Herbie Rides Again

"The Loveable Bug's back doin' his thing!"

1974 1h 28m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 455

RomanceComedyFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.

“The Loveable Bug's back doin' his thing!”

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Cast

Helen Hayes
Mrs. Steinmetz
Ken Berry
Willoughby Whitfield
Stefanie Powers
Nicole
John McIntire
Mr. Judson
Keenan Wynn
Alonzo Hawk
Huntz Hall
Judge
Ivor Barry
Chauffeur
Dan Tobin
Lawyer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Stevenson
Writers: Bill Walsh
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Herbie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Frank V. Phillips. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Helen Hayes and Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Loveable Bug's back doin' his thing!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Stevenson directs. Frank V. Phillips behind the camera. George Bruns scores. Cotton Warburton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
252 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Herbie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Frank V. Phillips. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Helen Hayes and Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The Loveable Bug's back doin' his thing!".
9IMDB entry: tt0071607 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Frank V. Phillips
Original score: George Bruns
Editing: Cotton Warburton
Makeup / hair: La Rue Matheron
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $38,229,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Herbie Rides Again (1974)

Part of

Herbie Collection

Herbie is an anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, and is a serious contender in auto racing competitions. Throughout most of the franchise, Herbie is distinguished by red, white and blue racing stripes from front to back bumper, a racing-style number "53" on the front trunk lid, doors, and engine lid, and a yellow-on-black '63 California license plate that says, "OFP 857". One exception to this is his introduction in The Love Bug, where he initially appears as a nondescript white vehicle with a gray colored fabric sunroof (a.k.a. "ragtop"), the style of sunroof offered on VW Beetles made through 1963.

Also by

Robert Stevenson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-07-11
★ 6/10
Herbie’s back Tennessee Steinmetz’ aunt (Helen Hayes) is the new owner of Herbie and lives in a firehouse in San Francisco. A notorious real estate magnate (Keenan Wynn) wants her property to build a huge complex, but she won’t sell. When he sends his green lawyer nephew (Ken Berry) to persuade her, the nephew meets her displaced neighbor (Stefanie Powers) and changes sides. Can Herbie & Co. overcome the schemes of the dastardly mogul? "Herbie Rides again" (1969) brings back the lovable Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own and a whole new cast. I like the fact that they completely changed direction and it has its points of interest, like the creative dream sequences and Herbie’s army, not to mention Berry and Powers. It’s cute and fun, but it’s probably my second least favorite of the franchise. The best ones for me are “Herbie Goes Bananas” (1980), “The Love Bug” (1997) and “Herbie Fully Loaded” (2005) with the 1997 one arguably being my favorite because it has a compelling story and features the Dark Herbie and Alexandra Wentworth. The film is short-and-sweet at 1 hour, 28 minutes and was shot in San Francisco and Paramount Ranch, Agoura, California. GRADE: B-/C+
CinemaSerf2023-12-27
★ 6/10
Helen Hayes is the single-minded "Mrs. Steinmetz". She is determined not to be forced from her alleged "firetrap" home by the mall-building millionaire "Hawk" (Keenan Wynn). Luckily she has "Nicole" (Stefanie Powers) to help out - and she proves especially useful when "Hawk" sends his gullible nephew "Willoughby" (Ken Berry) to try and charm the old woman from her home. Now she is the aunt of "Tennessee" (from "Love Bug" - 1969) and happens to be the new owner of "Herbie" and it's clear that our honourable VW is unwavering is a desire to help the old girl too. Battle lines are drawn and soon the wrecking balls are at the ready, the cleaning foam hoses are primed and we get ninety minutes of rather predictable slap-stick capers. It's not that this is a bad film, indeed both Hayes and the megalomanic Wynn are both quite good, it's just that there's nowhere near enough of our magical car, and what we do get is all just a bit routine. Berry is a relatively charm free foil for what limited humour there is and the story is all just a bit too thin and procedural. It comes across as a sequel for the sake of it, rather than because anyone involved had any passion for the project, and though perfectly watchable it is equally perfectly forgettable.