Chapter 29: Hollywood Truckspotting

31 January 2004 This chapter is going to showcase an idea I've hatched a few months ago. I made a point of watching period films for appearance by my beloved Task Force series (1955.2-1959) trucks. I haven't been disappointed! True, Advance Design (1947-1955.1) are somewhat more prevalent (maybe because they made more of them, or they're more emblematic of thier period) but I've catalogued a few. The advent of DVD, with it's frame-by-frame search and excellent resolution, has also been a help.

This list is detailed, but by no means exhaustive-- a sort of "Chevy's Greatest Hits." And by all means: if you see any yourself, Drop me a note and we can add on to this list! (I would especially like to find a good sighting from an old film, as close to the vehicle's manufacture date as possible.)

Movie Index

 



The Godfather Part II (Dir: Francis Coppola, 1974)
The scene: Washington, DC, 1959. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), having just finessed the Senate Committee on Organized Crime, is about to hear some very bad news from his soon-to-be estranged wife Kay (Diane Keaton). In the establishing shot of the hotel where this conflict is about to take place a 1956 Chevy stepside, painted a foreboding black, slowly passes-- a vehicular harbinger of doom.
Image © 1974 Paramount Pictures & The Coppola Company


That's it on the left.
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American Graffiti (Dir: George Lucas, 1973)
Vintage cars weren’t just showcased in George Lucas’ nostalgia-craze-producing film; they were characters in their own right. You’d think a film set in Modesto in 1962 would feature no end of farm and service vehicles. Think again. There is, in an early scene, a yellow truck seen passing by Mel’s Drive-In (actually located in San Francisco; my folks took me there when I was a kid), almost certainly a Ford.

A few minutes later in the film when Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) is trying out the ’58 Impala loaned to him by Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), he passes a parked red 1957 Chevy truck sporting a Utility Body.
Image © 1973 Lucasfilm Ltd. & Universal Studios

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Earthquake (Dir: Mark Robson, 1974)
Blink and you’ll miss it: In one scene of urban devastation a ‘55 or ‘56 GMC truck sits forlornly in the middle of the street.
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O Brother Where Art Thou? (Dir: Joel Coen, 2000)
Many fine early-20th century trucks are seen in this film, for the Coen brothers are nothing but fanatical about accurate period details in their films. The scene that stands out early in the film: a sheriff’s posse has the three protagonists holed up in a barn. The lawmen’s plan to burn them out backfires (so to speak) when the fire they set gets back to their van, igniting the ammunition and explosives contained in the back. The truck, a 1935 Chevy, looks like a 1-ton open chassis model with a boxy panel-style container built on. It gets blow’d up real good. I hope it was some sort of reproduction…
Images © 2000 Universal Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Studio Canal+ & Working Title Films

Check out the artillery wheels & semaphore turn signal.


Wash Hogwallop's boy, fixin' to "R-U-N-N-O-F-T," comes to the rescue in a Ford Model T. The '35 is about to explode and jump 8 feet in the air.
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Bullitt (Dir: Peter Yates, 1968)
Yes, in the famous chase scene several Task Force pickups and Panels can be clearly seen.
Images © 1968 Solar Productions & Warnner Bros. Studios

#1: During the "cat-and-mouse" before the chase starts, Steve McQueen's Mustang (right) pulls ahead of a 1956 pickup carrying wood.

#2: Seconds before the big peel-out, Steve pursues the Charger east on Filbert. He passes a yellow Task-Force...

#3:...And then another one, also yellow. You can see the spires of SS Peter and Paul Church in the BG.

#4. Cresting a hill during the chase, Steve's Mustang passes a panel, blurred but undeniably a Task Force.
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Back to the Future (Dir: Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
During an exciting chase sequence, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) eludes the bully Biff Tannen by grabbing onto the tailgate of a lovely sea-green five-window Advance Design Chevy truck. Curiously, someone replaced the tailgate with a piece of wood. In close-up, you can see the top of the gate is secured to the post-holes: my guess is it’s some sort of stunt safety modification.
Image © 1985 Universal Pictures & Amblin' Entertainment

Shot from the cafe. You can see Marty McFly waving. I never noticed that before.

What appears to actually be Michael J. Fox holding on to the back of the AD Chevy. You can see the securing strap on the top of the tailgate.
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Cotton Comes to Harlem (Dir: Ossie Davis, 1970)
In this landmark "blaxploitation" film, the cotton actually comes to Harlem tumbling right out of the cargo doors of a speeding black 1964 Chevy Panel Delivery. It comes to a bad end soon thereafter.
Image © 1970 Formosa Productions & United Artists


The cotton is under the tarp.


It's good to have independent front suspension. The side of the panel says "SOUL FOOD LIMITED."

The panel's unfortunate demise, with Godfrey Cambridge and unidentified white guy.
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Space Cowboys (Dir: Clint Eastwood, 2000)
In the flashback prologue, the ground support man drives a 1957 Carryall Suburban.
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The Iron Giant (Dir: Brad Bird, 1999)
Truck spotting in an animated film? Well, the art department on this show-- set in the fictional town of Rockwell, Maine in 1957-- did an exceptional job of it: several truck marques can be easily recognized. Annie Hughes (The mother of the protagonist, voiced of Jennifer Aniston) drives a maroon-and-gray pickup, clearly based on the Chevy Advance Design series.
Images © 1999 Warner Feature Animation, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
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The Getaway (Dir: Sam Peckinpah, 1972)
At the very end of the film, Steve McQueen & Ali McGraw finally succeed in their getaway into Mexico by hiring Slim Pickens’ Task Force pickup for the run across the border. They give him $30,000 for it. That's collector appreciation!
Image © 1972 Solar Productions & First Artists


(left to right) Steve McQueen, Ali McGraw, and Slim Pickens.
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Pocket Money (Dir: Stuart Rosenberg, 1972)
This film is a little-seen rarity featuring the same director, and several stars, of Cool Hand Luke (1967; lots of big GMCs in that one). Paul Newman plays Jim Kane, a down-on-his-luck cowboy (who acts like he might have brain damage) who gets involved in cattle purchasing in Mexico with Leonard (Lee Marvin), a disreputable fellow who drives a '60 Buick with the biggest fins I've ever seen. I actually cannot recommend this movie as entertainment: it’s talky, boring and cheap looking, with a theme song by (of all people) Carole King, and a bizarre jazz score.

But what sets Pocket Money apart from most of the other films in this list is Paul Newman’s pick-up: a 1956 Chevy model 3124 Cameo Carrier, Bombay Ivory with Cardinal Red trim faded to pink. Instead of getting involved in murky livestock dealings, Jim Kane should have sold his hauler for the collector value.
Images © 1972 First Artists & National General Pictures, Inc.

The Cameo, apparently somewhere between Nogales and Tucson.


Pulling into an A&W.

Nice shot of Mr. Newman behind the wheel.


Another very nice shot.
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3 February 2004 The day after this page was posted I got this email:

Sir,

My 1958 GMC fleetside pickup was in the movie "Catch me if you can" starring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg. If you have a chance look for it in the airport scene and also at a street scene where there are several stewardesses crossing the street.

If this meets your standards please post it to your trucks in the movies website.

thanks,

David K----

So how 'bout it?

Catch Me If You Can (Dir: Steven Spielberg, 2003)
Images © 2003 Dreamworks SKG

The very moment Frank Abegnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) discovers how cool it was to be an airline pilot in the 60s. Adding to his epiphany is David's '58 GMC. Inspiration comes in all forms...

Frank, suspecting the authorities are closing in, cases Miami Airport. He has a reason to be paranoid: that '58 Jimmy has re-appeared. (A vintage terminal at Ontario International Airport stands in for Miami.)
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