SCENIC DRIVES

They're not really going anywhere but they look mighty good doing it.


What’s a period drama without a fake driving scene? Nearly all such sequences were shot in movie studios using two techniques—rear projection, which was standard for daytime driving, and both rear projection and lighting effects for simulating night driving. Many movie studios made production images of those scenes. For example, above you see Jane Greer and Lizabeth Scott, neither looking happy, going for a fake spin around Los Angeles in 1951’s The Company She Keeps. We decided to make a collection of similar shots, so below we have more than twenty other examples (plus a couple of high quality screen grabs) with top stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Mitchum, and Raquel Welch. We’ve only scratched the surface of this theme, which means you can probably expect a second collection somewhere down the road. Incidentally, if you want to see Bogart at his coolest behind the wheel look here, and just because it’s such a wonderful shot, look here for Elke Sommer as a passenger. Enjoy today’s rides.
Humphrey Bogart tries to fake drive with Ida Lupino in his ear in 1941’s High Sierra.

Dorothy Malone, Rock Hudson, and a rear projection of Long Beach, in 1956’s Written on the Wind.

Ann-Margret and John Forsythe in Kitten with a Whip. We think they were parked at this point, but that’s fine.

Two shots from 1946’s The Postman Always Rings Twice with John Garfield and Lana Turner, followed by of shot of them with soon-to-be murdered Cecil Kellaway.
 
Jean Hagen and Sterling Hayden in 1950’s The Asphalt Jungle.

Shelley Winters, looking quite lovely here, fawns over dapper William Powell during a night drive in 1949’s Take One False Step.

William Talman, James Flavin, and Adele Jergens share a tense ride in 1950’s Armored Car Robbery.

William Bendix rages in 1949’s The Big Steal.

Frank Sinatra drives contemplatively in Young at Heart, from 1954.

George Sanders drives Ingrid Bergman through Italy, and she returns the favor, in 1954’s Viaggio in Italia.

Harold Huber, Lyle Talbot, Barbara Stanwyck and her little dog too, from 1933’s Ladies They Talk About.

Virginia Huston tells Robert Mitchum his profile should be cast in bronze in 1947’s Out of the Past.

Ann Sheridan hangs onto to an intense George Raft in 1940’s They Drive by Night.

Peggy Cummins and John Dall suddenly realize they’re wearing each other’s glasses in 1950’s Gun Crazy, a film that famously featured a real driving sequence, though not the one above.

John Ireland and Mercedes McCambridge in 1951’s The Scarf.

James Mason drives an unconscious Henry O’Neill in 1949’s The Reckless Moment. Hopefully they’re headed to an emergency room.

Marcello Mastroianni driving Walter Santesso, Mary Janes, and an unknown in 1960’s La dolce vita.

Tony Curtis thrills Piper Laurie with his convertible in 1954’s Johnny Dark.

Janet Leigh drives distracted by worries, with no idea she should be thinking less about traffic and cops than cross-dressing psychos in 1960’s Psycho.

We’re not sure who the passengers are in this one (the shot is from 1960’s On the Double, and deals with Danny Kaye impersonating Wilfrid Hyde-White) but the driver is Diana Dors.

Kirk Douglas scares the bejesus out of Raquel Welch in 1962’s Two Weeks in Another Town. We’re familiar with her reaction, which is why we’re glad the Pulp Intl. girlfriends don’t need to drive here in Europe.

Robert Mitchum again, this time in the passenger seat, with Jane Greer driving (and William Bendix tailing them—already seen in panel ten), in 1949’s The Big Steal. The film is notable for its many real driving scenes.

James Mason keeps cool as Jack Elam threatens him as Märta Torén watches from the passenger seat in 1950’s One Way Street.

And finally, to take a new perspective on the subject, here’s Bogart and Lizabeth Scott in 1947’s Dead Reckoning.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1938—Seabiscuit Defeats War Admiral

At Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland, the thoroughbred stallion Seabiscuit defeats the Triple Crown champion War Admiral in a match race that had been promoted as “The match of the Century” in horse racing. The victory made Seabiscuit a symbol of triumph against the odds during the dark days of the Depression, and his story became the subject of a 1949 film, a 2001 book, and a 2003 film, Seabiscuit, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

1984—Indira Gandhi Assassinated

In India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two of her own Sikh security guards in the garden of the Prime Minister’s Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. Gandhi had been walking to meet British actor Peter Ustinov for an interview. Riots soon break out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 Sikhs are killed.

1945—Robinson Signs with Dodgers

Jackie Robinson, who had been playing with the Negro League team the Kansas City Monarchs, signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers to become the first African-American major leaguer of the modern baseball era.

1961—Soviets Detonate Super Nuke

The Soviet Union detonates an experimental nuclear weapon called Tsar Bomba over the Arctic Circle, which, with a yield of 100 megatons of TNT, was then and remains today the most powerful weapon ever used by humanity.

1901—William McKinley's Assassin Executed

Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley, is executed at Auburn State Prison in Auburn, New York by means of the electric chair. Czolgosz had shot McKinley twice with a cheap revolver and the President had lingered for several days before dying. After Czolgosz is executed, he is buried on prison grounds and sulfuric acid is thrown into his coffin to disfigure his body and result in its quick decomposition.

1982—Lindy Chamberlain Convicted of Murder

In Australia, Lindy Chamberlain is found guilty of the murder of her nine-week-old daughter. The baby was killed during a camping trip in the Australian interior. Chamberlain claimed a dingo had taken the baby, but a jury decided Chamberlain cut the infant’s throat and buried her. The body was never found, but forensic experts played a large role in the conviction. Four years after the trial the baby’s jacket is found inside a dingo lair, backing up Chamberlain’s claim, and she is released from prison.

T’as triché marquise by George Maxwell, published in 1953 with art by Jacques Thibésart, also known as Nik.

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