The could not have been on US 60 based on the visuals. Immediately after leaving Socorro, NM they were on divided highway. They would have to be on I-25 south to I-10, or north to I-40. The most logical route, shorter and faster, would be to go north to Albuquerque and then west on I-40 to Barstow, and then continue on CA 58 through the Tehachapi Pass and into Bakersfield. Besides being shorter and faster, they would also pass through more small and medium cities.
I was born and raised in Phoenix. I joined the air force in 1974 and watched this movie in Monterey, CA while attending the Defense Language Institute in 1975. I drove the route from Phoenix to Monterey (and back) several times along various routes.
I think that the screen writers and/or director lost track of things while they were scouting locations. Some of the scenes were shot about forty miles south of Tucson in Amago, AZ.
I am still enjoying TCM's travelogue through Arizona. Now, I'm looking at what is supposed to be the Petrified Forest, but it is clearly a sound stage in Hollywood.
The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.
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movies789
9 years ago
I lived for many years in both Phoenix and Tucson (although you don't have to be an Arizonan to read a map), and you're right about the odd routing they took (entering Tucson on a surface street, for one, rather than via I-10). My point was that, once AT Phoenix, you don't progress west toward their stated Shangrila of Monterey by diverting southeast to Tucson. What route they took to arrive at Phoenix is beside the point (mine, anyway).
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