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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website This moralistic film made by Charles Cahill Associates in 1963 tells the cautionary tale of a hospitalized man (Tom) whose drunk driving has led to his leg being amputated and his friend Jim perhaps dead. Narrated by Robert Young, who appears at the end of the film. Film begins with a white man in his early 40s (“Tom”) lies in hospital bed. Zoom: leg amputated from knee (0:06). Closeup: Tom’s pained expression, head tightly bandaged. White female nurse in uniform helps Tom adjust position. Tom skiing on slopes (0:20), serving tennis ball (0:25). Bowling ball strikes pins. Hunters with guns creep through foliage (hunting). Buck sitting in field; another buck passes. People climb up steep grassy hill (0:40). Closeup: Tom’s pensive expression (hospital). He reaches for lost leg. He rocks back and forth, stares blankly, looks around. Empty hospital bed (1:03). “Laurie” (Tom’s wife—white, with short, dark, wavy hair) speaks, holds bedridden husband’s hand, tries to calm him. Closeups: Tom’s furrowed brow, Laurie pensive. “Just Married” sign fixed to car (1:34), three people wave while it drives away. Corvair driving down suburban road, turns (driver in suit with hand out window) (1:44). Closeup from passenger’s seat: Tom, in sweater, driving through suburbs. View from passenger’s seat as car in front turns, swerving closely. Small group considering crossing street (view from vehicle). Red light. Convertible races past van in suburbia (palm trees) (2:05). Closeup: Laurie, dressed nicely, in passenger’s seat, concerned. Tom, in suit, driving. Plymouth Fury convertible passes car (2:17). View from car: suburban road, group of kids playing ahead. Near-accident when elementary-aged girl drops basketball in street. Closeup: blonde white mother on sidewalk, concerned. Convertible driving through mountains (2:33). Men from hunting trip in car, tired. View from vehicle, swerve toward rocks (near-accident), passengers look scared. Alcohol being poured (3:07). Woman with short blonde hair / red lipstick, smiling. People smoke, drink at party. Convertible swerves around corner on tree-lined road (3:19). Tom’s face again. White male attorney at Tom’s bedside (Tom’s arm raised in sling) (3:35). Technician at laboratory opens package, reads it (3:41). Vials in centrifuge. Closeup: pipette of blood to vial. Vials in row. Technician holds / compares vials, titles appear on screen detailing blood alcohol content (.05% = “some drivers affected;” .10% = “all drivers affected”). Tom’s face again (4:31), gaze meets camera, looks at ceiling. Panning shot across empty bed. White men in jackets approach two parked cars, put bags in trunk, talk (4:53). Jim shakes head, Tom pats his shoulder. Setting: formal bar (5:20). Man plays guitar, women dance / serve in sexy outfits. Closeup: hands pouring alcohol. Men watch as dressed-up women approach bar, sit, are served by bartender. Women smile; men toast to them. Clarinetist / drummer play. Closeup: Tom blows smoke, ashes cigarette (6:02). Woman in white dress / gloves takes drag of long cigarette. Closeup: men getting drunker. Two men in convertible drive away at night (6:23). Straight-on view of Tom driving at night. Convertible driving fast. Jim drunk in passenger seat. Tom in hospital, empty bed (6:47). Crash: lights flash, Tom / Jim shout frantically, cars moving quickly, car hits a pole. Second-story window: woman turns on lights, looks down, aghast, runs (7:08). Hands dial white rotary phone (7:17). Tom squirms in pain (hospital). Funeral (dream sequence): bows on coffin, few people, Tom in suit, crutches, approaches coffin, leg amputated, looks down (7:32). Tom in pain, pillow of empty hospital bed (7:56). Partial view of hospital door opening (feet / wheels entering room). Tom: dramatic faces. Doctor approaches, speaks to camera (8:18). Jim, in bandages, on gurney; nurses remove railings. Closeup: Jim, eyes squinted, head bandaged, attempts smile. Doctor examines Tom’s eyes. White people on deck chairs under umbrella, some holding prosthetic leg (8:48). Tom, on reclining chair, gestures. Jim helps Tom put on prosthetic, he struggles to stand. Tom rubs eyes (9:16). Various fast shots of scenes from before: suburban near-accident, alcohol, blonde woman drinking, Tom driving at night, lab / blood alcohol content. At deck party, Tom struggles to walk (9:37). Busy 1950s thoroughfare (street view) (9:43). Tom crosses yard slowly while others watch. Robert Young in suit in garden, shakes head, speaks, holding book, gestures, laughs. (9:59). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
