Tag: Movie

Susie the Little Blue Coupe – Walt Disney 1952

Susie the Little Blue Coupe – Walt Disney 1952

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Susie the Little Blue Coupe is a 1952 animatedshort film produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 6, 1952.[1][2] The eight-minute film was directed by Clyde Geronimi and based on an original short-story by Bill Peet. The story was adapted for the screen by Peet and Don DaGradi.

Susie is a small blue coupe on display in a dealer showroom who is bought by a well-to-do man who is taken with her. Thrust into high-society, she finds herself surrounded by much larger, more luxurious cars but eventually makes do. He treats the car well but neglects to maintain her; after years of neglect, wear and tear, the car no longer runs properly and the owner, when informed that Susie needs a massive overhaul, abandons Susie for a new vehicle. At a used car lot, Susie is purchased again, but the new owner, a cigar-smoking man who lives in a seedier part of town, does not treat the car with the same fondness as the first and leaves her on the curbside at night.

One night, she is stolen, chased by the police and is wrecked; presumed “dead“, she is sent to a junkyard. She shows stirrings of life, even in her wrecked state, and a young man notices and buys her at a bargain price. With the help of his friends, the young man completely restores and revives Susie as a brand new hot rod. An overjoyed and like-new Susie rides off. [3]

Sources – Wikipedia and ichi3ruki3 on YouTube

My Very Brief Hollywood Film Career – George Holt @Hemmings

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I’m the proud owner of a 1961 Ford Galaxie Town Sedan. In 2011 I got the chance to drive my car in a major motion film shoot on the streets on Manhattan. Sounds exciting, right? Well it was, but also nerve-wracking


My Galaxie is an all original, full-size 1961 base model: four doors, 6-cylinder, manual steering, manual brakes, no air. The one and only option is the two speed Fordomatic transmission.

The paint is faded, but there is no rust or dents. The speedometer/odometer cable broke at 53,000 miles which must have been at least the second time around.

A semi successful conversion from generator to alternator by a previous owner left not one gauge or warning light working on the unilluminated dash.

In all, a fun driver that I have been taking to local shows on Long Island since 2006 with my local club Empire Galaxies.

When I do go, I never go on highways. Driving from my home in the New York City Borough of Queens, I would stick to local secondary streets. It doubles or triples the drive time, but the car is a handful to maneuver and stop so high speeds and heavy traffic need to be avoided.

A notice from a film production company was sent out through my Galaxie club for anyone with a late fifties to mid-1960s car that would like to be in a film.

The production company specified they wanted “average used” cars not modifieds or concours winners.

Since mine is definitely an average used car from that era, I sent in a photo of my Galaxie and was accepted.

The film turned out to be “Not Fade Away” written and directed by David Chase who had recently completed his HBO series “The Sopranos”.

The new filmed stared James Gandolfini, John Magaro, Jack Huston, and Bella Heathcote. It was a coming-of-age story set in suburban New Jersey in the 1960s a group of friends form a rock band and try to make it big. 

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1967 Eleanor Mustang From ‘Gone In 60 Seconds’ Up For Sale – Edward Snitkoff @FordAuthority

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The Ford Mustang initially achieved cinematic immortality in Bullitt, a 1968 film starring Steve McQueen that featured some of the best car chase scenes of all time. Fortunately, it wasn’t the last Hollywood production to give the pony car a starring role. Gone in 60 Seconds, the 2000 remake starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie, introduced the iconic 1967 Eleanor Mustang to the world, and things haven’t been quite the same since. The Eleanor was an incredible and unique take on the ’67 Shelby GT500, and enthusiasts as well as those who aren’t your typical “car people” instantly fell in love with the design.

Three Eleanors survived production to make it into the hands of private collectors. As Ford Authority previously reported, one of them sold for quite a bit of money back in January 2020. That example went to auction, but the Eleanor featured here today is simply being offered for sale by a German dealership.

The 1967 Eleanor Mustang for sale at ChromeCars is #7 of the 11 originally built for the movie. Cinema Vehicle Services, the company responsible for producing the Mustangs, worked with legendary automotive designers Steve Sanford and Chip Foose on the design, which explains why they look so great.

This particular Eleanor has traveled far and wide over the last 20 years. A British collector brought it to Europe some time before 2012. Then, ChromeCars purchased it in 2017 and transported it back to Los Angeles to revisit the original film locations. It then made its way back across the Atlantic to Germany, where it currently resides.

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The 10 worst mistakes from great car movies – Scott Oldham @Hemmings

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We can’t get enough of car movies. They’re like pizza, even when they’re pretty bad, they’re pretty good. From the campy flicks of the 1950s, like Hot Rods to Hell, to Hollywood’s latest, like Ford v Ferrari, we watch them all and we watch them over and over and over. And like you, we have our favorites.

Recently, we chose our favorite street racing films. This time we’re going to dive into the worst automotive gaffs in movie history, the mistakes made by the filmmakers that only us car geeks pick up and complain about.

Directors and stunt coordinators should give us a little more respect. They don’t think we notice when they goof up, but we always do

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)

One of the great road films of the early 1970s, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry stars Peter Fonda and a salaciously cool 1969 440-powered Dodge Charger on slot mags with a “black racing stripe”. It was also painted Citron Yella (code GY3), a High Impact Dodge color from 1971 because Director John Hough wanted to make sure it jumped off the screen. But look closely: R/T badges come and go, and in some of the driving shots, the Mopar is a 1968 without the divider in the center of its grille.

Vanishing Point (1971)

Another legendary Mopar road film from that era is Vanishing Point, with doped-up ex-cop Kowalski (Barry Newman) racing through the west in a white 440-powered four-speed Dodge Challenger. Spoiler alert, the car is destroyed at the end when it loses a fight with a couple of bulldozers. During filming, Dodge loaned the production four cars, but look closely, it isn’t the E-body that hit those iron buckets, it was the shell of a 1967 Camaro filled with pyrotechnics.

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Mapledurham at War – The Eagle Has Landed

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Near where I live is a local historic village called Mapledurham which has amongst its claims to fame is that the movie the Eagle has Landed was filmed there in 1976. The film was set mostly around the Church and Water Mill and involves a plot to kidnap Winston Churchill during WWII resulting in a standoff between German paratroopers and US Army Rangers stationed nearby.

Every year in the village there is a Mapledurham at War event which features military reenactments, recreations, dioramas  and vehicle displays at the water mill and surrounding grounds.

In keeping with the plot of the film American forces are well represented in all aspects of the event.

 

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Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, 1937-2018

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Sad news this week with the passing of Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen who along with Don “The Snake” Prudhomme set the drag racing world alight in the 60’s. The two eventually toured as a pair sponsored by Mattel who produced a range of toys to match.

There was also been a film released in 2013 celebrating the pair’s rivalry entitled Snake & Mongoose

Read Kurt Ernst’s detailed article here at Hemmings