VIVA KNIEVEL!

Movie

Year: 1977

Director: Gordon Douglas

US Premiere: June 1977

Plot Summary

Evel Knievel plays himself in this fictional tale about Evel, his troubled mechanic and drug smugglers. The movie also stars Gene Kelly, Lauren Hutton and a host of Irwin Allen regulars including Sheila Allen, Irwin's wife.

Cast

Evel Knievel - Himself
Gene Kelly - Will Atkins
Lauren Hutton - Kate Morgan
Red Buttons - Ben Andrews
Leslie Nielsen - Stanley Millard
Cameron Mitchell - Barton
Frank Gifford - Himself
Eric Olson - Tommy Atkins
Sheila Allen - Sister Charity
Albert Salmi - Cortland
Dabney Coleman - Ralph Thompson
Ernie Orsatti - Norman Clark
Sidney Clute - Andy
Robert Tafur - Governor Garcia
Marjoe Gortner - Jessie

Uncredited roles (courtesy IMDB):

Brent Dunsford - Reporter
Johnny Timko

Production Crew

Supervising Producer (un-credited) - Irwin Allen
Film Editor - Harold Kress, A.C.E.
Production Designer - Ward Preston
Music - Charles Bernstein
Director of Photography - Fred Jackman
Executive Producer - Sherrill C. Corwin
Screenplay - Antonio Santillan, Norman Katkov
Story - Antonio Santillan
Producer - Stanley Hough
Director - Gordon Douglas
Second Unit Director - Carey Loftin
Unit Production Manager - Norman Cook
Assistant Director - Malcolm Harding
Second Assistant Directors - Cheryl Downey, Louis Muscate
Executive Assistant to Producer - Art Volpert
Special Photographic Effects - L.B. Abbott, A.S.C.
Assistant Film Editor - Tim O'Meara
Sound Effects Editor - Art Pullen
Music Editor - Eugene Marks
Casting - Jack Baur
Costume Design - Paul Zastupnevich, C.D.G.
Set Decorator - Stuart Reiss
Production Illustrators - Tom Cranham, Joseph Musso
Make Up - Fred Philips
Hairdresser - Gloria Algeo
Location Manager - Sheridan Reid
Stunt Coordinator - Gary Davis
Ramp Supervisor - John Hood
Assistants to Executive Producer - James McDonald, Patricia Hadden
Unit Publicist - Tony Habeeb
Dialogue Coach - Steven Marlo
Script Supervisor - Esther Stephenson
Production Mixer - Herman Lewis
ReRecording Mixer - Art Piantadosi
Assistant Art Director - Norman Baron
Property Master - Arthur Friedrich
Camera Operator - Frank Hale
Photographic Effects - Van der Veer Photo Effects
Titles - Pacific Title
Production Services and Equipment - Burbank Studios
Distributors - Warner Bros

Trivia

Viva Knievel! was filmed under the Irwin Allen production "banner", but Irwin took an uncredited supervisory role in the production. Looking through the credit lists, it has all the hallmarks of an Irwin Allen production, with many of his favourite performers and regular production crew. The production team wouldn't let Evel Knievel do the stunt jumps in the movie as they couldn't get the $5 million insurance on him. Evel was quoted as saying "I've done a few stunts, like falling out of a wheelchair". Some footage from previous jumps was however used. Eric Olson was one of the young stars of Irwin Allen's Swiss Family Robinson television series.

Alternative Titles

France: Le Casse-Cou
Italy: Le Strabilianti Avventure di Superasso

Collectibles

Irwin Allen Memorabilia at Amazon US (#ad)

Irwin Allen Memorabilia at Amazon UK (#ad)

Viva Knievel DVD in NTSC Format (#ad)