Red Line 7000 (Paramount Pictures) (1965)

ESCAPE FROM FIERY WRECK — Track crew tries to douse flames enveloping injured Fabian after pulling racing driver from flaming wreck in top photo in exciting scene from American International’s “Fireball 500." Stock car racing thriller, opening -........... inh a eine at the) ee ear Theatre, also stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Chill Wills, Harvey Lembeck and Julie 2 COL. SCENE MAT 2-1 Parrish. “FIREBALL 500" IS FIRST OF Al'S NEW “YOUNG ADULT” FILMS The exciting stock car racing thriller, “Fireball 500”, represents American International’s ‘“new look” in motion pictures—entertainment designed for “young adult” tastes, according to producers James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff and director William Asher. “The same good taste in situations which distinguished the company’s ‘beach musical comedies’ will still be in evidence,” they pledged, “but the characters will be realistic and grownup, young adults in real-life problems including sex, drinking, smoking, violence, and other areas of dramatic and emotional conflict.” Starring in the AI color and Panavision film, opening at ——— a at the -—-———— Theatre, are Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Fabian, Chill Wills, Harvey Lembeck and Julie Parrish. SURPRISE — Frankie Avalon seems more concerned at interruption than Sue Hamilton in scene from American International’s ‘‘Fireball 500,”’ opening feet ae ae Rae ss ees atvtne 4]... Theatre. 1 COL. SCENE MAT 1-C STOCK CAR RACING IS AMERIC? TOP OUTDOOR SPECTATOR SPORT, When the automobile was invented and later when Henry Ford made it possible for everyone to own one, it was inevitable that races would result inasmuch as every form of locomotion — both human, animal and mechanical—has inspired competitive racing. With automobiles, however, racing contained an element of danger to both drivers and spectators which spiced its growth to its position today where it is America’s largest outdoor spectator sport and second only to basketball in total attendance. It is only natural then that stock car racing and its daring and colorful drivers should be the subject of a thrilling motion pic ture such as American International’s “Fireball 500” which stars Frankie Avalon, Annette: Funicello, Fabian, Chill Wills, Harvey Lembeck and Julie Parrish, Newspaper records tell that motor racing started well before the turn of the century and that the sport of auto racing already was becoming popular in the early 1900s. More than 15,000 persons were reported as turning out for a series of exhibition races in New Haven, Connecticut, at a half-mile dirt horse track on July 25, 1900. However, it was in Europe that the sport really flourished at first where it was spurred by the building of a modern-day type mile and a half racing oval in England—a track amazingly similar to today’s speed raceways. Well past World War I and past the days of the Great Depression, European car builders and designers specialized in sports and racing cars and they and their drivers held the great races of the time. American cars just could not match the European models and the sport lagged in this country. This is not to mean that there was no auto racing here, but that its appeal was limited. Naturally, it was Indianapolis which boasted the first track in America and ninety days later, in 1909, Atlanta opened one too with racing continuing through the years mainly in the principal Southern cities. The first Indianapolis race featured speed king Barney Oldfield covering the mile at 83.1 miles an hour—a fantastic speed for that day. But it wasn’t until JULIE PARRISH A TOP COMEDIENNE While lovely Julie Parrish stars in a dramatic role in American International’s “Fireball 500”, she admits that her heart is really set on a comédy carer. She co-stars in the stock car racing thriller with Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Fabian, Chill Wills and Harvey Lembeck who coincidentally is a veteran comedjan cast in an unusual dramatic role and who runs a comedy workshop which numbers Julie among its choice students. 1937 that auto racing started drawing big crowds and capturing popular fancy. The catalyst for the sudden growth was the importation of top European auto racing drivers and their speedy cars, with the next important step taking place in Daytona Beach, Florida, which long had been the mecca of speed in the South. It was there, on its long, smooth beach front, that most of the world speed records were set by such daredevils as Oldfield, Sir Malcolm Campbell and others. It was at Daytona that the first race limited to stock cars, that is cars made by popular Detroit manufacturers and available to anybody at auto showrooms, took place. The purse was $5,000—big money in those days—and it was sanctioned by the American Automobile Association. Top drivers of the day entered the 250 mile race which ended at only 200 miles for an average speed of only 40 miles per hour. But that was the beginning and stock car racing caught the public fancy and started to grow rapidly all over the country, pausing only during World War II. However, the sport grew in a disorganized fashion, with little supervision and control of standards of tracks. drivers, races or cars until the momentous formation of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Racing) in 1947 by a group of racers headed by Bill France. The NASCAR movement snowballed and the first Grand National Race (the division for late model stock cars) was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1949, It drew 10,000 fans and that year there were 87 NASCAR races on 25 tracks. Today there are 91 NASCAR tracks with more than 1,000 races recorded last year—55 of them Grand National and drawing often crowds of 75,000 or more. Millions of Americans are established now as fans of a recognized sport with its own safety standards, records and regulations, with total track attendance last year exceeding 40,000,000. “FIREBALL 500° IS REUNION FILM Start of production for Ameriican International’s “Fireball 500”. opening —-—————— at the ——-——————— Theatre, was multiple reunion time and working “firsts” for stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Fabian and Chill Wills. Annette and Frankie are old friends and co-workers, but it was the first time either had worked with mutual friend Fabian, As a matter of fact Fabian was one of Annette’s first dates, when she was still a Mouseketer, LOVE... LOVE — as one of Fabian’s girl friends in American International’s ‘‘Fireball 500,” tries novel way of advertising her feelings in scene from stock car racing thriller, | a aa ae at the Ss a Theatre. 1 COL. SCENE MAT 1-A FABIAN HAS CLOSE CALL, TRAPPED IN FLAMING CAR SCENE Fate tried to direct a scene during production of American -International’s “Fireball 500” in which Fabian, as a stock car racing driver, was trapped in a burning car. The flames were supposed to be controlled by the special effects crew and at the crucial high heat moment, the young actor was supposed to open the car door and get out. But, while Fabian’s new fiancee Katie Regan watched horrified and started screaming, the smoke and flames got out of hand and the door stuck while the crew worked to pry the car door open. Fortunately, to Katie’s and everyone’s vast relief, Fabian got away with a close call — smoke in the lungs relieved by a handy oxygen tank and slight burns about the neck, thanks to an asbestos suit. __ “FIREBALL 500" “CAR Uustur RACING ORIGINAL Title role star of American International’s “Fireball 500” is a sleek multi-colored mechanical beauty — the latest creation of Hollywood’s custom car expert, George Barris. Flesh and blood co-stars in the color and Panavision stock car racing thriller are Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Fabian, Chill Wills, Harvey Lembeck, and Julie Parrish. The mechanical star will be exhibited in this area at about the same time the film opens ————————————— at the —— Theatre. “Fireball 500” was born a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda and was delivered in its natural stock state to Barris for a complete Hollywood rejuvenation as Avalon’s personal racer in the new film. Custom auto maker Barris has gained considerable fame for his specialty, especially for the Batmobile, the Munster car, and many more. When the Plymouth emerged for its first day of work in the AI stock car thriller, it was indeed the show-stopper it was intended to be—as completely transformed as many movie stars after makeup and costuming. The appropriate multi-colors, the result of 40 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer, are white pearl blending into gold, tangerine ,red and burgundy. Now christened ‘Fireball 500”, it turned out to be a dual cockpit racing roadster. Cockpit cowls were formed in metal with plastic windshields and flared foam padded headrests and streamer extensions going into the back body panel. The Fireball’s wheel wells were enlarged to accommodate Firestone 700/12.50-13 tires installed on Kader spoked racing wheels. Outside rocker racing exhausts of aluminum have dual pipes extending on each side from the engine. Eight Ram-thrust inlet air tubes extend from openings in the hood to feed air directly into the engine’s carburetion system. Under the sleek hood is a power plant that befits the name “Fireball 500” — a 1966 Hemi 426 Plymouth motor that develops 425 horse power. An Isky drag racing cam is combined with Jahns highdomed racing pistons, with control in a four-speed Ansen posishift gear box installed to combine 3.55 rear end gears and the 13-inch whels. Carburetion is via dual four throat Kam-thrust manifold and Holley carburetors, with dual Dupress chrome dome electric fuel pumps keeping up a steady flow of gas. The result is smooth, fast acceleration to estimated quarter-mile drag strip speed of 160 m.p.m. That’s Hollywood’s newest powerhouse star... the all-new “Fireball 500”! py REALITY, !AKILL TOP TRACKS, DRIVERS, CARS LEND mE wil ae nwa It iki’s TA DACL IU RAUL The reality and thrills of actual racing competition, with its roaring action, near-accidents and for-real spills as the nation’s top drivers and cars race at major tracks is brought to the screen in American International’s “Fireball 500.” The slam-bang color and Panavision thriller of the men and cars of stock car racing and their women, opening .............-----------+--+at the Theatre, stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Fabian, Chill Wills, Harvey Lembeck and Julie Parrish. Avalon and Fabian portray death-defying stock car drivers, while actual racing scenes from the NASCAR Grand National tracks at Riverside, California, and Daytona Beach, Florida, add special thrills to the story. Much of the most dramatic and exciting race scenes were filmed at two other tracks near Los Angeles, the famed Saugus Raceway and its deadly “Figure 8” track and the equally famed Ascot Raceway in Gardena where the top California stock car races are held weekly. These last two tracks were the scene of real-life close calls for actor Fabian and technical advisor and ex-racer Chuck Murray. In one filmed scene, Fabian was supposed to “bail out’ ’of his burning ear, but the door stuck due to the intense heat and he was rescued with only singed hairs and smoke in his lungs when the crew managed to force open the door in the nick of time. In another “close call,” Murray was speeding along the Ascot track at over eighty miles an hour in a burning car, when the heat and flames cracked open the rear window of his stock Plymouth bringing fire to his back. He managed to brake the car to forty miles per hour and “bailed out,” overalls afire, putting out the fire by rolling on the track and escaping with severe neck burns and bruises. In the Ascot Raceway scenes, the Plymouth and other real stock cars, were driven by over a dozen of California’s top stock car racing drivers, all members of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). Another touch of reality in the story of “Fireball 500” is Fabian’s hospital scene where he recovers from severe burns. The young star is bandaged and housed in the very latest medically-approved fashion for treating such injuries — all set up under the direction of one of Los Angeles leading burns specialists. The hospital in the film is the world-famed Cedars of Lebanon. FANS DRAWN 10 SIX TYPES OF STOCK CAR RACES The forty million spectators who attend stock car racing at tracks all over the country enjoy, sometime in the same evening or day, six different types of races— varying according to what kind of cars are entered. These are late-model modified, modified sportsman and limited sportsman, late-model sportsman, “Figure 8,” hobby or cadet races, and the major leagues of stock car racing—the long-distance, late model events called Grand National Races. The Grand Nationals feature the nation’s top drivers and the biggest purses and the cars are the very latest “prides” of the Detroit manufacturers, both engines and bodies. The late-model modified races are for automobiles with bodies dating as far back as 1936 or 1937 and up through within three years of the current models. They all house current production model engines which have been modified to specifications set up by the sanctioning body for the race. Except for the cadet or hobby races, the other types are selfdescriptive as to type of car and are similar to each other. The hobby or cadet division is for drivers who are new to the sport or who are beginners. DODGER'S SCULLY NARRATES RACES IN FILM SWITCH Vince Scully, famed voice of the Los Angeles baseball Dodgers, does his specialty—play-by-play narration—but switches to stock car racing in American International’s “Fireball 500”, opening —— at the Theatre. Scully has developed his narrating to such a fine point that he this year achieved the unique distinction of receiving a nomination for an Emmy, radio and television’s equivalent of the movie Oscars, for the excellence of his work. CHILL WILLS IN REUNION WITH OLD “CELL-MATE™ FRANKIE AVALON When Chill Wills got together with co-star Frankie Avalon for their first scene together in American International’s “Fireball 500”, it was a revnion for two old “cell-mates”. The last time the veteran character actor and the talented young singer-actor appeared together in a film was as co-prisoners with John Wayne in “The Alamo” for a “term” of four months. Also starring with Wills and Avalon in the stock ear racing thriller are Annette Funicello, Fabian, Harvey Lembeck and Julie Parrish.