1969 to 1975 Imperials on the Silver Screen

Imperial Home Page -> Screen Stars -> 1969-1975

If you encounter any more sightings, please let me know! I'm also interested in expanding these listings with further juicy gossip, tidbits, trivia, scandal, or whatever else that will make these movies more enticing. Thanks!

Vanishing Point (1971) - Barry Newman, Cleavon Little (early scene), 1970 LeBaron Sedan

Snatched (1973) - Howard Duff, Leslie Nielsen (TV Movie), 1971 Imperial limousine

Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972) - Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman , 1971 LeBaron

Stone Killer, The (1973) - Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, 1973 LeBaron

From: Imperial67@aol.com

I just found an amazing double-bill of 1970 Imperials! They're in Russ Meyer's second film for a major studio (ie, Russ Meyers tries to go mainstream but still with the giant-breasted women), "The Seven Minutes" (20th CenturyFox, 1971, based on the Irving Wallace novel). It's an incredible courtroom drama about a obscenity trial with a splashy ending with none other than Ms Lily Munster herself, Yvonne DeCarlo.

Both Imperials -- a black 1970 4-door and a green 1970 2-door, both LeBaron hardtops, of course -- are driven by "bad guys" in the film, and the 2-door gets some front shots that could practically be suitable for advertising were they not clearly the evil lawyer's car! And the black 4-door practically head-ons a red Beetle!

"The Seven Minutes" showed on cable channel fXM (Fox Movies) New Year's Eve. If anyone knows of a good online TV guide so we can find this again, please let me know! (I don't think this movie's available on video.)

From: jingraha@esu3.esu3.k12.ne.us (Jeff Ingraham) - I was watching Miracle on 34th Street (the 1972? version with David Hartman as the lawyer, and Sabastian Cabot as Santa) and at the end where they are driving out of town, they are in a 72 or 73 Imperial LeBaron 4dr HT.

Myra Breckenridge (1970) - Raquel Welch, Mae West, John Huston. 1971? - Awful/Good campy Raquel Welch comedy w/ John Houston's bigfuselage Imperial shown parked sporadically through the film.

Mean Streets (1973) - Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, 1972 Imperial LeBaron

The Confession (1999) - Alec Baldwin, 1973 Imperial LeBaron

The Sunshine Boys (1975) - Walter Matthau, George Burns, 1973 Imperial LeBaron. 

Uptown Saturday Night (1974) - Bill Cosby, Sidney Portier, 1973 LeBaron

Till Death Do Us Part - 197?

From: fburock@bccl.org (Frank Burock)

THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972) -- starring Ray Milland and Rosie Greer. Believe it or not, Milland also did FROGS the same year. Milland plays a racist scientist/physician who is dying and wants his "brilliant" head put on a better body. The movie isn't that bad. A silver frost (charcoal) 72 Imperial is featured quite a bit chasing the creature in a 68/69 Ford. At the end, there is also a 55/56 Imperial or 300 appearing, driving away with the passengers singing "oh happy day."

WINTER KILL (1974 TV movie) -- stars Andy Griffith and Nick Nolte in a wintery serial murder mystery. Griffith is the sheriff trying to solve it. A regal blue 73 Imperial 4 dr is used a few times, driven by the wife of one of the suspects. Saw this on TBS/TNT, never was available for purchase.

SUPERCOPS (1974) -- New York City crime drama, stars David Selby (Quentin in Dark Shadows) & Ron Leibman as 2 undercover cops exposing police corruption. A blue 73 Imperial 2 dr appears as a stolen vehicle early in film.

COFFY (1973) -- Pam Grier film that has three fuselage Imperials in it. In the opening credits drive scene, there is a sky blue 73; midway through, a black 71 limo appears, and near the end a 72/73 true blue is seen.

There are also countless Imperials (1966 - 1973) used in the series Mannix. Syndication only has from 1968 through 1973 episodes. It is currently being shown weekdays at 5 am TVLand, and just last week [February 2001] they started it over with episode # 1, which fittingly had Jill Ireland (later Mrs. Charles Bronson) driving a 66 taupe 4 dr Imperial.

From: daniel.bode@rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de (daniel bode)

I once saw a late episode of the original "Mission Impossible" TV series. Jim Phelps drove a blue 70 or 71 Imperial LeBaron 4drHT. Was there a contract between Chrysler Corp. and the company that produced theoriginal "Mission Impossible"? Or will I have to wait for the next rerun to get this one answered?

Subject: Imperials in Mission: Impossible

From: seifer29@eos.net (Scott)

There may have been many Imperials used throughout the Mission: Impossible television series. I think Chrysler supplied the cars and I seem to remember a few shows where Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) would drive up in an Imperial to listen to his "this tape will self distruct" instructions.

I think there may have been a few scenes where they used Imperials in diplomatic situations, too.

At the time, it seemed like if you wanted to check out Chrysler products, you watched _Mission: Impossible_. If you wanted to see Ford products, you watched _The FBI_.

Today I watched, "The Sunshine Boys," (1975) with George Burns, Walter Matthau, and Richard Benjamin. I saw this film was already listed on the website, but I thought I'd elaborate on the posting. The car in question is a Rallye Red, 2-door hardtop, Imperial LeBaron Coupe, with a white vinyl roof. It is equipped with the rare power sunroof. The car also has the
right side-view mirror, door edge guards, white leather interior, bucket seats up front, and the Tilt-A-Scopic steering column. This is all I could gather based on the views of the car. Boy was it a beauty. It was given a fair amount of time on screen. There is even a seen with George Burns and Richard Benjamin in which the car is identified:

George Burns = G.B.
Richard Benjamin = D.B.

G.B. -- "My daughter drove me. She has a car"
R.B. -- "Oh, that's nice."
G.B. -- "1973 Chrysler. The Imperial"
R.B. -- "Oh yes. That's a wonderful car."
G.B. -- "Good car."

You'll note the improper identification of the car's model year. One of the writers must have goofed. It's the first time I've ever heard the car identified in a film by one of the characters. This should make for interesting trivia on the webpage. I hope you've found this entertaining. Watch, "The Sunshine Boys," if you haven't already. It's a fantastic movie.
That's all for now.
Sincerely,

Jonathan Lichtenstein

 

Rockford Files - In two 1974 episodes (a two-parter actually) of "Rockford
Files", a yellow w/ black top 1974 LeBaron two-door was used by thugs
tailing Rockford as he investigated a swindle. The Imperial shows up all
thru the two episodes.

Banacek - In a spring '74 episode of "Banacek" (w/ George Peppard) a
wealthy cattLeBaron uses a dark green/green 1974 LeBaron 4-door as his
executive chaffuer driven sedan. The car makes several appearances in the
episode.

This page was last updated August 20, 2003.  Send us your feedback, and come join the Imperial Mailing List - Online Car Club