Vintage shots from days gone by!

I seem to recall that it was a movie vehicle. I even went as far as to see if the movie was available on netflix when it was ID'd on here previously. It wasn't... so the name of the movie escaped from the grey matter. The band name on the bus is one of the movies characters. Sorry... thats all I got.

 

Some interesting reading I ran across on the subject...........

Garry Wills tells the story in his book John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity (1997), the Duke faced a tough choice at the outset of World War II.

At the time of Pearl Harbor, Wayne was 34 years old. His marriage was on the rocks but he still had four kids to support. His career was taking off, in large part on the strength of his work in the classic western Stagecoach (1939). But he wasn't rich. Should he chuck it all and enlist? Many of Hollywood's big names, such as Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable, did just that. (Fonda, Wills points out, was 37 at the time and had a wife and three kids.) But these were established stars. Wayne knew that if he took a few years off for military service, there was a good chance that by the time he got back he'd be over the hill.

Besides, he specialized in the kind of movies a nation at war wanted to see, in which a rugged American hero overcame great odds. Recognizing that Hollywood was an important part of the war effort, Washington had told California draft boards to go easy on actors. Perhaps rationalizing that he could do more good at home, Wayne obtained 3-A status, "deferred for [family] dependency reasons." He told friends he'd enlist after he made just one or two more movies.

The real question is why he never did so. Wayne cranked out thirteen movies during the war, many with war-related themes. Most of the films were enormously successful and within a short time the Duke was one of America's most popular stars. His bankability now firmly established, he could have joined the military, secure in the knowledge that Hollywood would welcome him back later. He even made a half-hearted effort to sign up, sending in the paperwork to enlist in the naval photography unit commanded by a good friend, director John Ford.

But he didn't follow through. Nobody really knows why; Wayne didn't like to talk about it. A guy who prided himself on doing his own stunts, he doesn't seem to have lacked physical courage. One suspects he just found it was a lot more fun being a Hollywood hero than the real kind. Many movie star-soldiers had enlisted in the first flush of patriotism after Pearl Harbor. As the war ground on, slogging it out in the trenches seemed a lot less exciting. The movies, on the other hand, had put Wayne well on the way to becoming a legend. "Wayne increasingly came to embody the American fighting man," Wills writes. In late 1943 and early 1944 he entertained the troops in the Pacific theater as part of a USO tour. An intelligence bigshot asked him to give his impression of Douglas MacArthur. He was fawned over by the press when he got back. Meanwhile, he was having a torrid affair with a beautiful Mexican woman. How could military service compare with that?

In 1944, Wayne received a 2-A classification, "deferred in support of [the] national . . . interest." A month later the Selective Service decided to revoke many previous deferments and reclassified him 1-A. But Wayne's studio appealed and got his 2-A status reinstated until after the war ended.

People who knew Wayne say he felt bad about not having served. (During the war he'd gotten into a few fights with servicemen who wondered why he wasn't in uniform.) Some think his guilty conscience was one reason he became such a superpatriot later. The fact remains that the man who came to symbolize American patriotism and pride had a chance to do more than just act the part, and he let it pass by.

 

All this John Wayne (political?) debate is hardly in keeping with "Vintage shots from days gone by!"
Lets get back to it aye.
My '35 Pontiac coupe taken in 1969.

 

The informaion with the photo indicated that John Wayne was on a "promotional" tour at the time the photo was taken.

 

Some old speedway from Victoria:

 

L to R. American "Pee Wee" Cullum, Fred Tracey and Jack Arnfield



Jack O'Day - Studebaker Special (L)
Alf Baker - Vauxhall Special (Centre)
Len Golding from South Australia - unnamed Special (R).
19 December 1953.

 

A Foden at Meekatharra, Western Australia - 1953:



another, later model Foden doing the milk run:



I've posted this Foden road train before, but, just came across this colour photo:



A Foden tipper of ICI:



Foden of Outback Transport:




<!-- <hs:realtracker> --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> <!-- var id='';var res='';var partnerid=90006; var user='10244329'; var pp='vicprogs'; function f(s){f2(s)}; function f2(s){document.write('')}; //--> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/Scripts_ExternalRedirect/ExternalRedirect.dll?CMD=CMDGetJavaScript&H_SITEID=RTK1&H_AltURL=%2F%7Esite%2Frealtracker%2Frt_s90022.js&HSGOTOURL=http%3A%2F%2Flayout1.realtracker.com%2Fincludes%2Frt_s90022a.js"> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://layout1.realtracker.com/includes/rt_s90022a.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/jQuery-1.4.min.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/jquery.cookie.min.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/hs_track.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> <!-- f('/~site/Scripts_ExternalRedirect/ExternalRedirect.dll?CMD=CMDGotoURL&H_SITEID=RTK1&H_AltURL=%2f%7esite%2ftp.gif&H_HSGOTOURL=http%3a%2f%2fweb4.realtracker.com%2fnetpoll%2fimulti.asp&user='+escape(user)+'&pn='+escape(partnerid)+'&pp='+escape(pp)+'&js=1&to=-360&userurl='+escape(location.href)+res); //--> </SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- </hs:realtracker> --><!-- <hs:realtracker> --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> <!-- var id='';var res='';var partnerid=90006; var user='10244329'; var pp='vicprogs'; function f(s){f2(s)}; function f2(s){document.write('')}; //--> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/Scripts_ExternalRedirect/ExternalRedirect.dll?CMD=CMDGetJavaScript&H_SITEID=RTK1&H_AltURL=%2F%7Esite%2Frealtracker%2Frt_s90022.js&HSGOTOURL=http%3A%2F%2Flayout1.realtracker.com%2Fincludes%2Frt_s90022a.js"> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://layout1.realtracker.com/includes/rt_s90022a.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/jQuery-1.4.min.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/jquery.cookie.min.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="/~site/javascript/hs_track.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> <!-- f('/~site/Scripts_ExternalRedirect/ExternalRedirect.dll?CMD=CMDGotoURL&H_SITEID=RTK1&H_AltURL=%2f%7esite%2ftp.gif&H_HSGOTOURL=http%3a%2f%2fweb4.realtracker.com%2fnetpoll%2fimulti.asp&user='+escape(user)+'&pn='+escape(partnerid)+'&pp='+escape(pp)+'&js=1&to=-360&userurl='+escape(location.href)+res); //--> </SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- </hs:realtracker> -->

 

1949 Sands Of Iwo Jima

 

Eddie Thomas - Australian Drag Racing Legend (in my opinion)

Photo of Eddie Thomas and his wife sitting in a Ballot in the 1940's. It was an old car, even then, and had been rebodied and repowered with a V8. (The car had a "history" prior to this. Today it resides in France).



Eddie Thomas purchased and operated what had been Bob William's Speed Equipment Company (SPECO - is a well known name), in Adelaide, South Australia.

Camshafts were "easier" to understand back in the 1960's ...... alegedly :




A couple of links to newspaper articles (I can't get the article any other way. It's worth a little effort).

The Age - 4 May 1964:

http://news.google.com.au/newspaper...pg=3935,328907&dq=eddie+thomas+dragster&hl=en

The Age - 13 August 1964:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=4423,2226390&dq=eddie+thomas+dragster&hl=en

 

She's standing at the end of Fremont St. in front of the Union Pacific train station Las Vegas Nevada.

Fremont St was gridlocked both directions with kids cruising every fri. and Sat. night in the early 60's. The circular drive at the train depot was a handy turn around if you didn't get caught.

That big cowboy sign would wave his arm and say "howdy pardner" 24/7.

 

Familiar face

 

Nice photo of a Honda Scrambler 305, if only what's-his-name wasn't in the way .

 

Anyone have a Revolution Indicator in their vehicle?

 

These 48-215 holdens didn't have a Revolution Indicator as standard fitment:

 

---------------------------
CAPTION - "Officer Bob was determined
not to let those scofflaw hot-rodders
get away this time."

Mart3406
============================

 

---------------------
The movie in question was called
"Stolen Harmony" and was produced by
Paramount in 1935. I recently posted a
small write up on the bus from the June
1935 issue of "Modern Mechanics and
Inventions" magazine in the 'Art Deco
Rods' HAMB thread.
(www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5508762&postcount=117)

Mart3406
==========================

 

<HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1> <!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->


Okey-dokey, yes, it was not "real" but a futuristic Art Deco "streamliner" band bus created for the '35 action-musical romp, "Stolen Harmony," starring tough guy George Raft, real-life big bandleader Ben Bernie (best remembered for penning "Sweet Georgia Brown"), debuting actor Lloyd Nolan and Bill Cagney, look-alike brother of James Cagney. Among the showgirls is Jane Wyman (future Ronald Reagan spouse) in an unbilled appearance. Bernie played screen bandleader Jack Conrad. And with a main score by Academy-Award-winner Max Steiner and makeup by Academy laurelist Edith Head, one might think the film had a lot going for it.

One would be wrong! LOL Maybe it should have been titled, "The Strange Voyage of the SS Jack Conrad"!

I think the movie is interesting, though, because it is SO typical of the fluffy, escapist entertainment often done during the depths of the depression, in particular by Paramount. Period charm noted, though, it almost seems as if there was no writer! What plot there is, is both shallow and a jumble of movie styles popular in the mid-'30s, seemingly stewed up merely for the sake of entertaining folks for an hour-and-a-half! "Stolen Harmony" is part music-and-dance (George Raft gets to dance!!!), part comedy, part gangster film, part car-chase/action film, and part showcase for the prop bus that looks as if Buckminster Fuller designed it during a severe hangover. (I suspect this film formula was used to craft most of the '60s Elvis films. Word!)

Anywho, none of the items available tell much at all about the drivetrain and chassis of this bus which, presumably, would have been based on a conventional chassis. They only mention the six wheels and the driver's "crow's nest." This appears mainly to have been for visual effect, 'cause it surely must have been a bitch to steer around corners, etc.! Forget about backing up or parking!

So, I am left with a burning desire to see and hear more about this movie-prop leviathan AND to know if it survived, somewhere??? I know, not likely, right? I do want to share an entertaining mini-synopsis about this VERY period flick, plus a link to an actual clip!!! Enjoy!

In this bouncy musical, a sax-playing ex-convict (Raft) joins a swing band and embarks upon a cross-country tour. He does really well until an old friend (Nolan) tries to tempt him into becoming a criminal again. The convict refuses the offer so the "friend" retaliates by doing the job anyway and leaving the con to take the rap. Then the band is kidnapped by a powerful person [get this!] desiring a private concert. The ex-con saves the band by informing on the crook. He is then allowed to play with them again and musical happiness ensues [Ah-h-h-h! A happy ending!]. Songs include: "Would There Be Love," "Let's Spill the Beans," "I Never Had a Man to Cry Over," and "Fagin Youse is a Viper."

Here's a link to a YouTube clip from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YyFQgGTHfs
<!-- / message -->