Vanishing Point, The Chase Goes On. Cisco, Utah, 2013
The 1971 very, very low-budget cult classic, Vanishing Point… remember it?
The main protagonist: Kowalski (Barry Newman), still grieving over his dead wife and a past as a decorated Vietnam vet, a former motorcycle racer and race car driver, and an ex-cop–“ex” because he tried to do what was right among a band of bad apples.
The second main protagonist: a 1970 Dodge Challenger (in the final scene, actually a TNT-laden Camaro).
The blind oracle: Super Soul (Cleavon Little, of Blazing Saddles fame), a DJ who gives Kowalski instructions over the radio waves on how to evade the police… and turns him into “the last American hero” with thousands of the “common folk” cheering him on.
The plot: Basically a car race and chase from Colorado to California.
The significance of it all? Nothing… or everything. Is it just a meaningless car chase film with a cool muscle car as a main star? Or, is it a treatise on existentialism… the meaning of life, freedom, the State, authority, and death? What does it all mean, anyway? As the music says: “Nobody knows, nobody sees, till the light of life stops burning, till another soul goes free.”
The last scene of the original 1971 movie was filmed in Cisco, Utah (there was no Cisco, California)… and Cisco, Utah, even today, certainly looks the part of an end times stage set. (See also: Feb 9, 2013 blog entry, “Cisco, Utah”.)
Cisco Gas Station. Cisco, Utah, 2013
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10 Comments
Last March 2014 i rent a car out of Vegas and drove up to Goldfield,NV it not a ghost town and the hotel building still a good shape where super soul DJ was film in the corner of the building also across the street their Brown auto part store is still there it looked the same.
That’s cool, Michael! Hopefully, you were making pictures!
Bob Dog,
I was wandering back through some comments, saw yours, and went off to see your website. Wonderful stuff! Whimsical, historical…but not. Really interesting work. Your vision is definitely unique! Thanks for visiting. DanJ
Daniel,
I saw Vanishing Point on a little B/W TV back in 1977, of course it was the cut for television version.
Always wanted to see it again, so I ordered it up from NetFlix. New, bright, Blu-ray, looked as if it were just made. Loved it, brought back good memories of that time. On The Road.
Still kind of a Latter Day Existentialist.
The cool thing is that I went on the net to look up stuff about the film after seeing it again. While browsing the images I came on your pic from Cisco. I did not open your site or even slow down, just checking out all of the images.
That was Friday night 3/22/2013. On Sunday afternoon 3/24/2013, I was driving from Arizona to Colorado through Utah. Out of Moab I went up UT-128 and took the scenic turn, through Cisco, to access I-70. As we drove into Cisco I yelled out “I can’t believe it”, pulled a Kowalski- esc U, and came to a stop in front of the old Shell station were your photograph of “Vanishing Point”, painted on the up turned pump base, was taken. Snapped a couple of pics with my iPhone and drove on into Colorado.
After further research I realized that the film both starts and ends in Cisco UT. All due to that photograph. And good timing.
Thank you for posting the photographs and this fine page. It helps to make Vanishing Point one of my important, if not popular, films. Right in there with Rancho Deluxe.
I will never again miss an opportunity to turn right and go through Cisco.
In the way, Bob Dog
Bob Dog, thanks for the interesting back story about your experience with Vanishing Point and with the ghost town of Cisco! Yes, that place is pretty peculiar and definitely worth a stop when in the area. I, too, plan on returning every time we are out that way. If you posted your images anywhere, let me know and I’ll stop by for a look. Thanks, again! DJ
Hello Daniel,
Great pictures, thanks for uploading. I’m a bit nostalgic of my years as a youngster, and I vividly recall the movie “Vanishing Point”, which I saw several times back then in the early 70’s.
I’ve recently discovered that the Shell Gas Station at the end of the movie is in Cisco, Utah, in ruins, but still standing to some extent. I see that you took a partial picture of it as recently as Jan 28th, that is about 3 weeks ago, and there’s a thick layer of snow.
I’m planning to visit the location this year, so my question is about the present integrity of the house. Does it still withstand a load of snow on the roof?, or is it already collapsed?.
Thanks!
Patricio, I think the gas station will withstand a few more years of snow for sure. I think the biggest reason for the destruction is simple vandalism (unfortunately). So, yes, the place is definitely worth a visit. It is pretty bizarre. I get the idea that there might be a few souls living there from time to time, so just be aware and respectful. I’d love to see your images after your visit. Have fun!
Thanks for the quick reply. I’m glad to know that the house is still standing (as opposed to many others from Cisco that have not resisted the passing of time and are already collapsed).
I’ll be attending a conference in Las Vegas by mid July (I’m from Chile, by the way), then I’ll probably plan a side trip to Cisco (I guess I’ll need at least 2 days for that), and also I’d like to include a visit to Goldfield, Nevada (that’s where the KOW radio station scenes of DJ Super Soul were filmed), which I understand is also a ghost town.
I’m planning to make a commemorative plaque with a snapshot of the house from the movie, as it was back in 1971, and leave it there with he purpose of explaining to visitors the significance of that house, and hopefully to prevent more vandalism and destruction.
I’ll keep you posted, thanks again.
Definitely let me know how your trip goes! You could spend a lifetime in that Moab, Utah area with your camera and not see it all-it’s a wonderful place. Conozco un poco de Chile…estuve un tiempo en Mendoza, Argentina y viajamos desde Santiago hasta Puerto Natales (el auto en el barco) y volvimos a Mendoza por el lado argentino. Espectacular!
Veo que tu Español es tan bueno como tu Inglés. Me alegro de que hayas disfrutado tu paso por estas tierras sureñas. Nunca he estado en Puerto Natales, pero sí en Punta Arenas, ambas ciudades muy cercanas al fin del mundo.
Well, back to the “official” language of your blog, I see that you are very much into the artistry aspect of photography. That’s a very cool art, and it certainly requires a big dose of talent and sensitivity. The American south west has fantastic scenery for photographers. I visited Monument Valley a few years back. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I like desert and silence over forest and jungles, though certainly both have their own appeals.
I was an avid B/W photographer back in 1980-1982. Good cameras were very expensive by then, my father did an effort and bought me a Zenit 35 mm reflex camera, which was affordable by then and had all the basic features of a Cannon or a Nikkon. I was in college by then, we had a laboratory, and my primary interest was the technical aspect of photography, that is, film sensitivity, developing, enlargement, etc. Did a lot of that, but never got much involved in the artistic aspect.
Well, I’ll start planning my visit to Cisco, I definitely want to go before the “Shell Gas Station” sucumbs to the elements and the passing of time.
Regards.