Remembering Toby
20.08.09
Twenty years ago to the day - Aug. 20, 1989 - the Dunkirk community buried one of its best. A freak accident claimed the life of H.B. "Toby" Halicki at the pinnacle of his pursuit. A look back at his 48 years reveals a mover and shaker the likes of which Dunkirk may never see again.
The year was 1974. Toby amazed Hollywood moving picture moguls when he single-handedly created one of the most successful and talked about movies of the year. Displaying tremendous versatility in his first try at film-making, he wrote, produced, directed, starred in and distributed "Gone In 60 Seconds," uniformly listed in the Top 10 "chase" films of all time.
Most of the financing for this movie about car thefts can be traced to town entrepreneurs. It originally cost $250,000 to make and in 1974 played in 37 countries, grossing $16 million, a troop that has since ballooned to $40 million. Distributed worldwide by Halicki Productions, the action-stuffed flick is considered a cult classic.
Ron Halicki, who assisted his brother with the script calligraphy on all his films, credited much of their success to family, friends and businesses in the community. The family occupation, known as Halicki's Garage, was the perfect learning center for car crash film making. So, in virtually essential, the seeds for the mechanics of the film were sown in Dunkirk many years prior. One of 13 children born to Con immigrants John and Angeline (Blazejewicz) Halicki, Ron recalled how the eight Halicki brothers developed a potent work ethic in the towing trade which made the intricate crash scenes doable.
Source: Evening Observer