The Open Road: Two-Lane Blacktop (35mm)
Opens November 2, 2026
An unnamed drag racing duo (James Taylor and "The Beach Boys"' Dennis Wilson, referred to as The Driver and Mechanic in novelist Rudy Wurlitzer’s screenplay) head eastward from Los Angeles in their souped up ‘55 Chevy. They cross paths with an orbit-orange GTO and its wandering loner of a driver played by Warren Oates, bedecked throughout in a kaleidoscope wardrobe of cashmere sweaters. Vying for the attention of a restless hitchhiker in tow (Laurie Bird), the trio embark on a race for pink slips across six southern states. Filmed in sequence and entirely on location, Monte Hellman’s low budget masterpiece of highway philosophy features gorgeous widescreen photography and sparse, existential dialogue that captures a moment in time when, as Vincent Canby states, “faith in God is a lot less important, less immediate and even less mystical than faith in the internal combustion engine.” The quintessential American road film.
“In Two-Lane Blacktop [the road] becomes something altogether different and far more interesting: a repository of dreams and fantasies, for squares, hipsters, and obsessives alike…It is a movie about loneliness, and the attempts made by people to connect with one another and maintain their solitude at the same time—an impossible task, an elusive dream.” — Kent Jones
35mm print courtesy of Universal
- Director: Monte Hellmann
- Principal Cast: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Dennis Wilson, Laurie Bird, Rudy Wurlitzer, Harry Dean Stanton
- Country: USA
- Year: 1971
- Running Time: 102 min.
- Producer: Michael Laughlin, Gary Kurtz
- Screenplay: Will Corry, Rudy Wurlitzer, Floyd Mutrux
- Cinematographers: Jack Deerson, Gregory Sandor
- Editors: Monte Hellman
- Filmography: Iguana (1988), Cockfighter (1974), The Shooting (1966), Ride the Whirlwind (1966)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Universal