HPP: How did Pontiac get involved?
MH: I don't know. I do know the GTOs were loaned to us. We kept them after filming and I actually drove one for about three months. I think I had more tickets in that three-month period than I did in my whole life outside of that time. The cops would explain to me, "Well, you know, it's because your car is orange. It just stands out more."
HPP: After you were finished with the GTO, do you know what happened to it?MH: It went back to the studio.
HPP: An interesting thing about the GTO is the fact that it's Orbit Orange and has all the characteristics of a Judge, but doesn't actually say that it's a Judge. Do you know of any specific reason for that?
MH: No. They were sent to us that way from Pontiac.
HPP: How were the GTOs modified, aside from the Keystone Klassic wheels? Did they need any special equipment for the movie?
MH: No. We just used them as they came from the factory.
HPP: How were the Chevys modified for the movie?
MH: One was an authentic race car and was too loud inside to record dialogue. The second had a smaller engine in it and was quieter. The last one was a stunt car, so it had a rollbar and equipment for the stunt shots.
HPP: Were any of the five cars lost during filming?
MH: No. James said he blew up the transmission and broke the driveshaft and rear when he popped the clutch and it went backwards, but that was the worst of it.
HPP: The final shot at McMinn County Airport in Athens, Tennesse, with the burning of the film-everyone likes to talk about it. What's your view of it and why did you do it the way you did?
MH: It came to me in a dream. I'm sure it was heavily influenced by my love of Ingmar Bergman and his film, Persona, where he has references to film within the movie, like it opens with a leader going through the projector and things like that. So I think it was a combination of being influenced by that movie and also just dreaming it. I used that ending even though I thought it was a bit too much. I had serious doubts about it. I just kind of liked it and decided to go ahead with it. The hell with it, you know?
HPP: Two-Lane Blacktop received critical acclaim seemingly across the board, but the box office returns were poor. What do you attribute to that?
MH: Well, Universal did little to promote it. Two-Lane did well in a few key cities where the theaters threw away what sparse advertising was provided by Universal, and created their own. I think we had a few other ads, but I'm not sure they were able to use them. Universal was in charge of the advertising for the opening in New York. We opened on July 4th weekend without a single newspaper ad. We had a few radio ads, but that's about it.
HPP: Do you know why Universal didn't back it as much as they should have?
MH: Well, I know they didn't like it, but beyond that, their explanation for no newspapers ads on July 4th weekend was that nobody would be in town to read them. So my answer was, "Why open it then?" They didn't show it to any critics, so by the time the reviews came out, the picture was gone.
HPP: History repeated itself when you wanted to get it released on laser disc and DVD, didn't it? Universal was reluctant again to release it.
MH: Yes. I think it was because they didn't have the music rights, so it would've been a task to reacquire them. They dragged their feet for a long time until there was a tremendous popular clamoring for it. Scarecrow Video in Seattle gathered signatures on a petition and Universal finally reacquired the music rights so the movie could be released.