery, though, which advertised a certain amount of blood, gore, and mind-trickery, it was inevitably going to attract a certain kind of audience. Thirty-two years ago, my two friends and I were a part of that audience. It was also on that night that I first experienced the wonders that are Sour Patch Kids, which remain a favorite movie candy to this day.
(Here come the spoilers I mentioned at the beginning of this essay.) Toward the very beginning of the movie, we’re treated to a scene where author Paul Sheldon, played brilliantly by the late, wonderful James Caan, has just put the finishing touches on his most recent book while working in a cabin at a remote lodge in the woods. Feeling accomplished and satisfied with his work, and following a couple of his usual post-completion rituals, Sheldon then gets into and fires up his ’66 Mustang hardtop to head back to civilization. He turns on the radio, and viewers are treated to the throngs of “Shotgun” by Junior Walker & The All Stars as Sheldon pilots his Mustang through twisty, snowy mountain roads. Even now, every time I hear that great Motown classic, it’s inextricably tied in my mind to an early Mustang hardtop, in the best way.
When I had sat down to first-draft this essay in late December, the Chicagoland area and many parts of the Midwest were under a winter storm advisory. The snow had been steadily falling for about four hours by the time I had finished typing, and the temperature outside had dropped about fifteen degrees while I wrote before settling to negative degrees Fahrenheit that night. Sheldon loses control of his Mustang in similarly inclement weather, and ends up careening off the road in spectacular fashion. The car tumbles several times before landing on its roof, after which it slides further down the mountain while being further blanketed by copious amounts of snow.
Without giving away too much more of the plot for those who are still interested in watching for the first time, suffice it to say that Sheldon is “rescued” by nurse Annie Wilkes, who then proceeds to do so many bad things to him. (Kathy Bates won the Best Actress Academy Award for this performance in 1991.) In my teenage brain at the time, precious few of those horrors competed with what appeared to be the destruction of that ’66 Mustang hardtop. Granted, it hadn’t exactly smashed into anything harder than a few snowbanks, and there was no ensuing fire, or anything that would have decisively finished this Ford.
One of these Mustangs was one of my dream cars, though, and I spent what I estimate to be at least thirty to forty-five minutes past that point in the movie wondering if the car had been totaled, or if it was fixable, or if they had swapped in a “bad” one for the crash scene, or… I honestly can’t pinpoint specifically what it is about the destruction of a desirable car that just messes with me so badly, and yet I have repeatedly subjected myself to such torture with repeated viewings of such movies as the original Gone In Sixty Seconds and Bullitt, as well as television programs like CHiPs, that involve the complete annihilation of some really desirable automotive machinery.
A large part of Misery, which in my opinion is ostensibly more of a suspense film than anything else, was the sense of claustrophobia brought about by the narrow confines of the space in which the bulk of the scenes took place. The driver of our featured ’65 Mustang hardtop seemed free, liberated, and happy on the Monday in early August of last year when I had come across this sighting in my neighborhood. I love it when occupants of my vehicular subjects wave, give a thumbs-up, or otherwise seem to appreciate my enthusiasm for their vehicles. The driver of this Mustang was one such gentleman.
There are a few contrasts to be pointed out between this black Mustang and Paul Sheldon’s similarly dark-colored pony: that of the seasonal settings in which they were seen (summer vs. winter), ’65 vs. similar ’66, freedom and confinement, and a few other things. Still, and as with the Junior Walker musical gem linked above, a dark-colored Mustang notchback from the first two model years of production will probably always remind me of Misery, regardless of the setting or minor differences in the details.
In retrospect, I’m sure part of the reason for this association is that going out on weekends with friends with cars was such a new and exciting thing for me at that time, and memories of all the fun times I had as a teenager – whether being a passenger while Fred did donuts in the snow in his ’76 Nova, aimlessly walking the aisles of Meijer with Jen, or going to the mall with Olivia – were some of the happiest times of my life up to that point. That’s why many experiences from those high school years from just over thirty years ago left such a mark on me, and why many lasting mental and emotional links were formed.
Getting back to the movie, this particular Flint audience was just not having any of it. Fred and I have discussed this many times in the intervening years. He still maintains that the movie was a huge disappointment and that the commercials for it misled people into thinking it was some kind of action movie with much more blood and guts than it actually featured. (Fred’s actual words: “It sucked.”) Ray actually wanted us to get our money back at the front of the theater. Being a fan of this movie’s element of suspense and its slowly unfurling plot, I absolutely loved it, and still do. I was taken aback, even after a sustained period of loud booing and catcalls from the audience, when people started leaving the theater maybe fifteen minutes before its grand finale.
It was only at the very end, when everything came to a head, that the kinds of things that many in the audience might have been expecting started happening, and in full force. Fred and I could probably waste even more time arguing about this movie’s merits or lack thereof, but most of the time, anyway, it’s usually for comic effect. (It is on my end, anyway.) Sadly, Ray is no longer with us, having departed at far too young an age. The sight of one of these early Mustang hardtops in a dark color, or hearing the sounds of Junior Walker’s soulful saxophone in that signature Motown smash, will send me right back to a night at the movies some thirty-plus years ago when I had spent more time agonizing about the fate of the car than that of its protagonist driver.
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Monday, August 1, 2022.
Never having seen the movie Misery, all I can add is remembering the part seen in commercials where the Kathy Bates character swings the sledgehammer and the look of torture and raw fear on Caan’s face. The movie box cover you show flirts with that scene.
Fred and Ray’s opinions and desired actions sound like mine from a few years later when I saw Jurassic Park. So much sizzle, so little steak.
Regarding the Mustang…always liked them, never seen myself in one. However, as far as old and/or classic cars go, these are a solid choice. Plentiful with profound parts availability, one will still likely see old Mustangs on the road when they hit the century mark.
Jason, what you remember about the commercial is probably what most of the audience (including my friends) were going to watch more of that night.
I’m not exactly sure what prompted it, but my newest early-Mustang obsession is currently the 1971 – ’73 models. I’ve been reading a lot about them and have even purchased a couple of Mustang books to supplement one I already have. This has pointed me back to the original 1965 – ’66 models, like the featured car.
And I agree with you that when these are as old as the Model T, they will still be around.
A few right-on-target hits with this essay.
Destruction of “Things” – As someone who worked hard to earn the money to first acquire and maintain a series of old cars, and then a bit later an older house, the destruction of any vehicle or home leaves a bad feeling in my gut. For example, the crushing of the Lincoln in “Goldfinger” (totally unnecessary in my opinion) and the suburban homes in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “John Wick II” hit me where I hurt.
There are many other [older] examples, but I never felt anything when hundreds of Chicago police cars were totaled in “The Blues Brothers”. Probably that was because of the comedic sense of that movie.
With regard to homes, they are very hard and expensive to acquire, hard and expensive to properly maintain, and can be (in my case) totally lost with the single swipe of a signature on a divorce decree.
Mustangs – I did not connect with these when they came out; I preferred the Falcon Sprints or full size 389 Pontiacs instead. But now, seeing one like the car in your post makes me smile and think of 20 year old me at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing NY.
Response to Thumbs-Up – I really like the response I get when I thumbs-up a well kept classic car on the move. Just recently an immaculate late 1950s Mercedes 190 sedan cruised past Debbie and me on one of our winter walks and I waved and thumbs-upped; I could clearly see the driver’s big smile and return wave.
Let’s face it, Mercedes 190 sedans are not the usual subject of careful maintenance and restorations.
You hit on something when you were talking about the destruction of things. I can’t remember if it was something I had seen recently on CC or possibly somewhere else, but when it comes to something (a car or home) that has been well maintained, its nice apparent condition is almost like a document of all the human care that went into maintaining it.
To either destroy or let something’s cared-for condition lapse is to invalidate not only all the effort that had been spent to keep it that way, but also the reasoning behind why doing so was important in the first place.
I don’t really remember that many negative responses from drivers when photographing their cars, but maybe that’s just my mind’s filter working. Most people have seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm.
RLPaul – same. I hate to see waste.
I too saw Misery in the theater. Whether I saw a movie in a theater or on TV or video depends on when it came out. I bought lots of theater tickets in my teens, fewer during my higher ed years, plenty during the dating and newlywed era, then mighty few during a decade-long stretch when kids were young. Late 1990 was after marriage but before the first baby, so definitely theater.
I also remember the Mustang scene. My immediate association was “well of course he lost control in the snow, it was an effing Mustang!” An early Mustang may hold the title for the worst snow car ever offered by the US auto industry. I exaggerate, but not by a lot.
What I had forgotten from that scene was the Jr. Walker classic. That might be my very favorite record from the classic Motown era. That was a record that could start a party any time, anywhere. In law school, a friend and I had enough Motown albums that we combined for hits on a 90 minute cassette. This was the early 80s and I had to go and buy this record as a single because my Motown tape could not possibly omit this song. Thanks for this morning pick-me-up!
“well of course he lost control in the snow, it was an effing Mustang!”
That reputation, and the fact that a high school friend had a number of these and wrecked a few of them in the rain and snow, made me extremely paranoid when I first purchased my 2007 Mustang.
Up to then, excluding ex wives’ cars, the Mustang was the smallest car I had ever owned. Thankfully, it handles in the rain just fine. (It’s retired from snow driving, although it handled that just fine too.)
I always seem to forget the Mustang’s RWD configuration whenever I think I might want one in the garage downstairs just to have. Clearly, it would have to be just for summer cruising. When I had my own Mustang, it was in a warm-weather climate. And with that 2.3L four-cylinder engine, the only way I was ever spinning a tire was on wet, snowy, or icy pavement.
I don’t like horror movies, but I remember watching the first part of this when I was a kid just to see the Mustang. I would have been just at the point of sitting behind the wheel of my rusty junker pretending I was driving, but the movie made me run out to the record store and buy a tape of Junior Walker’s greatest hits. It’s almost 35 years later and I’m still listening to ’60s music and driving the car! It did see a few salty/snowy days back in college when someone else in the family needed the car I usually drove, but nothing like the scene in the movie.
Like most of us here, I can agree that the gratuitous destruction of anything for the purposes of entertainment is not that entertaining to me.
I also love the ’60s classic tunes. When you described going out to buy the tape, I had flashbacks to going to Tape World or Record Town at the mall and flipping through the cassettes in those giant, plastic, anti-theft sleeve things.
Misery is a classic in my opinion, and it’ll always be a favorite. I tend to prefer drama and suspense to faster action films. I like to be drawn in and built up to an emotional crescendo, and this film ticked all the boxes for me. It helps that I’m a huge longtime Kathy Bates fan, which I think this film kicked off. I wasn’t quite as shaken by the destruction of the Mustang when I first saw the movie, having had plenty of exposure to them as just “old cars” by that point. Early Mustangs weren’t exactly common in my early life, but I did have a few high school friends who drove them as their first cars. By the mid 80’s first generation Mustangs were already considered collectable, but there were still enough of them out there in well-used but running condition that a teen could snap one up within a modest budget and “restore/upgrade/modify” to his own specs. I think my teenage exposure to a few less-than-pristine old Mustangs made me indifferent to them by the early 90’s. Let’s just say I have much more appreciation for an unmodified first gen Mustang in good condition today than I did back then.
Kathy Bates was phenomenal in this. I rewatched the movie after wrapping the first draft of the essay (partially to make sure I hadn’t misremembered / misquoted some part of the plot), and the thing that struck me was wondering how many takes of certain scenes they had to do before they stopped laughing.
Bates’ performance of Annie Wilkes, and her dialogue, were so over-the-top that I kept imagining what was on the “blooper reel”, which I’m sure was gold. I did read the book after having watched the movie, and while I love my imagination, the movie is the definitive “Misery” for me.
Good morning Mr. Dennis, I know that you are a Mustang fan. You even revealed your love for the somewhat disparaged SN95 models.
My first car was a ’66 Mustang coupe. These Mustangs were “just right” in so many ways. The styling was clean with good proportions, not too big or too small, a sporty interior that could hold four, and they could be powered by many optional engines. You could find a Mustang with the amount of power that you were interested in, Six or V8.
They were fun cars back then and still are. In fact, I would say that every model of Mustang has remained a fun car. They have strayed a bit off formula over the years, the ’71-73 Mustang got a bit too big, followed by the Mustang II, which was just the opposite.
I can assure you that the SN95, that you love is just as much fun as the original models. The 2005-2009 models combined the classic styling cues with a modern driving experience. My ’06 shares garage space with my ’96, and they both make me smile when I drive them, especially when accompanied by the right soundtrack!
Jose, you have a great memory! And taste in cars. I do love both the SN-95 and 2005 iterations of the Mustang. I still remember the tagline of the new-for-’94 models: “It is what it was… and more!”
I’ve been reading a lot about Mustangs lately, especially those considered to be all the “first generation” cars from 1965 – ’73 (which I actually see as three or four distinct versions), and I keep flipping back and forth between the ’65 and the ’73 and squinting, just to get a better sense of how quickly the Mustang evolved between those years before the advent of the ’74 Mustang II. (I do respect the II.)
And from what I remember about owning my own car, the perfect soundtrack can make a fun ride so much better. My own ’88 sometimes felt like my own, personal, mobile stereo / room – my own little space where I could drive around and be surrounded by my favorite music. On cassette… LOL
You’re not the only one that sees the first generation of Mustangs a 4 separate generations Joe. I think we all even discussed it a while back. Paul jumped in IIRC to set us all straight. Even thought they all looked quite a bit different, the basic architecture was the same.
So let’s use the term “Sub-generations” for these:
1A: 1965 & 1966 (I still say there’s no such thing as a “64-1/2” 😉)
1B: 1967 & 1968
1C: 1969 & 1970
1D: 1971 – 1973
I’d even do it with my own 2007 classifying it as a 5A.
5A: 2005 – 2009
5B: 2010 – 2012
5C: 2013 & 2014
Just some thoughts…
Thanks, Rick. I had the thought this had been covered at CC before. And yes, the 5A is also my jam.
Great essay as usual, Joseph, and I am SO with you on this.
Whenever I see a classic like this taken out in a movie, I cringe.
The original “Gone in 60 Seconds” didn’t bother me as bad, as a) I never saw it until later not realizing that the Nicholas Cage movie was a remake, and b) that ’71 (turned into a ’73) Mustang was still a new car then, so not yet a classic that was taken out. After all, did we cringe at the time all those ’69 Chargers were taken out in “The Dukes of Hazzard”? (TV show, not the movie) They “WERE” a dime a dozen back then. That TV series probably singlehandedly drove up their value by upsetting the “supply and demand”, but I digress…
Nick Cage’s Mustang seen in the “Gone in 60 Seconds” remake probably bothered me more, as by then, Elanor was a classic. Although for the movie, the car was already modified and not original. From what I understand, it was a regular ’67 or ’68 GT that was modified to look like a Shelby, and even then, it didn’t quite look like an actual Shelby Mustang.
Thanks, Rick! I confess that I haven’t seen the “Gone” remake. It’s not that I don’t think it would be any good. It’s just that I like the scrappy, daggy, homemade nature of the ’74 original (including its excellent soundtrack) and just don’t want to wreck it.
I have also thought often of “Dukes Of Hazzard” and all the ’69 Chargers that gave up the ghost. Back when I was a kid, I could suspend my disbelief that the Duke Boys (and Cooter… poor Cooter) kept fixing the same car, but later when reality crept in, I realized just how much I would have loved to have a nice ’69 Charger and how many were wrecked on the show. I still love the show.
I recently watched the Dukes of Hazard movie. During the end credits they show the big jump where the boys join the interstate by supposedly driving up the concrete apron under a bridge. It took 3-4 attempts to get the car to land and not immediately break the front suspension and then swerve into the guard rail or the concrete center divider. So 3-4 cars wasted for one jump. I don’t know what became of those cars – whether they were stunt cars that could be repaired for more stunts or not. Let’s hope so. I like the Charger. I’m more of a Bullit Charger style guy.
Felt the same way about Stephen King’s “Christine” which ruined how many ’58 Furys? 24-25 of them and they were a low production car. And guess what – they want to do a remake at some point in the near future according to Wikipedia. Hopefully CGI will take care of the destruction this time.
I had two first gen Mustangs and loved them. Unfortunately both cars were previously owned by the Duke boys’ relatives and both cars had suffered greatly before my meager skills and budget tried to rescue them.
Interesting. As soon as I saw the Mustang, I wondered what you’d use as a ‘hook’ to hang your essay on.
I’ve never been much of a one for moviegoing, preferring to read a book and let my overactive imagination supply the visuals. And I hate crowds, even small ones. That said, I’d sometimes so along with a friend or two, (or later, wife) but it was always at their instigation. So much of the ‘experience’ just didn’t make sense to me; I’d just sit there and it was like watching TV but on a bigger screen – yawn. Stop fidgeting!
But occasionally what was shown on the screen managed to transcend my surroundings and yank me out of my seat and put me right in there with the action. I think of the first Star Wars movie which I saw with my best friend, or The Hobbit (with my children). I totally forgot the surroundings. Beyond my expectations. Maybe we have to experience a lot of Mundane to set off the Exceptional? I’m getting too philosophical here.
I hate to see the destruction of anything ostensibly in the name of entertainment; how ironic that the cinema complex itself had such a short life. Somewhat poignant too.
Mustang? Naturally.
Peter, you have the best scale model collection. The best.
My thing about seeing movies in theaters is that (and I’m not sure why this is) I just tend to get so comfortable that even after a good night’s sleep, I fight with myself to stay awake in the cinema. And if I end up drinking a lot of caffeine to try to stay alert, then I end up having to excuse myself. It’s a losing proposition, either way. With that said, I do still really enjoy the occasional in-theater movie experience… with or without popcorn and/or Sour Patch Kids. 🙂
I too was a huge Stephen King fan back then. I eagerly devoured all of his early books/stories and movies, even though I well knew that he notoriously despised most of the film adaptations of his work. But it was around about the time of Misery that my interest in King began to fade. I saw (and read) Misery, and I think that James Caan and Kathy Bates were great…but the story just seemed to be more of a sadistic grind that lacked the nuance of his earlier work. Also around about then, he began to release a new novel every few months and there were non-stop film adaptations, so it started to be hard to keep up, and my interest faded.
Still, I may now go back and rewatch Misery, if only for the Mustang and the Jr. Walker tune. Love that.
Your reference to audience interaction with some films (among some audiences) is spot on. This brings to mind my first viewing of Boyz in the Hood with a highly engaged local Los Angeles audience in 1991 (I was working in Compton and went out one night to catch a movie). A similar experience watching the first Fast and Furious film one night 10 years later in Atlanta. Both were viewings that more fun due to the immersive viewing experience with those particular audiences than for the stories/films themselves.
Thanks, Jeff. I read “The Shining” long after I had seen the movie (one that King absolutely did not put his stamp of approval on). The book wasn’t nearly as creepy to me as the movie, but the movie made me lose good sleep for about two weeks. And I was in my mid-20s when I had first seen it!
I also saw “Boyz In The Hood” in a theater in the summer of ’91, and while I’m sure there was audience participation, I just don’t remember. Maybe I was already conditioned by then to expect it, but honestly, I can’t recall. This was in Flint, and I did see it with a large group of peers. They really crank the volume up in theaters, so maybe that was it.
I used to read a lot of Stephen King stories when I was younger, the first being Christine, because, of course, a car story.
I probably wouldn’t have bothered reading horror stories, but he is such a good story teller. I particularly liked the ones set in his home state of Maine, and the fictional (I think) town of Castle Rock, where he would relate so much of the small towns history into the tale.
His tales of machines gone rogue, and strange things happening in seemingly normal suburbia were very entertaining.
I also loved Christine. And secretly wept when Buddy Repperton’s ’69 Camaro Z28 went up in flames.