Len Peters (Canucknucklehead) sent me the link to this video, pointing out that there’s an interview with famed stylist Raymond Lowey. That was interesting, but not the most interesting part, at least to me. The scene of an aggressive used car salesman in action (2:30) was pretty amazing, as were the high-speed footage of traffic cops directing traffic in a sea of cars and trucks. And just what was their life expectancy?
The interview with New York’s “Super Planner” Robert Moses was a bit scary (” why not build freeways that run right through buildings, like the Empire State Building?”) but the one that follows, by an architect and planner for Washington D.C. was my favorite. He was clearly ahead of his time, pointing out that building more freeways and more lanes invariably has the effect of increasing the number of trips and just creating new congestion. It’s been proven that it’s impossible to stay ahead of that inevitability, and many cities have throttled back freeway building for that reason. And this guy (I couldn’t catch his name properly) was pointing it out very clearly in 1960.
Starting about 1958 or so, there was a growing backlash against the headlong rush to endlessly larger, lower, wider cars as well as the endless paving over of neighborhoods and rural areas. Of course it didn’t stop things, but this film clearly represents a growing unease of the impact of the car. And the environmental impact is hardly even touched upon.
If nothing else, you’ll like the traffic shots.
The Loewy interview is wonderful. Balancing philosophy against practical commerce. “Functional but not dry and arid”.
Robert Moses’ idea of running freeways through buildings isn’t that far fetched, any Chicago native has probably driven through the cool old post office building on the Eisenhower expressway. In New York the New York central railroad ran elevated tracks through buildings on what is now the high line.
Raymond Lowey was a gem, I could listen to him talk about design all day, much more so than the cynical cartoonist after.
There is also the well known, to old locals, the plan to encircle San Francisco with a double deck freeway all the way along the water front from South of Market to the Golden Gate Bridge access. Called the Embarcadero Freeway which ended up being stopped at the foot of Broadway.
My father’s office was in the Ferry Building which was cut off from the rest of the City by it when looking down Market St. Many visitors will not recall that view since it was removed after Loma Prieta. Underneath was a windy, desolate place with all kinds of debris blowing around. It was God awful and right along the water front. Imagine if they managed to build it through the Marina and Presidio? The destruction would have been horrendous.
Below the freeway ran as high as the second floor down the middle of the Embarcadero back then. This view would not be possible with it still there. Of course this isn’t as bad as the Army Corps of Engineers wanting to fill in SF Bay back in the late 50s for more land and unstable land at that.
Circa 1960. Look at all those low buildings in the upper right which are now pretty much all gone.
That collapsed during an earthquake, didn’t it? Conceptually I think double decker freeways are neat but yeah that one seems a real eyesore and questionable in a seismically active area with some unstable landfill
The old arcade racing game San Fransisco Rush had a great shortcut through it I remember
First saw this film about 20 years ago. Liked it then; like it now. The picture quality here is sharper than the VHS copy I had.
YouTube is successful at bringing to light obscure films like this. I know there are more of these little treasures yet to be (re)discovered. Anything “slice of life” (real-life scenes and interviews, especially of “ordinary” people or relatively unknown “higher up’s”) from bygone decades is always fascinating.
Thank goodness Robert Moses was not successful in RAMMING his proposed Cross Manhattan Expressway through the SoHo section of lower Manhattan. It would have destroyed the largest concentration of beautiful 19th century cast iron architecture in the world!
Beautiful building
A very interesting film – thank you. I thought the car acrobatics sequence was pretty hair-raising.
At least electric vehicles should cut down on noise and local pollution, if not congestion.
Of course I love the live driving in Montreal; those were probably a typical urban scenes in 1960. The focus was on urban, just as it is now. If there are transportation issues with cars the focus is always the urban situation. Traffic and freeways then; climate and electric cars now.
Transportation issues do not seem to include rural use and the needs of rural population for durable vehicles, cheap and easily available diesel or gasoline, reasonably negotiable two lane roads, access to amenities in regional towns. Back then the contrast was the entertainment of automotive thrills versus the urban traffic hassles. No consideration to the essential nature of vehicles in rural areas then, none now.
I don’t care about electric cars with 200 mile range because I live and drive in places where they don’t work. But in the minds of urban people and the media those EVs are our future. The urban/elite snobbery of the short film is still around though the message has changed using a more current theme.
@ Constellation :
So true ! .
Many rural roads are lain out to not upset the fields and so after a long straightaway will have a tortuous 90 degree corner ~ not fun when you’re far from anything blowing and going and suddenly need to slow to 20 MPH to make a 90 degree right bend…
The film was great .
I too enjoyed the Buster Keaton film .
-Nate
EVs very clearly are the future. That future will come later to rural areas than to urban ones, true, but it will come.
Neat film.
I like how Loewy talks about taste after they show his custom car. 🙂
The flip at 25:19 is brutal!
The National Film Board of Canada YouTube channel has some really amazing shorts.
Have a look at “The Rail Rodder” starting Buster Keaton. It’s a cult classic in Canada.
I love the one on bush pilots!
I remember in grade school during the sixties a teacher running the Rail Rodder in class for a treat one afternoon, we all enjoyed it so much she ran it backwards for us afterwards, we found it even funnier.
My grade three teacher, Mr. Morgan, did the same thing. It was even funnier backwards!
Very enjoyable for many reasons. Interesting how signage and fashions help us guess the film’s date, but the automobiles really pin it down.
I think I saw Mark Donohue at about 15:00 standing next to an Elva or maybe an MGA.