Video: Driving around New York City in 1928

SpeedyHere’s a great little 1928 film about the streets of New York—but with a wonderful surprise a few moments in. 

 

This short video contains a magnificent Easter egg. Starting out, the clip appears to be a very nice film study of driving in New York City in 1928. And as such, it’s a valuable historical artifact for gearheads such as ourselves. But at around the one-minute mark, we discover what this really is: an excerpt from the 1928 silent film classic Speedy, starring the great Harold Lloyd.

In Speedy, Lloyd plays a would-be New York cab driver trapped in a series of comic misadventures, and one of his hapless passengers is baseball legend Babe Ruth, starring as himself. The stone-age stunt driving, performed with a standard Model T Ford taxicab, is nothing short of amazing. At one point in the film a motorcycle cop asks our hero where he learned to drive. “I didn’t,” he replies. “It’s a gift.”

Matchless comedy and a fascinating lesson in automotive history—what more could we ask for? Please enjoy the video.

 

http://youtu.be/lkqz3lpUBp0

4 thoughts on “Video: Driving around New York City in 1928

  1. Very entertaining! Some of those stunts looked dangerous, and we know there weren’t any computer animation tricks. I had to watch the horse-drawn trolley crash very carefully to see the driver prepare for and then jump out on impact.

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