Warner Brothers Studio was continuing to perfect its sound-on-disc film format, a technology that showed immense promise throughout the first half of 1927. The company's sixth feature film to use the Vitaphone system was June 1927's "The First Auto." What was revolutionary about this picture was the advancement of both the music and the special effects accompanying the motion picture. Not only had the sophistication of the sounds been increased since Vitaphone's feature film debut in 1926's "Don Juan," but the soundtrack actually contained a few brief words.
Besides having a more complex soundtrack, "The First Auto" also serves as an historical record showcasing some of the very earliest horseless carriages under their own power. The movie's plot describes a successful race horse owner, Hank Armstrong (Russell Simpson), disparaging the advanced technology of automobiles. He wins a bet against one of the car's owners, proving his contention that cars will never replace horses in speed or in power. By the early 1900s, however, Hank's son, Bob Armstrong (Charles Emmett Mack), and all his pals have gasoline engine fever, and are foaming at the mouth to get their hands on them. Bob becomes a race car driver, and an exciting conclusion makes no doubt that automobiles are here to stay.
Not that they were any safer than horse carriages. In real life, actors appearing in "The First Auto" were killed in two separate accidents. Extra and script girl Helen Howard died when her and two other cast members were in a car that collided with another vehicle in downtown Los Angeles. The driver, William Demarest, who played the village funnyman and was Uncle Charlie in 'My Three Sons,' suffered cuts and bruises in the overturned car while extra Loretta Rush cracked her skull. After filming was over, Charles Emmett Mack died in an auto accident. His part as Bob was a major role for Mack, killed at the age of 26.
Besides having a more complex soundtrack, "The First Auto" also serves as an historical record showcasing some of the very earliest horseless carriages under their own power. The movie's plot describes a successful race horse owner, Hank Armstrong (Russell Simpson), disparaging the advanced technology of automobiles. He wins a bet against one of the car's owners, proving his contention that cars will never replace horses in speed or in power. By the early 1900s, however, Hank's son, Bob Armstrong (Charles Emmett Mack), and all his pals have gasoline engine fever, and are foaming at the mouth to get their hands on them. Bob becomes a race car driver, and an exciting conclusion makes no doubt that automobiles are here to stay.
Not that they were any safer than horse carriages. In real life, actors appearing in "The First Auto" were killed in two separate accidents. Extra and script girl Helen Howard died when her and two other cast members were in a car that collided with another vehicle in downtown Los Angeles. The driver, William Demarest, who played the village funnyman and was Uncle Charlie in 'My Three Sons,' suffered cuts and bruises in the overturned car while extra Loretta Rush cracked her skull. After filming was over, Charles Emmett Mack died in an auto accident. His part as Bob was a major role for Mack, killed at the age of 26.