Trivia / Two-Lane Blacktop

• Enforced Method Acting: The scene of the Girl begging was not filmed with actors. Bird simply asked passers-by for money while being recorded from a distance.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: After the film came and went, Universal did not put out a home video release, partly because of its low performance and partly because of legal issues surrounding the soundtrack, in particular the use of "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors. It took a petition drive from the Seattle indie video store Scarecrow Video for Universal to even consider taking the film out of mothballs (and for director Monte Hellman to personally ask permission from the surviving members of The Doors to get the rights to the song), leading to the eventual DVD and VHS release by Anchor Bay and the later releases by the Criterion Collection.
• Invisible Advertising: The film received no ads during its theatrical release solely because the head of Universal at the time, Lew Wasserman, didn't like it.
• One-Book Author: The only acting credit for Dennis Wilson and James Taylor. While James Taylor would later do a few cameos in films like Funny People and an episode of The Simpsons As Himself as well as the occasional documentary, Dennis' only credits would be documentaries due to his death in 1983.
• The Production Curse: Three of the film's four primary cast members suffered untimely deaths. Laurie Bird committed suicide at the age of 26, Dennis Wilson drowned at the age of 39, and Warren Oates suffered a fatal heart attack at 53. James Taylor would ultimately just stick to his singing career for the rest of his life.
• Real-Life Relative: Married veteran actors George Mitchell and Katherine Squire both have small supporting roles.
• Romance on the Set: Laurie Bird and Monte Hellman became romantically involved. Her only other major film role was in his next film, The Cockfighter, although she filmed a bit part for Annie Hall before her untimely death.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: The aforementioned legal issues have prevented the release of any soundtrack album, considering that the soundtrack consists primarily of some of the biggest names in rock music at the time. (There is, however, a tribute album!)

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