MovieChat Forums > Stranger from Venus (1954) Discussion > American cars

American cars

posted 9 years ago by mgconlan-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Though the people in "Stranger from Venus" (the title on the print I watched) drive on the left side of the road, correct for the film's British setting, at least two of the cars -- the Cadillac crashed by Patricia Neal's character at the beginning and the Packard used by the local authorities later in the film -- have their steering wheels on the left side, the setup used for cars built for the U.S. and our system of driving on the right side of the road. Anyone have any idea how and why the producers used American cars?

[–] John-367 8 years ago

The Director and Producer both being American might have something to do with it or maybe, like the common ploy of casting the odd American actor in British films, however implausibly, it was something to do with making US audiences more comfortable.
I agree that it's a bit pointless and very unlikely in a British setting. You could be driving along British roads for decades and never spot an American car, it must have been a lot more rare then.

[–] ironjade 8 years ago

One of many oddities, e.g. the policemen's uniforms look more like SS outfits than anything ever worn by UK officers. I think they also had guns which was impossible then and very rare now.

"Say it with flowers . . . give her a Triffid."

[–] rodh 8 years ago

All the uniforms, including the army, seem to have a mid-Atlantic look as though the whole story was set in a fictitious country.