Help identify the date of this Candy Barr clip.

[flake56]

very much that of a Desoto. saw a lot of them as a kid.

[bozoclown]

Originally Posted by flake56

very much that of a Desoto. saw a lot of them as a kid.

I don't think it's a DeSoto. Here are pics of a 1951 and a 1953 DeSoto. The trunk emblem is distinctive and does not match



But, with some help from the guys at the American Antique Car Association Forum, I think we have a match in the 1953 Mercury, shown below. The trunk emblem and bumper is the clincher for me:


So I'm 95% convinced that the movie was made in '53 or later.

When recalling details in that interview nearly 50 years after the fact, it's understandable that Candy could have been off on the exact year. I don't doubt she was forced into sex at age 15 or 16, but this movie couldn't have been made when she was that young, unless that car traveled back in time.

[qwerty17]

Originally Posted by bozoclown

But, with some help from the guys at the American Antique Car Association Forum, I think we have a match in the 1953 Mercury, shown below. The trunk emblem and bumper is the clincher for me:

Those clearly aren't the same car: in the B&W image the fins top angle is nearly 90° - more like 70° in the color image. Different bumper, different tail lights.

Candy was married at 14; in the early half of the 20th century it was entirely normal for women to marry at 16; the "average" age an American girls loses her virginity in the US is currently 17, which means (since many remain virgins into their 20s) that quite a few have to be losing it at 15, to create the average.

All this to say that the fixation with "18" has to do with current (rather recent) laws governing films, and shouldn't affect how we judge what people did back in the 50s.

[bozoclown]

Originally Posted by qwerty17

Those clearly aren't the same car: in the B&W image the fins top angle is nearly 90° - more like 70° in the color image. Different bumper, different tail lights.

That threw me too, but if you look at the zoomed out picture, you can see there is a fence in the foreground, with a gate that has some kind of plate on each side. The plate obscures the left taillight and the gate post makes it appear that the tailfin is at the wrong angle:



The fixation with 18 has more to do with what this forum will allow to be posted here. I say this evidence makes the clip allowable at VEF.

[qwerty17]

Originally Posted by bozoclown

The fixation with 18 has more to do with what this forum will allow to be posted here. I say this evidence makes the clip allowable at VEF.

[Harry1953]

I'm pretty sure that is a 1959 DeSoto, possibly the Firedome Sportsman. The taillights for the '57 and '58 models were similar, but the license plate holder was in the middle in between the fins. Earlier models did not have such pronounced fins. There is no way that car was built even close to 1951. I realize I am also saying the movie was probably not made in 1955, either, but I could not find a 1955 tail fin with that distinctive six lamp arrangement.

[Harry1953]

Just to correct myself, the image is blurry, but if that is a four lamp tail light, it could be a 1955 Dodge. That is the earliest I could find that style of tail fins.

[big-back-then]

Originally Posted by bozoclown

There is quite a bit of discussion on page 2 of this thread (6 years ago) regarding the stag film Candy Barr made early in her career, "Smart Alec", including a rumor that she was only 16 at the time, which would put the year at 1951. (Candy was born in July of 1935)

I submit for your approval, a frame from 26 seconds into this film, showing a car which I cannot identify, but which seems to have tail fins of a size which did not appear on cars until the mid-fifties. Are there any classic American car experts at VEF who can correctly date the car shown here?


I say this proves she was of legal age, so I am posting said movie (for scholarly purposes only)

avi; 43.37; 640x480; 00:05:00

When looking at the passenger side of the car, at the rear right side trim, it looks like a '53 or '54 Chevrolet. The bubble-type top also is similar to the '54 Chevy.





The pipe railing in the background makes it look like the left fin of the black car is a '57 Chevy fin, but it looks to me that it is just the pipe railing for traffic or to keep people from falling over. The right rear fin of the black car is curved/ streamlined like the '53-'54 models shown above. The center chrome trunk emblem is similar to what the Buicks and Chevys had in the mid 50's.



You can see the pipe railing continue in other frames of the film:





To me, if the earliest the car would have been produced was 1953 or 1954, and she was born in 1935, she would have been 18 or 19 when those cars were made. There's a big chance that these low-budget films would have been made by guys who didn't have the money for new cars, and instead opted for cars a few years old.

She also doesn't look like she could have been that young from the screenshots posted, it is possible that she may have just been trying to eliminate that part of her life that she might have been embarrassed about when she got older.

[Rogerbh]

The closest I have come is a 1955 Mercury Montclair.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/182945959905

I have requested help on a non-car forum but maybe you should check on car forums?

Maybe a 1954 Mercury Sun Valley?

https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0512-12...ry-sun-valley/

Some on the other forum are saying 55 DeSoto or 55 Chevy Bel Air

That 1951 date for "Smart Alec" appears to be a completely different film from 1951.

*crap, so sleepy - I didn't even notice all the other posts.

[chfisher2004]

It's blurry, but it appears to be either a 50 or 51 Oldsmobile. All sources confirm the movie was made in 1951, including Candy herself. Look again at the driver's side rear of the car; that is NOT a tailfin. It is part of the building or a fence rail in the background. The angle of the camera shot makes it look like the car has fins, but it does not. There is no fin on the passenger side. The bumperettes, taillights, and trunk emblem match the Oldsmobile design.