OT - Driving Around NYC, 1928
 

Have a look at cabbie Harold Lloyd's fare, at 1:36:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkqz3...eature=related

That was so cool, doesn't even seem all that different for being so long ago, just as much a ratrace ! The Babe looked so healthy, no wonder 1927 was such a massacre. I wonder how much he got paid to do that.

That was great. I was not aware that Babe did a short with Harold Lloyd. And he does look slim and healthy.

I thinkl that is from "Speedy" actually a full length feature. There was a "Speedy" book published that also has pictures of the Babe in it. I have it around here somewhere...

I'm pretty sure that at 4:21 in that film, the constable in the front of the horse carriage is severly injured when it crashes....and I'm sure the horse were pulled back violently as well....pretty graphic.

I tried 100 times to see the cab fare...no luck at all on my 22" monitor.

I don't think when Bob said check out the fare he meant the cost...he was referring to the passenger. I also thought he meant look how cheap cabs were back then, until the Babe showed up right about 1:36.

JP, good point, although
 

the constable that gets crushed is a dummy...but the driver flies forward at a pretty exciting clip

I disagree, looks real to me. I watched it numerous times. His head tracks the car that causes the accident and he doesn't see the pillar coming.

Speedy.
 

c. 1920's Silent Film "Speedy" staring Harold Lloyd & Babe Ruth.

Vintage original TYPE I photo and matching Handbill (bottom right image of the handbill).

Attachment 14797

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Attachment 14799

Found this at imdb, so it wasn't a dummy, but the guy wasn't seriously hurt either.

" The streetcar crash into the elevated train support was an unplanned accident (no one was injured); the idea of replacing the broken wheel with a manhole cover had to be improvised on the scene. "

very cool...it looked like traffic was nuts back then!

Also great New York street scenes, especially one that went through Washington Square Park.

Speedy
 

Is one of my very favorite old movies-- it really shows you what they were accomplishing with location filming in the late silent era, right before sound came in and chained the filmmakers to studio sets for the next fifteen years or so. The driving stunts and race sequences are tremendous. There's also an amazing Coney Island sequence early in the film that really makes you feel what it would have been like to be there. The Babe's appearance is not the acting highlight of the film, but it's great to see him. Get it from netflix and see the whole thing!

Hmmm...well
 

in light of this new information, (the fact that it wasn't a dummy, AND no one was seriously hurt), then I would say this is one of the funnier accident clips I've seen in a while! :D

More facts:

# Filmed extensively on location in New York City. The slums scenes, however, were built and shot on a backlot in Los Angeles.

# Harold Lloyd was such a popular star at the time, the Coney Island scenes had to be filmed secretly, with the camera often hidden from view, to avoid attracting mobs of adoring fans.

# Lou Gehrig can be seen walking by as Babe Ruth gets out of the cab.

And more than eight decades later
 

NYC Cabbies still drive the exact same way.

Just now, the question is do any of them speak English?

Rich

Here's the Photoplay edition of SPEEDY...and one of the pictures inside the book. It's a great little film; you can catch it on TCM every few months.

http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/SPEEDYDJ.jpghttp://s915.photobucket.com/albums/a...YRUTHSTILL.jpg