Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Gordon Buford (characters)
Arthur Alsberg (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance | Action | Family

Tagline:

The Love Bug falls 'hood-over-wheels' for a classy chassis!

Plot:

Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is racing in the Monte Carlo Rally. Unbeknownst to Herbie's driver...

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Volkswagen | Monte Carlo | Volkswagen Beetle | Robbery

Cast

Dean Jones	...	Jim Douglas
Don Knotts	...	Wheely Applegate
Julie Sommars	...	Diane Darcy
Jacques Marin	...	Inspector Bouchet
Roy Kinnear	...	Quincey
Bernard Fox	...	Max
Eric Braeden	...	Bruno Von Stickle
Xavier Saint-Macary	...	Detective Fontenoy (as Xavier Saint Macary)
François Lalande	...	Monsieur Ribeaux
Alan Caillou	...	Emile (Chief Inspector of France)
Laurie Main	...	Duval (diamond guard)
Mike Kulcsar	...	Claude
Johnny Haymer	...	Race official
Stanley Brock	...	Taxi driver
Gérard Jugnot	...	Waiter

Also Known As:

Cupido motorizado en Monte Carlo (Argentina) [es]
Der tolle Käfer in der Rallye Monte Carlo (West Germany) [de]
Herbie al rally di Montecarlo (Italy) [it]
Herbie en el Gran Premio de Montecarlo (Spain) [es]
Herbie en el gran prix de Montecarlo (Spain) (DVD title) [es]
Herbie i Monte Carlo (Sweden) [sv]
La coccinelle à Monte-Carlo (France) [fr]
Riemukupla Monte Carlossa (Finland) [fi]
To katsaridaki sto Monte Carlo (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | Spain:T | UK:U | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Laguna Seca Raceway - 1021 Monterey Salinas Highway, Monterey, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The gas cap used in the film was fake. As every Herbie fan knows, Herbie's gas tank is under the hood, (as revealed plenty of times in the original movie). The fake gas tank was added so that the gem thieves could easily stash the diamond inside Herbie, without looking conspicuous. The tank was removed in the remaining sequels.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the final race, we see Herbie from the perspective of Bruno von Stickle's side mirror, but the 53 on the hood and the license plate read the right way instead of reversed, so it's obviously an optical.

Quotes:

Jim Douglas: Is that a knocking I hear in the gas tank?
Wheely Applegate: Not in my gas tank. Never!
Jim Douglas: Sounds like something clonking around in there.
Wheely Applegate: [not giving in to any problems that could deprive them from their chance of winning the race] Well, we either listen to the driver and stop to take the gas tank apart, or we listen to the mechanic and try to win this race.
Jim Douglas: I'm listening to the mechanic.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (2008) (TV)

Herbie the horny goes to Monte Carlo !

Even Disney are guilty of the cash cow disease, after the roaring success of The Love Bug in 1968, the house of mouse cashed in with Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo, and Herbie Goes Bananas. Neither sequel capturing the charm and inoffensive appeal of The Love Bug back in 68, in this one we find race driver Jim Douglas and his sidekick Wheely Applegate, entering Herbie in the Monte Carlo Rally. Naturally things outside of the race start to take over priorities, they get mixed up in a diamond robbery and Herbie falls in love with another car!. The car stunts are of course pleasant and easy on the eye, and it would be churlish of me to really vent venom on such a friendly piece of fluff, it's just that the film goes nowhere fast and personally now i can see it for the coin motivated piece of work it is. Still you get to see Herbie take a bath, foil the baddies and of course dance for the lady in his life, so something there for everyone i think....................4/10.