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SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: July 31, 2003 04:17AM
<HTML>I just watched at the movie house "Sea Biscuit". It is about a 1900 bicycle dealer who discovers that there was money to be made in the automobile. His first car customer is Loren Burch's 1910 Stanley model 70 touring. The movie shows the Stanley rolling in with a steam leak and needing service. The next scene shows the car all apart and all over the guy's bicycle shop. The following scene shows the Stanley together and ready to roll again. For those that would like to see a Stanley engine apart, that too is displayed in the second scene as he is reassembling it. A great movie of vintage cars, Sea Biscuit the race horse and true grit history of the depression. Catch it if you can. Pat Farrell</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: George Nutz (IP Logged)
Date: July 31, 2003 12:04PM
<HTML>SSsssteamer,
OT- When I started to read the book last month I couldn't put it down until thru----such a fantastic story and so brilliantly written. I hope the movie is true to all the research in the book. Thanks for letting us know about the Stanley in it--an extra bonus to see it.
Thanks George</HTML>
OT- When I started to read the book last month I couldn't put it down until thru----such a fantastic story and so brilliantly written. I hope the movie is true to all the research in the book. Thanks for letting us know about the Stanley in it--an extra bonus to see it.
Thanks George</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Peter Brow (IP Logged)
Date: August 11, 2003 06:15AM
<HTML>Thanks for the tip. Saw the movie today -- a goodie. Good to see Hollywood acknowledging the existence of steam cars! Of course, steamers have made appearances in several Hollywood movies. Wonder if anyone has ever listed them all.
There was a noncondensing Stanley, driven by Natalie Wood's character, in "The Great Race". Tony Curtis rescues her when she (apparently) blows a fusible plug in the middle of the desert, and delivers a little spiel about steamers being best for city driving.
Another coffin-nose Stanley chuffed briefly across the screen in a street scene in "Ragtime".
Hollywood has also shown steam cars of the future -- in the rather gloomy science fiction film "Escape From New York", cabbie Ernest Borgnine's steam-powered hack has its engine removed by the bad guys; they display it to him puffing away on a table. Looks like a small single-acting high-expansion engine, somebody did some research.
I have read that there was also an older movie (1940s? 1950s?) titled "Stanley Steamer", which reportedly revolves somewhat around a steam car; haven't found this one despite searching a couple of large video catalogs recently, wonder if it is available somewhere on videotape or DVD?
I seem to vaguely recall a couple other movie appearances by steam cars, but these aren't coming to mind at the moment.
Peter</HTML>
There was a noncondensing Stanley, driven by Natalie Wood's character, in "The Great Race". Tony Curtis rescues her when she (apparently) blows a fusible plug in the middle of the desert, and delivers a little spiel about steamers being best for city driving.
Another coffin-nose Stanley chuffed briefly across the screen in a street scene in "Ragtime".
Hollywood has also shown steam cars of the future -- in the rather gloomy science fiction film "Escape From New York", cabbie Ernest Borgnine's steam-powered hack has its engine removed by the bad guys; they display it to him puffing away on a table. Looks like a small single-acting high-expansion engine, somebody did some research.
I have read that there was also an older movie (1940s? 1950s?) titled "Stanley Steamer", which reportedly revolves somewhat around a steam car; haven't found this one despite searching a couple of large video catalogs recently, wonder if it is available somewhere on videotape or DVD?
I seem to vaguely recall a couple other movie appearances by steam cars, but these aren't coming to mind at the moment.
Peter</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: August 12, 2003 01:03AM
<HTML>Circa 1945?- "Summer Holiday" starring Mickey Rooney is available in VHS. Loren Burch's 1910 had a lot of footage in that movie. Their theme song was "The Stanley Steamer". Last year's Stephen King's "Rose Red" had an opening scene with our 1914 Stanley roadster briefly running from left to right across the screen. Available in DVD.</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Peter Brow (IP Logged)
Date: August 15, 2003 08:16AM
<HTML>Hi Pat,
Thanks for the clearup on "Summer Holiday" and "The Stanley Steamer". No wonder I couldn't find it. I'll check it out. Yes, I saw "Rose Red" -- what's with Stephen King and steam cars? -- and remember your beautiful Stanley chuffing by. Thanks for the memory jog. A couple friends watching it with me rolled their eyes when I yelled "Look -- Stanley steamer!" and reached for the remote to play back. I just don't see enough steam cars in movies.
Peter</HTML>
Thanks for the clearup on "Summer Holiday" and "The Stanley Steamer". No wonder I couldn't find it. I'll check it out. Yes, I saw "Rose Red" -- what's with Stephen King and steam cars? -- and remember your beautiful Stanley chuffing by. Thanks for the memory jog. A couple friends watching it with me rolled their eyes when I yelled "Look -- Stanley steamer!" and reached for the remote to play back. I just don't see enough steam cars in movies.
Peter</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: George Nutz (IP Logged)
Date: August 15, 2003 10:27AM
<HTML>Pat,
I have an old 78rpm record labeled Stanley Steamer, must be from "Summer Holiday", will have to dig it up and give it a spin!
George</HTML>
I have an old 78rpm record labeled Stanley Steamer, must be from "Summer Holiday", will have to dig it up and give it a spin!
George</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Howard Randall (IP Logged)
Date: August 16, 2003 01:42PM
<HTML>Peter, you asked "what's with Stephen King and steam cars?"
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO, is the setting for King's "The Shinning". When the TV version aired a few years back, there was live TV coverage and a Stephen King party at the Hotel. I was attending a trustee’s meeting of the Stanley Museum in Estes Park. I stayed in a hotel room two doors down from the one featured in the book. Slept right through all the live TV coverage on our floor that night. Must have been the "tea martwonies" at the dinner and party!
Like the Stanley twins, Mr. King and family are from Maine and live, I believe, not too far from the Stanley's birth place and main branch of the Stanley Museum in Kingfield, ME.
Very much like the Stanley twins, King and his wife are philanthropists. They give back to their communities, particularly for education. The Stanley’s highly valued education. They designed and funded the construction of the Stanley School in Kingfield, the present day preservation of which lead to the founding of the Stanley Museum!
The Museum is actively pursuing grants to expand its educational programming to bring the Stanley story to the school children and young adults in rural Maine and Colorado. Their love of learning, application of “Yankee” ingenuity and perseverance in all that they did, strong, independent characters, adherence to a code of ethics, appreciation for and active participation in the arts, and their philanthropic spirit and achievements, is a wonderful story, that needs to be told. It is time-honored and will prove highly motivating.</HTML>
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO, is the setting for King's "The Shinning". When the TV version aired a few years back, there was live TV coverage and a Stephen King party at the Hotel. I was attending a trustee’s meeting of the Stanley Museum in Estes Park. I stayed in a hotel room two doors down from the one featured in the book. Slept right through all the live TV coverage on our floor that night. Must have been the "tea martwonies" at the dinner and party!
Like the Stanley twins, Mr. King and family are from Maine and live, I believe, not too far from the Stanley's birth place and main branch of the Stanley Museum in Kingfield, ME.
Very much like the Stanley twins, King and his wife are philanthropists. They give back to their communities, particularly for education. The Stanley’s highly valued education. They designed and funded the construction of the Stanley School in Kingfield, the present day preservation of which lead to the founding of the Stanley Museum!
The Museum is actively pursuing grants to expand its educational programming to bring the Stanley story to the school children and young adults in rural Maine and Colorado. Their love of learning, application of “Yankee” ingenuity and perseverance in all that they did, strong, independent characters, adherence to a code of ethics, appreciation for and active participation in the arts, and their philanthropic spirit and achievements, is a wonderful story, that needs to be told. It is time-honored and will prove highly motivating.</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: George Nutz (IP Logged)
Date: August 16, 2003 03:00PM
<HTML>Pat,
I have heard back from a few readers of the Laura Hillenbrand book that have seen the movie and they say the movie is good but the book was better. Mind you that the writer suffered tremendous illness and incapacities to write it and in a way was much like the jockey and Seabisquit to achieve greatness while overcoming great adversities. There was nothing in the book about a Stanley so it must have been put in by King. Laura Hillenbrand was hired as consultant to the movie and I doubt it would have wandered too far from her magnificient writings. Thanks Howard for the info on King and his closeness to the Stanley Museum. Must see the movie soon!
George</HTML>
I have heard back from a few readers of the Laura Hillenbrand book that have seen the movie and they say the movie is good but the book was better. Mind you that the writer suffered tremendous illness and incapacities to write it and in a way was much like the jockey and Seabisquit to achieve greatness while overcoming great adversities. There was nothing in the book about a Stanley so it must have been put in by King. Laura Hillenbrand was hired as consultant to the movie and I doubt it would have wandered too far from her magnificient writings. Thanks Howard for the info on King and his closeness to the Stanley Museum. Must see the movie soon!
George</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: August 17, 2003 02:44AM
<HTML>Dear George, SeaBiscuit is a true story with a little Hollywood license added for flash. It is true, that a steam car changed the course of history for a bicycle dealer who eventually became both rich selling Buicks and famous for an old horse named SeaBiscuit. The Stanley was used in the movie only because it was available, not because it was the orignial make of steam car in the movie's history. The director wanted to use the original make's name of the steamer in the movie (I don't remember the original steamer's name) but because the Stanley's name was so obvious and so was it's coffin nosed hood reconizable, that he had of accept the Stanley name into the script (This is according to Loren Burch, the Stanley's owner). Another question I want to add is that the Stanley is a 1910 car, in real time my guess that the bicycle dealer was trying his hand at the bicycle business a bit before 1910. Am I right? What did the book say? Pat Farrell</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Peter Brow (IP Logged)
Date: August 17, 2003 08:17AM
<HTML>Thanks Howard,
Informative and well-said. Hear, hear!
Peter</HTML>
Informative and well-said. Hear, hear!
Peter</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Robert L. Maley (IP Logged)
Date: September 21, 2003 05:27AM
<HTML>I read the book and saw the movie both. First time I ever heard a movie audience cheer a horse race on screen. Terrific photography, makes one's palms sweat to watch. Hats off to the author and movie producer. It just shows to go you, movies don't HAVE to be crap and crotch. It was the first time I had ever seen a Stanley engine torn down. Impressive. I wonder what ever happened to Lear's steam engine research?</HTML>
Re: SeaBiscuit movie
Posted by: Dean Lehrke (IP Logged)
Date: August 11, 2005 12:20AM
<HTML>If the topic is steam cars in the movies, here is info on probably the first movie ever about a steam car. The car, according to the movie plot, was built in the 1850's. I haven't seen the film yet so I am curious to know if the steam car in the movie was really from the 1850's or just a fictional car.
The movie is availabe on DVD for about $10.00.
Movie Title: Not So Long Ago (1925)
Type: Features
Rating: NR (Suitable for Children)
Running Time: 7rl minutes
Starring: Betty Bronson, Ricardo Cortez, Edwards Davis, Julia Swayne Gordon
Directed by: Sidney Olcott
PLOT DESCRIPTION
Although trade paper Motion Picture News insisted no pun was intended, readers probably groaned anyhow when it stated that this drama was meant to prove that actress Betty Bronson was no "flash in the pan" -- after all, Bronson had just recently won the lead role in Peter Pan over every female star in Hollywood. This picture takes place in the 1850s, a charming era "not so long ago" by 1925 standards. Michael Dover (Dan Crimmins) has spent a good amount of the family finances to work on his invention -- a horseless carriage propelled by steam. To help make ends meet, his daughter Betty (Bronson) goes to work in the home of Mrs. Ballard (Julia Swayne Gordon). While Dover is getting a loan from Jerry Flint (Edwards Davis) -- who uses the carriage as collateral -- Betty is falling in love with Billy (Ricardo Cortez), her boss' son. Sam Robinson (Laurence Wheat) wants Betty for himself, and he convinces Dover to ask Billy about his intentions. Betty reaches him first and he insists that he would like to marry Betty. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ballard has other plans and fires Betty, after insisting that Billy is engaged to the wealthy socialite Ursula Kent (Jacqueline Gadson). Dover agrees to race against Richardson, who is on foot, to hold off foreclosure. The steam vehicle wins, but later it blows up. Flint is just as happy to have the money that Billy gives him for the
note. It turns out that Ursula also was in love with someone else, so Billy is free to pursue his romance with Betty. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide</HTML>
The movie is availabe on DVD for about $10.00.
Movie Title: Not So Long Ago (1925)
Type: Features
Rating: NR (Suitable for Children)
Running Time: 7rl minutes
Starring: Betty Bronson, Ricardo Cortez, Edwards Davis, Julia Swayne Gordon
Directed by: Sidney Olcott
PLOT DESCRIPTION
Although trade paper Motion Picture News insisted no pun was intended, readers probably groaned anyhow when it stated that this drama was meant to prove that actress Betty Bronson was no "flash in the pan" -- after all, Bronson had just recently won the lead role in Peter Pan over every female star in Hollywood. This picture takes place in the 1850s, a charming era "not so long ago" by 1925 standards. Michael Dover (Dan Crimmins) has spent a good amount of the family finances to work on his invention -- a horseless carriage propelled by steam. To help make ends meet, his daughter Betty (Bronson) goes to work in the home of Mrs. Ballard (Julia Swayne Gordon). While Dover is getting a loan from Jerry Flint (Edwards Davis) -- who uses the carriage as collateral -- Betty is falling in love with Billy (Ricardo Cortez), her boss' son. Sam Robinson (Laurence Wheat) wants Betty for himself, and he convinces Dover to ask Billy about his intentions. Betty reaches him first and he insists that he would like to marry Betty. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ballard has other plans and fires Betty, after insisting that Billy is engaged to the wealthy socialite Ursula Kent (Jacqueline Gadson). Dover agrees to race against Richardson, who is on foot, to hold off foreclosure. The steam vehicle wins, but later it blows up. Flint is just as happy to have the money that Billy gives him for the
note. It turns out that Ursula also was in love with someone else, so Billy is free to pursue his romance with Betty. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide</HTML>
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