The film that made Ron Howard a director wasn’t one that he directed but one that he starred in for producer Roger Corman. If this deal hadn’t occurred then Howard might’ve never won that best director Oscar.
Hoover Niebold (Ron Howard) is the teenage son of Sheriff Niebold (Walter Kemmerling). He’s always got a lead foot so he’s always getting speeding tickets. One day at the racetrack, Hoover is struck by the beauty in hot pants Darlene (Christopher Norris, yes she is a female no matter how her name sounds – those hot pants couldn’t hide much).
She challenges him to steal track king Big Bubba Jones’ (Dave Madden) souped up car. Well, Hoover is so hot for her that is exactly what he does. Unfortunately things don’t really go his way because Darlene gets in the car (yes!) but his gang of friends also piles in (no!). So now Hoover and company are zooming around the countryside pulling pranks when he could’ve had some alone time to impress Darlene.
Luckily he finally gets her to himself, but unluckily the Sheriff’s deputies are in hot pursuit and they’re eventually joined by a group of souped up (both in souped up cart but also souped up on alcohol) stock car racer friends of Jones in trying to get the car back.
As the tale goes, Roger Corman wanted Ron Howard to star in this picture. Ron wasn’t exactly impressed with the screenplay. However, he offered Roger a deal – you let me direct a picture and I’ll star in your movie. Roger is not one to let a good deal go so he agreed.
Grand Theft Auto would be the directorial debut of Ron Howard and would eventually lead to him winning an Oscar for his directing skills. Think about it, if Roger Corman hadn’t got Howard his start then all of that might not have happened. Weird isn’t it? What’s also weird to me is that I’m always confusing Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto and I had thought that this WAS Howard’s directorial debut. Just my bad brain because it’s really Charles B. Griffith’s directorial work.
I guess that’s good since I never would’ve thought that Ron Howard would’ve gone on to greater things if Eat My Dust were his. It’s not a bad film, but it’s a bit on the goofy side. I guess the teenagers of the time would’ve laughed at it and it does skewer “the man.” However it’s pretty forgettable. I guess I need to track down Grand Theft Auto and do a compare and contrast one day.
Eat My Dust is presented in fullscreen. Special features include a 1-minute introduction by Roger Corman. You can either chose to play the feature with this intro or just hit the play button to let the goofy car crashes begin. There’s also the 9 minute “How to Crash on a Dime” which interviews Christopher Norris, editor Tina Hirsch, and director of photography Eric Saarinen about working on the project. Finally you have the 1-minute trailer.
Eat My Dust is pretty forgettable, but really is goofy fun if you’re in the right frame of mind (like your mind is turned off). It’s more of a novelty in that it’s the film that got another famous director’s directorial career started, albeit by a deal to star in a film produced by Roger Corman.
Eat My Dust (Supercharged Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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