Christine at 20 - the Famous Fury
Christine the Book (by Michael Morelli)
In 1982 writer Stephen King completed a new horror novel called "Christine". It was about a 1958 Plymouth Fury that possesses its new owner, high school nerd named Arnie Cunningham.
In the book Mr. King makes several references to the 1958 Plymouth Fury that were not accurate. We have come up with some errors about the 1958 Fury that appear in the book:
Book: Christine is referred to as a four door.
Fact: The 1956-58 Furys only came in a two-door hardtop. It was not until 1959 you could get a four door Fury.
Book: Christine is red and white. (It is mentioned that she was a special order.)
Fact: The 1958 Fury only came in buckskin beige with gold trim. The 1958 Belvidere, the next model down, was available in toreador red and iceberg white, with silver trim.
Book: The transmission is called hydramatic.
Fact: That was a GM transmission, Plymouth had the TorqueFlite.
Book: One line says, "I saw Christine's transmission lever suddenly drop into drive."
Fact: The 1958 Plymouths had push button drive.
These are just a few errors we mention that are found inside the book. If you have a copy of the first issue hard cover with the dust jacket, you will find on the back cover a picture of Mr. King sitting on the hood of a 1957 Plymouth, not a 1958.
In an interview Mr. King was asked, why all the errors? His response was that he wrote the middle first, then a few years later wrote the beginning and end. He needed to come up with a car brand name and found Fury the most fitting. Webster defines Fury as "Violent, intense anger." Need we say more?
Christine, the movie (by Michael Morelli)
It has been 20 years since we got our first look at the forgotten 1950s Mopar, the 1958 Plymouth Fury (named "Christine"). You can still find it on TV quite often on various channels throughout the year. The movie still draws an audience and is said to have a cult following.
In 1982, Stephen King sent Salem Lots movie producer Richard Kobritz a copy of his soon-to-be-published novel Christine. Kobritz loved it and wanted to make it into a movie. He had only one man in mind for the job, John Carpenter. Carpenter was known for his horror hit Halloween. They were friends and wanted to do a project together and thought the book was sensational. Screenwriter Bill Phillips was hired to take a 471 page novel and turn it into a 150 to 200 page screenplay. A screenplay was written for the movie and presented to Stephen King, who gave his OK. A casting call was made for the actors (Mr. Carpenter wanted mostly unknowns).
Due to time and money constraints there were several changes made for the adaptation from paper to film. Here are some major changes made from the book to movie:
- Christine now became a 2 door Fury, like the factory car, with the exception of her color. There is no mention as to why she is "born" red like in the book, but the opening scene of her on the assembly line gives an indication she was a special order Fury.
- In the book, Christine's previous owner is Ronald LeBay, who sells the car to Arnie, and after his death we meet his brother George. In the movie, Ronald the owner had already passed away and it's George who sells the car to Arnie and later tells the car's history to Dennis.
- In the book Arnie unknowingly runs drugs for Darrnell, which is why Christine kills him. In the movie, Arnie runs auto parts and Darnell is killed because he sees Christine in her "damaged state."
- In the book it is Ronald LeBay who possesses Christine and Arnie. In the movie, it is Christine who is born possessed on the assembly line.
- In the book, Arnie fights LaBay's evil spirit, which is inside him. While doing so, LeBay's evil spirit kills Arnie and his mother. In the movie, Christine accidentally kills Arnie as they are doing battle with Dennis and Leigh. (Arnie's mother does not die in the movie.)
- The book takes place in Pennsylvania while the movie takes place in California.
- The book has Dennis going for a ride with Arnie in Christine. During this ride Arnie starts to turn into LeBay. Also during this ride Christine takes them back in time to 1958. In the movie, during this ride, Arnie's transformation to LeBay and the time travel trip does not appear.
- [Dave in Seattle added: Ronald LeBay was Roland in the book; and while Arnie was arrested running cigarettes in the book, this was changed to drugs in the move. Christine kills Darnell to make the case against Arnie go away.]
These are just some of the many differences between the book and movie. Again these were removed or changed due to time constraints but with this it has no major bearing on the main story plot.
Christine, the car (by Michael Morelli)
Ads were placed across the country to buy available 1958 Plymouths. A total of 23 1958 Plymouths were purchased and customized to look alike. Only 16 were used for filming, the others for parts. Belvideres and Savoys were used along with Furys for filming. The Fury in 1958 was only available in buckskin beige with gold trim. The Furys and non-red Belveders/Savoys were painted red and white and the gold trim was painted silver or made for the cars that did not have it as an option. The Fury interior was also changed to bright red with dark red inserts to match the now red color.
The opening shot of Christine being assembled shows her as the only red Fury. This scene had to be filmed first so the cars could be re-painted and smashed up. If you look closely, the Furys do not have the gold trim or the word "Fury" on the fins. The trim on the movie cars had already been painted silver for the transformation that would take place after this scene was filmed. All that needed to be done was paint the cars red and tint the windows.
Production began April 25, 1983. "Christine" opened December 9, 1983. It was described by Time Magazine as "John Carpenter's best film since Halloween."
Over the past 20 years, several people have turned their 1958 Plymouths into Christine clones. Some Furys have been painted red, while some stock Belvideres have had Fury engines put into them. It is very hard to tell a "Christine" clone from a real red and white stock Belvidere unless you know the Fury well.
By the movie's wrap, only three pristine "Christine's" were known to have remained. These three cars went on the road to promote the movie, and were later sold to collectors.
Sometimes strange things happen and part of movie history is found. A fourth movie car survived!! It is the Moochie car that was found in a salvage yard and restored. Its current owner tells this car's story here.
We have included three photos for the story. One is Martin's Christine movie car, my 1958 stock Belvedere that some may call a clone Christine, and a stock Fury in its factory color and trim.
Driving Christine (by Michael Morelli)
To answer the question, there was NO remote control used in any of the 24 cars used in the movie Christine. When Christine became "evil," her windows were painted black and a small cut was made and covered with window tint so the stunt driver could see out. He had no side or rear vision. Night driving was very difficult, that's why these guys are pro drivers. There was one scene at the end, when the car crashes inside the garage hitting the office wall and Arnie goes through the windshield. For this scene, the car was hooked up to cables, and pulled through the wall. A stunt man dressed as Arnie, went through the (fake) windshield after the crash. The engine sound was dubbed in after in post production.
If you would like to find out more behind the scenes of the making of Christine, a DVD "Special Edition" was released 2 years ago. This has over an hour of special effects, interviews, deleted scenes and much more. If you are a fan of the movie, this is a must.
Christine the Car (by Martin Sanchez)
She was one of over 20 or so cars used in the movie Christine. I acquired her in 1984. She was the actual stunt car from the alley scene chasing Moochie up where she corners him in the loading dock. Being pushed from behind by a dozer, another car with rubber front end parts was used where she actually crushes herself into the area to get Moochie. The dozer was easily edited out later.
She was the only 3 speed overdrive in the bunch. I know this because the guys on the set forgot and when they went to start her up she was in gear and lunged forward almost taking out some equipment. "Bad Christine," they shouted.
I bought her 18 years ago from the back lot of a studio in L.A. She was going to be saved for a movie that was in the works at the time called "Cat's eye," however, they found a perfect red and white Belvedere 4 door and shot the footage they needed from the front and then the rear. Since the car was not used it was scheduled to be scrapped. My friend Al Newman from "Classic Wheels" out of Anaheim informed me that I may be able to save her.
Because of his connection with movie cars and the studio not wanting the liability of selling these to private parties, he picked her up for "parts." I was able to buy her for $900 and flat bedded her home along with boxes of parts. I was also given a script, movie stills, press kit, rubber moldings, fenders, etc. I even found the "CQB-241" license plate that was on the car during the filming in the trunk.
When I bought the car she had no interior, just a simple roll cage, 5 point harness, one plastic racing type seat and the windows were all painted black on the inside with the exception of a small driver section which was a patch of black window tint so that the stunt man could see. Most of the stainless moldings and trim were rubber or plastic. There were also 4x4 inch wooden beams between the firewall and front core support and the radiator was mounted in the trunk so that in crash scenes the radiator fluid would not spill out.
The cars that were running were labeled "Muscle one," "Muscle two," etc. My car had "Muscle two" on the underside of the hood. The non runners were pulled on rolling dollies. Al from Classic told me where all the wrecks were sent and I was allowed to go into Bill and Ed's Auto Wrecking in Fontana California. This is where all the smashed cars were sent. I quickly made friends with the owner there. I was told that possibly 27 Plymouths were used. Sadly, a very small handful were actual Furys.
It took the film makers almost 2 1/2 years to locate them through DMV records and ads. Ironically, like Arnie, I was able to pull parts off the wrecked cars. Most of my front and rear stainless came from the burn car. They had used rubber cement and poured it all over the car and set it on fire. The sport line trim came from some of the ram cars, and out of the 57 and 58 Belvederes in the yard I was able to put the interior together. I was 20 years old when I found Christine and put her back together. I did not set out to build a show car, just a nice driver and she is still running and looking good after 18 years.
