Film of the Week: Ford’s “The Secret Door” 1961

When watching this film, I kept thinking ‘what an amazing time to be working in Detroit’! Check out this behind the scenes look at the Ford Design Studio in 1961. This was part of Jack Douglas’ TV series called ‘Keyhole’ (a look behind the scenes), and in this episode viewers get to enter the Ford Motor Company’s Advanced Styling Center in Dearborn, Michigan. This is the time period when Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ spent untold millions retooling models year after year, with a heavy emphasis on styling, colors, and interiors. Ford designers could also freely think up futuristic concept cars based on rockets and spacecraft, even if it was very unlikely they would ever go into production. There’s also a very sad moment when you see a full size concept car get destroyed- A fate all too common for these special works of art.