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Must see movie! Clark Gable racing at Indy

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  • Must see movie! Clark Gable racing at Indy

    I just found this awesome old movie "To Please a Lady" starring Clark Gable. It's pretty obvious that the producers brought in the racing experts of the day, because this is about as authentic as it gets. You're going to see Gable claw his way up from the dirt track bull ring all the way to the Indy 500, back in the day when men raced in their shirtsleeves in open roadsters without roll bars; you'll see a tear down and rebuild of an Offy race engine, Clark walking the track in the pre-dawn hours to get a read on the track, in car camera-work, as well as great footage of the suspension at work on the race track. Plus the Joie Chitwood thrill show! And then, there is of course the girl...

    You can watch it free here: https://ok.ru/video/276416236195 I hope you enjoy it!
    Last edited by Hemi Joel; April 4, 2020, 11:22 PM.

  • #2
    The finale of the film takes place at the Indianapolis 500. The actual 1950 running of the 500 was used for these scenes. The actual driver of Gable #17 car for the 1950 Indy 500 was the real Joie Chitwood, featured earlier in the film as the owner of the Thrill Show Gable was working in.

    A young Bill Hickman can be seen as one of the members of Clark Gable's pit crew. Hickman was famous as one of the top movie stunt drivers in Hollywood for many years, and his most notable on-camera role was as the middle-aged, bespectacled driver of the black Dodge Charger that is chased by Steve McQueen's green Ford Mustang in the film Bullitt (1968).

    Clark Gable was serious racing fan who frequently attended races including the Indianapolis 500.

    Mario Andretti says he saw this film while still a boy in Italy. It was the first time he heard the word "Indianapolis" and the film captured his imagination and became his favorite movie of all time.

    Because The starring lead actress Barbara Stanwyck was on hand at the Indianapolis Speedway on race day, to film critical scenes for the movie, there is a famous 1950 photograph of her, after the race in Victory Lane, offering the real Indy 500 winner, Johnny Parsons, an enthusiastic congratulatory kiss.

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    • #3
      Man, that is GREAT !!!
      Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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      • #4
        How did I live my life this long without ever hearing about this film

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Monster View Post
          How did I live my life this long without ever hearing about this film
          That's what I was thinking? Never heard of it before yesterday.

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          • #6
            Being a big Barbra Stanwyck fan , ( initially from Big Valley reruns with her Linda Evans , and Lee Majors most notably) I've watched alot of her old movies ) so I have heard of it I just haven't seen it yet . Being from and living in Indy most my life , maybe I'll watch it in may since our race is being put of till Aug .
            Previously HoosierL98GTA

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            • #7
              I created my account to reply to this thread, unfortunately my approval came too late to inform the followers of the thread that not only "To please a Lady" was being shown on TCM, but they were having another all-day "car-guy" themed movie day. (I believe they keep everything available on demand though)
              One film that they showed, that everyone here should watch is "The Racing Scene" (1969) starring James Garner. Some of the films they showed were pretty corny, and definitely in poser-land, but TRS is not! Garner was an actual driver... Not very successful apparently, but a real racer nonetheless.
              The film follows him from Baja racing south of the border, to Indianapolis where his team received their Lola, to the 24hrs of LeMans running the same Lola rebodied for the endurance race... And that's just the first half. It's a fast paced documentary with very few scripted moments. Lots of cockpit views of different tracks, lots of actual pit chatter, an unbelievable amount of high quality footage of vintage racers, and a whole lot of great audio...and yes, there are a couple very bad crashes. Nobody dies though



              ➕➕➕ Ooooh, and the reason I was searching this topic to begin with is... I know they wrecked the 17 car in the film (it looked ok to me, and was probably one of several) but I'm wondering where that car (or those cars) are today.
              As a young kid I didn't much care for "Indy" cars, but as I've gotten older, and my respect for the drivers of these nearly untameable beasts has increased, I've become quite enamored with them. The establishing shot of car 17 is amazing! In the shop, as the seller is rattling off all of the race car parts...Arden head, quick change rear end etc... I kinda fell in love with the car. Just wondering if it still exists & if so... in which museum / collection?

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              • #8
                Cool you join and thanks for bringing this movie up again. I still haven't seen it .
                Previously HoosierL98GTA

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                • #9
                  I saw this flick in an old restored theater along with my car club years ago. It's great.
                  Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

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