‘From Humble Beginnings…’
Many sources place the credit for the ‘car movie’ as we know it today with Peter Yates’ 1968 masterpiece ‘Bullitt’. I’m aware that I’ve mentioned this film many, many times throughout my blogs, but it’s so highly regarded by car fans and movie buffs alike that it can’t really be ignored. However, when I began looking deeper into the history of the car chase, I found that it could be traced back much further; for example, to the ‘Keystone Kops’, a troupe of comedians who portrayed bumbling police officers in a range of silent films from 1912 to 1917 including ‘A Thief Catcher’ (1914) and ‘Tillie’s Punctured Romance’ (1914). Primarily used as background characters to support big names of the era like Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin, they could often be seen piling unceremoniously into their little jalopy and taking off in pursuit of the bad guys. Some have claimed that they were the inspiration for the ‘Police Academy’ movies with their comedic timing and sense of humour, a fact that doesn’t surprise me at all. Although the ‘action’ was incredibly tame by modern standards and the camerawork was typical of the era (shaky and sometimes out of focus), what did improve the feel of these ‘pursuits’ was the quick editing which many films of this time period used specifically when attempting to demonstrate speed. Such editing has remained the norm for car movies the world over ever since, helping in no small part to delivering to audiences a sense of speed and danger.
‘The Keystone Kops’ – Image Credit: http://www.adage.com
J D SIMPSON 