I'm a bit of a car nut. So whenever I watch old movies I notice these things. When Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant were in the MG for the first time, right before he went blind, they drove under this weird thing on the road that looked like a car on stilts. Anyone have any idea what that was?
Thanks in advance!
Just my $.02
Not sure, just assumed it was some commercial or industrial machine...obviously, it was built for something high up.
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I have no idea either, but it was crazy, I was wondering what it is, too.
I'm glad someone else posed this question!
I just finished watching the film and came straight on to enquire!
What on earth is it for? I cannot concieve of any practical use for a vehicle in which the chassis is so far away from the wheels!
Maybe these were commonplace in '52 (I'm only 23 so it's completely new to me)...
Looks to me like a carrier for pallets of lumber. There are similar things now for carrying shipping containers, but that kind of shipping wasn't done in the '50's.
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Yes, it's for carrying Lumber, bricks etc.
A large, upright forklift.
Have seen the same car/forklift stunt in a few old films.
One was a Red Skelton movie called 'Watch The Birdie.' (1950)
The machine even lifted a sports car that Red was driving.
I've seen it before on the street for road maintenance and thought about doing what Cary Grant and Marilyn did. Of course I wasn't under the influence of the formula so thought better of it. That's just one scene which makes this such a madcap, screwball comedy.
What about doing a belly flop from the high board? Double ouch. You don't see any sort of diving boards in public anymore either.
Put Dirty Harry in the IMDB top 250!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/ratings
my father told me that it was used to change the lights in the lamp posts. not sure if it is 100% but he seemed pretty matter-of-fact
shareIt's a container mover used to move standard-sized containers around e. g. in ports. At the time containers were still brand-new and this was cutting-edge technology. I was amazed to see this in a 1952 movie.
shareWell, Buster Keaton seems to encounter one of them in "Sherlock Jr." back in 1924. It's during the final chase scene and we only see it for a few seconds, but it looks like a similar type of machine to me.
shareI'm surprised that no one knows what it is. You'll find them in any boat yard. It's a boat lift used to tow boats in and out of the water. Also to transport boats around the yard for dry storage. I learned this from the late, great Capt. Robbie Jacob. R. I. P.
shareJust found this page with a picture of one on http://www.walker-moody.com/index.php/company-history-1941-1960.html it's about 2/3 of the way down the page.
shareI thonk it was a bit higher than that one
shareFor the record: It's a Gerlinger straddle carrier, sort of a big fork lift for picking up loads of lumber.
For any movie automotive identifications IMCDb.org is a very useful site.
And as pointed out in this thread, it is useful for picking up and carrying other kinds of stuff. It isn't different vehicles, it is the same type of vechicle, originally made for lumber, that is used for different purposes. So, it's not that anyone in this thread is wrong.
chester copperpot... awesome
shareKeaton did a similar gag in his classic Sherlock Jr.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvFm4-FeMM (towards the end of the clip).
We could have high times
if you'll abide
hahaha, i forgot how funny his running is.
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