Bruce Brown gives legendary racer Cal Rayborn instructions on Brown ’ s helmet camera setup at Daytona International Speedway in March of 1970 . Rayborn , of course , also appeared in the speed record streamliner portion of the movie filmed at Bonneville , Utah .
them . “ The only boss I ’ ve ever had or wanted is me .” And he walked away .
Some of you might remember On Any Sunday II , the 1981 sequel to the original . Bruce was not involved , having pretty much retired after OAS . “ These shuck and jive guys rounded up some investors ,” Malcolm told me , “ then came to see me one day in a big black Cadillac limo , with two hot babes inside . They got me into the limo and tried to persuade me to invest . I felt they weren ’ t honest , and didn ’ t give them a penny . Anyway , the project stalled and had to be rescued by Joe Parkhurst of Cycle World and Roger Riddell . But without Bruce ’ s talent , it flopped .”
Final Words
The closing scenes of On Any Sunday , shot on the beach at Camp Pendleton in the twilight , are wonderfully captured , the funky , ’ 60s-era , Dominic Frontiere Orchestra soundtrack ’ s title cut – sung superbly by Sally Stevens – making the slow-motion riding by Mert and the boys all the more memorable . I sometimes watch it when I ’ m feeling low , and bang ! It does the trick every time .
“ I often wonder how things would have turned out for me had I not been in the film ,” Malcolm told me . “ But what ’ s clear is that Bruce gave me millions of dollars of free publicity , and the movie today is more popular than ever . We sell copies of the DVD like crazy from our store to this very day .”
“ I watched it a year or two ago ,” Bruce Brown said in an interview before passing away in late 2017 . “ I ’ m not a fan of watching my movies . But I thought , ‘ It ’ s not that bad !’ I ’ m proud of it . Proud of what it did for the motorcycle community .”
“ You make a movie to make it , and maybe get your money back ,” says Bruce ’ s son – and successful moviemaker himself – Dana Brown , “ and all these years later , all these lives are changed . The spirt of [ On Any Sunday ]… every generation gets it ! It ’ s my favorite . It ’ s amazing the influence it ’ s had , the genuine fondness folks have for that film .”
Genuine fondness . And it never seems to get old , either .
How many movies are like that ? Just the classics , really . Star Wars . A Christmas Story . Caddyshack . Gone With the Wind . And others .
On Any Sunday is indeed a classic , and we love it . Just like we love our Moms .
34 | JANUARY 2021 | THUNDERPRESS . NET