MOVIES: Sometimes I hate the stuff I know about old cars!

So, the wife and I are watchin' the Black Dahlia. I'm kinda marveling because it looks like the movie company nailed the look of the timeframe (1947). The suits, hairstyles, buildings...etc.... And then Josh Hartnett (a cop) is chasin' some dude down. He tackles the perp infront of a '39 or '40 Merc... onto a stack of RADIAL TIRES

I'm sure this movie and several others have details that aren't era correct with non-automotive items... but you'd think Hollywood could atleast get tires right.. ha ha ha

As an aside, some movies I think are pretty "spot on" are:
The Rocketeer & A Christmas Story.

 

Well, I just saw a new toilet paper commercial - a little dog is telling people to be careful about sitting down, right?
So a guy starts to sit on the front of a VW Karmann Ghia and the dog says, "careful, it's hot" as the guy suddenly jumps up.
Of course, the engine is in the back of the VW.

 

Hmmm,. I dont give a shit, no offense but we dont go to movies, we care little about hthem and it is not likely to change......................I think I am part of a growing number of Americans that are in the same boat.

 

We don't "GO" to the movies either... I'm too cheap to spend the $20 bux on admission and then buy popcorn!!!! I rent 'em from the local movie place when they are $1.99. (Old Skool VHS baby!)

Gotta say, it was WELL worth the $$$ for "The Worlds Fastest Indian".

 

Gotta say, it was WELL worth the $$$ for "The Worlds Fastest Indian".[/quote]

Agreed!

 

Worlds Fastest Indian was one of the few period pieces that actually got the cars right. In so many movies that take place in the past, they always seem to fill the streets with mainly fancy top of the line convertibles and hardtops, like that was all you saw in the '50s. Most people drove 4 door boringmobiles, same as they do now, and you didn't usually see immaculate '57 Chevy convertibles with spots, spinners, skirts, and Continental kits. I always appreciate it when a producer goes the extra mile to get the cars right.

-KK

 

Appleman, thanks for the heads up, we may watch it on video...........but, living like we are we have not had more that 1.5 channels in close to 2 years.We have no reason to have more channels..(change of mind)...WTF, why am I even posting this shit? I will look for that movie man, thanks.

 

That movie sucked anyways. Its only worth watching it for scarlett johansen.

A christmas story was spot on! I watched it again the other day and there are model A bodies sitting in the yard. Its supposed to take place in the 40's.

I like "the Book of Love" too.

 

I LOVE the fight scene in A Christmas Story, the roadster body, sedan body and another A hiding in the garage/shed...the cars in that movie were great...World's Fastest Indian is one of my top 5 favorite movies...

 

Ever see the Italian-made movie of two gladiators/soldiers sword fighting....and there's a VW van and a couple other cars parked on a hill in the background ?

 

Yeah I have seen one like that, another with power lines in it.
I also may have picked up on one today watching 'The Wanderers' near the start when you first see the 'Baldies' a bronze pickup is seen in the distance that looks too new to me.

 

have you seen the new dell computer ad where a bunch of women are assembling a SBC ?
they eventually put on a blower and install it in a dell laptop. during this process some sparks fly off the engine briefly...i have never had that happen to me

 

it's sad when supposed car guys get it wrong ,some time in the 90's I was watching home improvement,behind Tim was a mustang with the hood open ,tim says to the camera today were going to look inside a chevy 350

 

That's no suprise. It's been my experience that talking dogs normally don't know what they are talking about.

I just try to ignore them.

 

....and as for car stuff:

The one that really annoyed me lately was the torn up weather stripping on the door of the truck that the Carter's owned in "Walk the Line".

The stripping should have been brand new as the truck should have been brand new.


I also normally notice cracked steering wheels in movies. They'll have a car that's supposed to be new, but it'll have a bunch of cracks in the steering wheel. There might have been a few of those in American Graffiti. I can't remember right at the moment.

 

Cracked steering wheel in the late model cop car in Hollywood Knights, really obvious.

Wife rented Hairspray, first scene shows the newspaper dated May 1962, next scene shows a 63 chevy

Then they show a classroom and there's a Selectric II typewriter sitting on the shelf. That only misses by a decade

 

How about the commercial for a major brake pad manufacturer. It shows several types of cars (muscle, an Indy car, etc.) stopping at an intersection with a stop sign. Every one of them stopped straddling the crosswalk.

Helluva way to sell brake pads !

 

If you guys are worried about radial tires in your movies, I sure hope you aren't running them on your "period correct" car. Anything else not "traditional" on your car?

 

Me and my buddy took our wives to see Walk the Line when it opened, watch the scene where Johnny walks into the recording studio. Theres a black 39/40 sedan on a rake parked by the building with full wheelcovers on it. The rear one had popped off and exposed the Torque Thrust wheels the car had on it. At the theater you could CLEARLY see the hubcap propped up against the tire.

 

Along the lines of movie-car F.U.'s is the scene in "Dirty Dancing" where Patrick Swishy & Baby are toolin' down a mountain road in a 57 Belair....He's justa wheelin' that car,they're just abouncin' around....except the column shift is in Park..... I laugh every time the wifey watches it....she yells at me that I'm too picky


Stan

 

i myself was wondering if the new dell computers are powered by that blown sbc they are building in the commercial

 

In the Dell add the sparks are there cause the broads are grinding cutting and welding on it, during what is supposed to be final assembly. It's what caught my eye orriginally as it's presented like it's the thing to do. I thought it was a BBC though. (then again I wasn't entirely lookin' at the mill)

If that's the level of care they assemble their computers with (ensuring they are full of trash and grit) someone remind me not to buy one.

 

Hope not, that would be murder on your lap. Kinda like the 'bowling ball to the lap' for Ralphie's dad in 'A Christmass Story' only WAY worse.

 

.....but even they screwed up in the tongue stuck to the pole scene. The cops show up in a '48 Chevy, and it's supposed to be pre-WW II.

 

Yeah..... talking dogs are idiots!

 

I know it's a bit off-topic,but valid.There's a sequel to "A Christmas Story" called "My Sumer Story." Waaaaaaay better than the first.Charles Grodin as the dad fights the Bumpesses and a cop that's chasing him.Good period cars in that one.Mary Steenburgen as the mom fights the Illinois(?) incremental tax man and Ralphie and Dad's crappie-fishing expedition.
The bb gun gets replaced by string flung tops.
"Book of Love" is a funny car-related movie too.Watch the kids t shirt when they're looking under the hood...

 

I just went to see Walk Hard and there's a bunch of new cars driving behind an outdoor concert set in the 60s. Funny damn film regardless.

 

Well not everyone has 200 million dollar budgets. At that level there is no excuse.

Thats like rebuilding Doane Spencer's roadster with a bank full of cash and putting 22's and low profiles on it.

 

Jeeze, as old as Christmas story is, I thought it was made in the 40s....

 

Netflix has three movies called Book of Love, which is about funny cars?