Here’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.
Love those glimpses back in time.
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.
Funny how nothing has changed in the past 86 years.;-)
You haven’t changed a bit since then.