Herbie Rides Again

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Herbie Rides Again
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Produced by Bill Walsh
Written by Gordon Buford
Bill Walsh
Starring Helen Hayes
Ken Berry
Stefanie Powers
Keenan Wynn
John McIntire
Huntz Hall
Richard X. Slattery
Raymond Bailey
Liam Dunn
Vito Scotti
Chuck McCann
Elaine Devry
Music by George Bruns
Cinematography Frank V. Phillips
Editing by Cotton Warburton
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures Corporation
Release date(s) 1974
Running time 88 minutes
Language English
Preceded by The Love Bug
Followed by Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
IMDb profile

Herbie Rides Again (1974) is the second in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie the Love Bug, a white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. The movie starred Helen Hayes as Grandma Steinmetz, Stefanie Powers as Nicole Harris, Ken Berry as Willoughby Whitfield, and Keenan Wynn (reprising his villainous role as Alonzo Hawk).

Herbie Rides Again was followed by the theatrical sequels Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) and Herbie Goes Bananas (1980). Another theatrical sequel, Herbie: Fully Loaded was released in 2005 by Disney.

Tagline: The 'Love Bug's' back in a NEW hilarious adventure!


Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story begins with Alonzo Hawk; an overambitious, wealthy, opportunistic, and ruthless man whose dream is to build skyscrapers that dwarf every artificial structure in the world. To do this, he destroys older, historical buildings to make room for his skyscrapers. That these older buildings have historical and/or humanitarian value means nothing to Hawk; they are simply in his way.

Hawk has a prime location for his most gigantic building project yet: Hawk Plaza. Hawk states that his plaza would put the Golden Gate Bridge and Empire State Building to shame. The only obstacle is an archaic firehouse inhabited by Grandma Steinmetz (widow of its last master, Fire Captain Steinmetz, and therefore its legal owner), her granddaughter, flight attendant Nicole Harris, and their sentient machines. There are three such machines of the household: Herbie the Love Bug, an orchestrion that chooses its own songs, and a retired tram known simply as "old #22". Being that their mistress is the aunt of Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett from The Love Bug), these have come to depend on her. Herbie's former owner Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is mentioned to have gone to Europe trying his luck racing with foreign cars, while Tennessee has gone to visit his ailing philosophy teacher.

Alonzo Hawk has made numerous attempts at evicting Mrs. Steinmetz from her firehouse, intending to imprison her in an assisted-living facility of his own making. But each time around, his unreliable lawyers fail miserably. The arrival, therefore, of Alonzo's lawyer nephew, Willoughby Whitfield (Ken Berry), is music to his Uncle Alonzo's ears. Feeding Willoughby a version of the situation that makes Alonzo out to be the injured party, Hawk sends his nephew to do the dirty work.

Willoughby, who has been nurtured all his childhood by his mother Frieda on highly falsified stories of his Uncle Alonzo, is ready and willing – at first. Meeting Mrs. Steinmetz and coming to grips with her passionate granddaughter Nicole Harris – who has sworn revenge on Alonzo Hawk for destroying her former neighborhood – soon changes his views. In the course of the day, Nicole tells Willoughby with a well-aimed fist, a story of how she lost her home, and a hefty wallop with a boiled lobster (in that order) that Alonzo Hawk is a ne'er-do-well who is only rich because of pulling the rug from underneath people's feet.

Somewhat the worse for wear, Willoughby decides to go home – in disguise. However, an argument with his mother on a payphone at the airport over the nature of his disguise (a trenchcoat, a hat, and a false beard and moustache) reveals him to Nicole. She convinces Willoughby to stay, much to the delight of her grandmother, who wants her Nicole to marry Willoughby. Herbie is more than willing to oblige. Being fully automatic, Herbie arranges courtship by driving them off to romantic places and forcing them to stay there. talking.

On their return from one such trip (a visit to the beach), however, they find bad news. Every stick of furniture from the Steinmetz firehouse, from #22 to the carpet, has been stolen by Alonzo Hawk's messengers. Mrs. Steinmetz, Willoughby, Nicole and Herbie track the theft to a warehouse and all together break and enter (Herbie smashes the doors open). The security guards are not willing to take anything from their territory "without Mr. Hawk's OK", but Herbie differs. He pushes loads of furniture onto the guards, trapping them. Herbie and company immediately gather their furniture and head home.

On the way, Mrs. Steinmetz rides in #22 while Nicole and Willoughby follow in Herbie. Piled into #22 is all the furniture, as well as a drunken man named Judson (John McIntire), who thinks that he is on the public street-car line. Mr. Hawk is in hot pursuit, but not for long.

Out of ideas, Alonzo Hawk recruits an independent demolition agent named Loostgarten (Chuck McCann), a former Hawk employee who is eager to please. But Willoughby has a plan of his own. Disguising his voice to sound like that Alonzo, he makes a phone call to Loostgarten and tells him not to demolish the fireshouse that night, instead directing him to a certain house which is supposedly condemned. Loostgarten arrives at midnight, but is uneasy, so he calls Mr. Hawk for confirmation.

Alonzo has been having nightmares, mostly about Herbie. It started with counting sheep, but he wound up counting Volkswagen Beetles instead. The Beetles developed enormous shark-like teeth, and began chasing Alonzo; next thing he knew, he was tied to a totem pole with Beetles wearing Native American headdresses, with throwing-axes in their antennae, doing a war dance – balanced on their rear wheels – around him (Alonzo ended up completely bald after he was scalped by a well-aimed axe!); and finally, in the style of King Kong (1933), Alonzo found himself a giant figure on top of a skyscraper, being buzzed by small flying Beetles with wings, which shot him off the skyscraper by squirting oil at him. When the nightmare is interrupted by Loostgarten's 'phone call to confirm that this house is definitely slated for demolition, Alonzo replies "Of course it is, you idiot! I know it like I know my own address!" Ironically, it is his own address and, as if on cue, a huge demolition ball then crashes straight through his bedroom wall!

Loostgarten is interrupted in his destruction of the house by an indignant Alonzo, who falls from the broken wall and chases his former ally, intending to beat him.

In the morning, Hawk calls for a truce with Mrs Steinmetz. Pleased at such a resolution, Willoughby and Nicole go out for dinner, as a means of opening their hearts. At home, Mrs. Steinmetz invites Mr. Judson to sit and talk about their common interests.

But Alonzo Hawk violates the truce, sending an army of earthmovers to crush the firehouse and its inhabitants. The only means of defence is a long-unused high-pressure fire-extinguishing hose, which Mr. Judson uses with some accuracy, knocking two earthmover drivers right out of their seats. Herbie drives off to get help.

Mrs. Steinmetz and Mr. Judson lose their only means of defending the firehouse when the old hose suddenly bursts. But all is not lost: it is here that Herbie's unicorn-like tendency to life is infectious. Not only does he recruit Willoughby and Nicole, but summons his 'friends'; a slew of other Volkswagen Beetles who come from various places in the city (the roadside, a lock-up garage, car dealers, a drive-in movie theater – even an extremely dented and beat-up Beetle from the scrapyard answers Herbie's call!); together, Herbie and the Beetle battalion drive Alonzo Hawk's scheme to ruin. Alonzo runs away, and is nearly knocked down by a police car. As Alonzo is babbling about being chased by "Cars! Millions of them!" and the cops see no such thing when they look back the way he has come, they come to the conclusion that Alonzo is nuts, and promptly bundle him into the police car and take him away! Willoughby stops Herbie from going too far by threatening the Beetle that he won't be invited to the wedding – a statement which puzzles Nicole, who knows nothing of any such ceremony.

Within a few days, the aforementioned wedding takes place at the firehouse, with Mrs. Steinmetz as matron of honor and Mr. Judson as best man. Nicole Harris has now become Mrs. Whitfield; she and Willoughby contentedly leave the firehouse in Herbie, through an arch formed by the other Volkswagen Beetles, for their first year.

[edit] Cast

* Billed in opening credits, but not closing credits; not credited with specific rôle on-screen. The following parts can now be identified: Iggie Wolfington (Lawyer #3); Norman Grabowski (Security guard #2); John Myhers (Announcer – San Francisco's Office of the President); Robert S. Carson (Lawyer #4); Fritz Feld (Maitre d'); John Zaremba (Lawyer #5); and Alan Carney (Announcer – Chicken Tournament).

[edit] Trivia

  • Herbie switches from a 1963 Beetle to a 1965 several times; note the side glass – 1965 Beetles (except for the Brazilian and Australian models) had enlarged quarter and door glasses.
  • Keenan Wynn's character Alonzo Hawk had previously appeared in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Son of Flubber (1963), although in those two films his middle initial was 'P' where in this film, it is 'A'.
  • The Steinmetz firehouse was a re-dressed version of Jim Douglas and Tennessee Steinmetz's home in the first movie.

[edit] See also

[edit] External link


The Herbie films
The Love Bug (1969) • Herbie Rides Again (1974) • Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) • Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) • Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
Made for TV: Herbie the Matchmaker (1982) • The Love Bug (1997)
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