Summary

Your Permit to Drive

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: Your Permit to Drive
File Number: PA-1006 1 inch; PA-0156 Beta SP
Color: B W
Type: Industrial
Year: 1951
Subjects: Aerials Safety education Drivers and driving Automobiles Detroit, Michigan (scenes) Rubber stamps Accidents (automobile) Driving (night) Traffic signals Traffic lights Driving safety Automobiles (safety) Drivers licenses Accidents (simulated) Detroit, Michigan (streets) Michigan (roads) Detroit, Michigan (history and culture) Surrealism Hospitals Sirens Lights Ambulances Highways Traffic Streets (city) Cities (US)
Description: Your Permit to Drive 10:51:48:15 AV of street with island and parking spaces (West Grand Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, shot right outside General Motors headquarters complex) CU Motor Vehicle Operators Permit VS riding down road CU large wave hitting rocks and spraying upward VS bodies of water CU of ship on harbor Old car driving out of driveway VS Crowded road 10:53:15:19 Farm truck coming towards camera CU Front of Greyhound bus as it is moving CU Truck driver as he drives CU Ambulance in motion CU Policeman, Cab driver, VS cars driving down roads CU Car wheel turning 10:55:47:00 CU truck wheel turning, as it moves away entire view of truck full of animal cages comes into view. CU New cars in transit, stacked on moving ramp. Camera pans from parking lot to beach of people, to trailer park, to picnic, 10:54:09:12 3 people on slide, they slide down into water and Splash! Boxboy taking groceries out to car with young mother and child. He packs grocery boxes into trunk 10:54:26:02 MCU factory and smokestack Camera pans factory site MCU DINER FACADE: Richard's Drive-in 10:54:34:13 Cut to back shot of couple eating in convertible outside drive-in MCU Drive-in theater sign lit up: TOWN DRIVE-IN THEATER Cars driving down street at night headlights on 10:55:03:17 CU man driving Sequence of shots of simulated car accident: Car approaching truck CU man swerving steering wheel CU streetlight CU face of man turning in surprise CU woman grabbing her face with her hands CU flashing traffic light CU police getting out of police car with flashing siren light 10:55:27:26 MCU Nurses' station with 2 nurses, man walks up and and hands nurse wallet CU Nurse opening wallet, looking at ID CU Woman at filing cabinet, closes file, locks cabinet 10:55:53:24 CU Operators Permit 10:55:57:06 Young man in convertible passes cars on the road shoulder View from driver's seat as car passes foolishly when car is coming in other direction CU side view of two people in moving car VS People at Motor Vehicle Bureau desk CU young girl raising her hand to swear an oath 10:56:36:20 AV of cars driving through intersection VS busy boulevard VS sports - polo, hockey, basketball,swimming, track, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling 10:57:45:28 VS cars driving down street Convertible turns in front of "wall" of cars as it makes left turn 10:57:59:07 Policeman writing out ticket as man paces and tries to talk policeman out of ticket Judge on bench talking to man, hits gavel against stand CU man arguing to judge CU gavel hitting stand 10:58:27:12 CU permits being stamped SUSPENDED, REVOKED 10:58:33:03 MCU Busy road CU Man putting arm out window to indicate he is turning, he makes turn CU woman from neck up, walking and chewing gum, walking with friend and dog CU camera in driver's seat at red light as crowd crosses street in front of car View looking down at throng of people crossing street View looking down at "throng" of cars driving down street VS CU people walking down sidewalk, crossing street 10:59:46:09 AV of cars entering intersection CU front end of moving car wheel, side of bumper, headlight 11:00:00:17 CU traffic light, pans down to car driving CU STOP sign Camera in driver's seat as kids running and on bicycles crossing treelined street CU CURVE sign CU Man at steering wheel of convertible VS camera at driver's seat as car moves 11:00:41:22 CU dented bumper of old car Camera pans up to 2 men exchanging ID CU badly dented back end of car, camera pans up to 2 men exchanging ID, then policeman walks into the scene VS Cars driving and camera in drivers seat. THE END [Educational Screen, Nov 1951] In this film a driver's license is personified and relates in its own words how important a role the motor vehicle plays in modern life and how to drive it symbolizes both a privilege and an obligation. The introductory scenes of the film show a driver's license and, as scenes of the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf, and the Great Lakes are shown, the license says, "I am your permit to drive -- your passport to pleasure." Pleasure cars, trucks, ambulances, police cars, and taxicabs are shown pursuing their individual ways through city streets and along highways. The driver's license says that it is a necessary belonging of the driver and every one of these vehicles and that only as long as the driver obeys the safety regulations will he possess a license. A serious accident is shown in which the driver's license is the sole means of identification. The license comments on the fact that young drivers are involved in twice as many accidents as older drivers and that they should remember that when they sign a license, they really sign a pledge. Good driving is compared to observance of the rules of fair play in games. Such driving rules as allowing the right-of-way and staying on the right side of the traffic lines are compared to similar rules in golf and bowling. The license reminds the audience that drivers who are poor sports may have their licenses revoked or suspended. The film closes by pointing out that the new driver has an opportunity to learn the right way to drive and by urging him to respect the obligations and responsibilities which are implied by his driver's license. 10:53:58:07- 10:54:09:11 Nice series of leisure shots. Starts with quick pan of a crowded lakeside beach, cut to pan (in the opposite direction of the first) of a camping site where trailers are lined up. We briefly see a woman sitting outside of a tent she turns and looks at the camera. Cut to a pan of two older women and a couple sitting at a picnic table (covered with a checkered cloth). Behind them is their nice trailer. worth noting: Nice image of a drive-in movie theater in town. (10:54:41:03) 10:59:17:05- 10:59:34:17 Series of shots of people walking along a city sidewalk. The first is at eye level and the next is from a lower angle (near the ground). The camera switches off with these two perspectives several times. The effect is a "smooth surge of motion" (as the narrator describes the people walking). Ken Smith sez: This amazing film, designed to brainwash young drivers-to-be, covers many bases at once. First, it enshrines the freedom to drive as something equatable with Liberty and Justice. Second, it portrays driving as a wonderful, liberating thrill a legal drug. Third, it paints the automotive industry as the indispensable linchpin of the American Way of Life. And fourth, it uses the fifties' big fist of conformity to tell its teen viewers that deviates who disobey highway "rules" will be cast out of society and or caught and punished severely and or worse. Not bad for an 11-minute film. It manages to do all this by showing us a continuous stream of traffic and driving footage, overlaid with a nonstop grandiloquent narration purportedly provided by a talking driver's permit. "I am your permit to drive an automobile," it begins. "I am only a card in your wallet or purse, yet I unroll before your eyes a magic carpet -- the millions of miles of highways and byways that crisscross the nation." The permit, it adds, is "your passport to pleasure," and Americans must realize that "no matter who they are, no matter where they are, I am with them." Just like liberty and democracy and Jesus, right? Next comes the General Motors' vision of America, thoughtfully provided for young, impressionable minds. "Our way of living has become geared to the automobile," the permit tells us proudly. "The automobile has brought with it a new way of life, a new standard of living, matched by no other nation in the world" (we see shots of groceries being loaded into the trunk of a shiny convertible). Because of the motorcar, the permit informs us, new industries have been created that "help keep turning the wheels of our national economy" and "add billions to our wealth, providing goods, services, and job opportunities undreamed of only yesterday." However, this rosy picture also has a dark side. "This year, I will be among the last papers of tens of thousands who will have no further use for me (mostly "18- to 24-year-olds," the permit adds). Over and over I ask myself, why? Is it the supposed thoughtlessness of youth that takes such a toll? Or is it my fault? Have I allowed myself to be -- taken for granted?" The permit is wracked with soul-searching agony. "I am a privilege and an obligation," it cries. "I try to tell people when they write their names across my face that they are signing a pledge -- a pledge to be the kind of driver they want others to be. We owe to each other the courtesy -- the fair play -- each of us expects!" Next comes the plea for fifties' conformity. "As a nation, we set great store by sportsmanship," the permit declares. "Almost all of us, at some time, play the game." Sadly, the permit notes, our nation's highways have their share of "poor sports." "They are the reckless, who cause the accidents that maim and kill!" it cries. "Offenders, whose invasion of the rights of others may lead to curtailment of their own rights." For emphasis we are shown staged shots of a smug young man in a loud, plaid sport coat having his permit revoked by a judge. "Remember," the permit concludes, "I am your permit to drive, not your right to drive. You are entitled to drive only as long as you abide by the rules." But the people who sponsored this film have too much riding on the automobile for it to end on such a sour note. "Perhaps the poor driver never learned the proper way to drive," the permit muses. "You have more opportunity than he. You have the opportunity to learn the right way to drive." The high-sounding generalities begin flying fast and furious: "Respect for the rights of others " "a polite avoidance of contact " "common sense safety " "wholehearted cooperation and courtesy." Finally, the driver's permit offers its concluding peroration, just in case the audience hasn't salivated enough yet about the prospect of driving. "I, your permit to drive, are the 'open sesame' to a lifetime of new experiences. I bring wings to your feet -- a freedom of motion you will learn always to cherish!" In other words, driving is like heroin, and your flag-waving, dream-weaving GM "dealer" is just that. ANTHROPOMORPHISM TALKING DRIVER'S LICENSE: An old-time driver's license is shown in a wallet. It tells us a story in VO. CAR CRASHES (NIGHTTIME): (10:55:11:20) A man drives down the street at night. A car honks at him. Cut to his driving POV. A truck pulls in front of him, the honking continues, we see his hands on the wheel, and then he is swerving and the breaks are screeching. Cut to a bystander's shocked face which is illuminated by headlights. Cut to a woman who covers her squinting eyes with her hands. Next there's the sound of a crash. Cut to images of blinking lights accompanied by the sounds of an ambulance. stock footage: Series of images of dangerous driving and near misses. Argumentative defendant in traffic court and a judge banging his gavel. The word SUSPENDED is stamped onto his license (10:88:27:10). ETIQUETTE: Crowds walk down a Detroit street. The narrator talks about the "smooth surge of motion," and the "polite avoidance of others" which make city streets tolerable. stock footage: (11:00:50) There's an argument over an accident between two men. They exchange licenses.
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