As an early auto buff, I watched this film for the cars, not expecting much more. The only characters/actors I recognized were beautiful Patsy Ruth Miller, and Gibson Gowland, who, incidentally, played Greta Garbo's father in ANNA Christie, and Oldfield himself. The story is a sort-of early melodrama, not hard to watch, but easily forgettable. BUT: are there any car buffs out there who can identify the makes/brands of the early cars? After all, that's what they were - horseless carriages- and all looked pretty much the same. Only a couple, the one Oldfield drives (with the big radiator) I think resembles Ford's "999", and the big limo near the end I think is a Rolls-Royce, but even of that I'm not sure. Interestingly enough, and I see this a lot in early auto films - all of the cars had the radiator name badge removed from the front, making them even more hard to define.Anybody? Additionally, the character "Elmer Hays" was or wasn't that name a takeoff on ELWOOD HAYNES, an early auto pioneer? All in all, an interesting film. Anybody?
Review of The First Auto
