Identify this Old Movie?
August 5, 2009 9:44 AM Subscribe
MovieFilter: The name of the movie made in the early 1940s that had this "make the twerps want to be the bad guy" scene: the bad guy is traveling down a country road at night, riding in the back seat of his "powerful black car." He touches something on the floor in front of him that reveals a panel with a speedometer and an accelerator pedal. He presses hard on the pedal, and we watch the needle go up and up and his driver desperately struggling to keep the careening car from going off the road.
Response by poster: Thanks, but "They Live by Night" was made in 1949, the movie in question more likely in 1939.
posted by RichardS at 10:10 AM on August 5, 2009
posted by RichardS at 10:10 AM on August 5, 2009
Do you remember anything else about it? Actors? Specific setting? Anything? (I'm assuming it's an American film ...?)
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:25 AM on August 5, 2009
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:25 AM on August 5, 2009
Perhaps They Drive By Night (1940)... ?
I haven't seen it in ages so don't recall that scene but perhaps reading a bit about it might jar some other memories.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:29 AM on August 5, 2009
I haven't seen it in ages so don't recall that scene but perhaps reading a bit about it might jar some other memories.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:29 AM on August 5, 2009
They Drive by Night is about the early long-haul truckers. I don't recall anything in it like the hidden controls.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:08 AM on August 5, 2009
posted by Thorzdad at 11:08 AM on August 5, 2009
Best answer: Sounds like The Chase:
"Roman, who has a particularly sadistic side to his nature, likes to test new drivers and so has an accelerator in the back seat of his car so that he can "take over" total control whenever he wants."
"Probably the most interesting element here is the remote-control device Roman has fitted in his car, which allows him to take control of the accelerator and brake pedal, making him the ultimate back-seat driver. The device is introduced in a truly suspenseful sequence that serves as the highlight of the film."
posted by iconomy at 3:58 PM on August 5, 2009
"Roman, who has a particularly sadistic side to his nature, likes to test new drivers and so has an accelerator in the back seat of his car so that he can "take over" total control whenever he wants."
"Probably the most interesting element here is the remote-control device Roman has fitted in his car, which allows him to take control of the accelerator and brake pedal, making him the ultimate back-seat driver. The device is introduced in a truly suspenseful sequence that serves as the highlight of the film."
posted by iconomy at 3:58 PM on August 5, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, iconomy. What I find really funny is that (having seen it as a twerp) I distinctly remember the car business but none of the driver-and-bad-guy's-wife business that imdb mentions. A form of confirmation bias? "confirming twerp bias"? Having the film identified, do I want to get it and see it again or do I, as James Branch Cabell said of a favorite book of his youth, he wasn't going to read it again "because I want to remember it as it never was."
posted by RichardS at 5:28 AM on August 6, 2009
posted by RichardS at 5:28 AM on August 6, 2009
Confirming twerp bias....heh. My vote is for remembering it as it was, although curiosity would probably get the better of me....... !
posted by iconomy at 3:05 PM on August 6, 2009
posted by iconomy at 3:05 PM on August 6, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
But, really, lots of films from the 1940s had powerful black cars on country roads at night.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:50 AM on August 5, 2009