Breaking Away
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Breaking Away is a 1979 American film. A coming of age film, it follows a teenager in Bloomington, Indiana who has recently graduated from high school and is unsure what to do with his life. It stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern (in his first film role), Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley. The film was written by Steve Tesich (an alumnus of Indiana University) and directed by Peter Yates. Tesich would go on to script another bicycle film, American Flyers, starring Kevin Costner.
It won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Tesich, and also received nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Barbara Barrie), Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Picture. The film also won the 1979 Golden Globe Award for Best Film (Comedy or Musical).
The film is ranked eighth on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies compiled by the American Film Institute (AFI) in 2006. In June 2008, AFI announced its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Breaking Away was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the sports genre.
A short-lived television series based on the film, also titled Breaking Away, aired in 1980.
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Plot
Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are four working-class friends, living in a college town, who have recently graduated from high school and are forced to confront their uncertain futures. Dave's father, Ray (Paul Dooley), is puzzled and exasperated by his son's love of Italian music and culture, which Dave associates with bicycling. However, his mother Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) is more understanding.
When a professional Italian bicycling team comes to town for a race, Dave is thrilled to enter the race with the other locals competing with them. After a disappointing finish, Dave's friends persuade him to join in forming their own cycling team for the annual Indiana University Little 500 race.
Cast
- Dennis Christopher as Dave Stoller
- Dennis Quaid as Mike
- Daniel Stern as Cyril
- Jackie Earle Haley as Moocher
- Paul Dooley as Ray Stoller
- Barbara Barrie as Evelyn Stoller
- Robyn Douglass as Katherine
- Hart Bochner as Rod
- P.J. Soles as Suzy
- Amy Wright as Nancy, Moocher's girlfriend
- John Ashton as Mike's policeman brother Roy
Dooley and Christopher also played father and son in the 1978 film A Wedding and in the 2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent television episode "Cherry Red".
Barrie, Haley and Ashton continued their roles in the prequel TV series.
Real-life inspiration
The Little 500 bicycle race that forms the centerpiece of the plot is a real race held annually at Indiana University. A reenactment of the race was staged for the film in the "old" Memorial Stadium on the IU campus, which was demolished shortly after the filming of the movie.
The team is based on the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 champions, which featured legendary rider and Italian enthusiast Dave Blase, who provided screenwriter and fellow Phi Kappa Psi team member Steve Tesich the inspiration for the main character in the movie.<ref name=IAM>{{
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}}</ref> Blase, together with team manager Bob Stoller, provided the name of this character: Dave Stoller.<ref>{{
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}}</ref> In the 1962 race, Blase rode 139 out of 200 laps<ref name=IAM/> and was the victory rider crossing the finish line, much like the main character in the film. Blase himself appears in the movie as the race announcer.
Scenes shot in Bloomington
Many of the scenes in the movie were filmed on the Indiana University campus. The pizza restaurant in the film ("PAGLIAI'S") is now Opie Taylors on the east side of North Walnut Street, across from the Monroe County Courthouse. Dave Stoller's house in the film is located at the corner of Lincoln and Dodds. Other scenes were filmed outside the Delta Delta Delta sorority house (818 E. 3rd St) and along Jordan Street. Dave's "ecstasy ride" on the wooded road after first meeting Kathy (where his bike tire blew) was filmed on the "West Gate Road" in Indiana's Brown County State Park, 14 miles east of Bloomington on Indiana State Road 46. Two other scenes were filmed on North Hopeful Street (W 7th ST.), one at Fairview Elementary, the other three blocks east near the intersection of N. Hopeful and N. Madison (the old railroad tracks have since been removed). A scene in which Dave runs a red light in front of his father was filmed at the southwest corner of the courthouse, at the intersection of N. College and W. 5th streets (a few seconds before he runs it, the light is visible behind him as he rides by the courthouse and sees Moocher and Nancy). The starting-line scene of the "Cinzano 100" bicycle race was at the intersection of Indiana State Roads 46 and 446 in the southeast corner of Bloomington. The old limestone quarry where Dave and his friends swim is on a private property south of Bloomington, at the end of East Empire Mill Road (on old Indiana State Road 37), and is closed to visitors. It is now often called the "Roof Top" quarry, but was originally known as "The Long Hole" or "Sanders" quarry. The used car lot ("Campus Cars") was a real used car lot for many years, but now has two small commercial buildings on the property; it is located at 1010 S. Walnut Avenue. Next door is the local Honda motorcycle franchise seen in the background of the famous "Refund? REFUND!!" scene; it remains there today.
