Dazed and Confused, the 1993 film by Richard Linklater that chronicles the last day and night of high school in 1976 for a group of suburban Texas teenagers, probably features the most pinball of any movie I've ever seen.  Considering that I graduated high school in 1975, the arcade/pool hall featured in the movie is right out of my teenaged years.

What really peaked my interest in the arcade scenes was the shuffle alley just by front door of the "Emporium".  A shuffle alley is not something I think I've ever seen in a movie or on TV.  The most familar pinball scene in the movie is the close-up playfield action on a Bally Fireball. 

But what about the other games in the movie?  I did do a google search and a search on the Yahoo group dedicated to the movie ("the Moontower") to see if anybody else has tried this yet.  Other than the reference to the Fireball, nothing else is documented that I can find.

Well I loaded up the dvd on my laptop and with the help of the pause button and the Internet Pinball Database and it's advanced search capability, I've been able to identify the 9 games in the line-up and also the shuffle alley by the door. 



Most game photos courtesy of the Internet Pinball Database, http://www.ipdb.org.

Here is the famous "entrance" scene where Wooderson, Pink and Mitch first arrive at the Emporium. At the right of the frame is a Williams Emerald Shuffle Alley, released in 1975.  Here the game is actually being played!  You can make out the name on the back glass in this shot.
Bally's Fireball, release in March of 1972, is the pinball "star" of the movie.  It's featured in a close-up, with zipper flippers and multi-ball action. The machine is at the right end of the line-up, however this shot of Slater playing the game shows that the crew moved the game to the other side and also pulled it out about 8 feet.  I doubt that Slater is actually playing the Fireball, since you never see him and the game together. The famous "Zipper Flippers".  I would have thought that they could have rented a game in better shape.  Fireball is one of the most collectible late model Bally electro-mechanical games. Multi-ball action!
A Williams Pat Hand is second in line.  Released in May of 1975, its a perfect period machine for the movie.
Next up is a Gottlieb Sweet Hearts, a single player wedge head from 1963.
Linklater stated in an interview that the movie had to be authentic to the date, May 28th, 1976.  If a song wasn't released until July of 1976, it couldn't be in the movie since it wouldn't have been played in May.  Well, he missed on one of his pins.  Williams Aztec wasn't released until July of 1976.
The next game in line isn't a pinball, rather what is known as a "Pitch and Bat".  A two player baseball game where a smaller pinball is "pitched" and a single large flipper shaped like a baseball bat is used to hit the ball.  This game is a Williams Line Drive, released in 1972.  These games were known for the animated base runners in the back box
Another Gottlieb wedgehead is next to the Pitch and Bat.  Here we have a Gottlieb Drop-a-Card, released in November of 1971.
The green back box and the big "21" on the side made it easy to identify Bally's Odds and Evens, released in March of 1973.
This one was the toughest to identify, this blurred shot was the best I could find in the movie that showed any detail.  The big swatch of color helped, plus the fact that it was a two player game (just two sets of score reels).  This is a Chicago Coin High Flyer, released in August of 1974.  This game doesn't seem to be powered up (no lights, a dead giveway), however that doesn't seem to bother these extras.  She's working real hard at that game!
The last machine in the line is a Gottlieb Flying Carpet, released in March of 1972

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