Tomorrow's Drivers (1954) User Reviews

I Trust Jimmy Stewart

[boblipton · 6/10 · 2 April 2024]

Jimmy Stewart narrates this Jam Handy short film produced for the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Ford Motor Company had its own film division, but General Motors farmed out the work, and Jam Handy did a lot of these. Like most of them, it's soft sell. They never push General Motors projects. Instead, they talk about something in the automobile, and give the audience the sense that GM cares. The fact that all the cars are Chevvies... well, everyone drives one of those, don't they?

This short concerns itself with a project around Phoenix, Arizona to bring driver education down to kindergarten, to make these youngsters aware of the value of safety regulations, and give them some understanding of how traffic regulations work and why. It sounds like an interesting experiment. I wonder how it actually worked out. Do they still do it?

The 46 Year Old James Stewart

[The-Lonely-Londoner · 22 September 2003]

There's something about James Stewart's voice that's unmistakable. It's a small town American voice, and reflects small town American values. He is the chosen representative of the all-American sympathizers, and because he's interesting to watch and listen, he's endeared himself to a universal audience.

Adorable

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 12 August 2017]

Cute short from "Your Chevrolet Dealer" about training little kids to drive. They put these little first graders in mini-cars and have them drive around a course, supposedly learning safe driving rules and whatnot but really they just seem to be playing. It's just too cute for words. Jimmy Stewart narrates the whole thing and there are some authoritarian adult types hanging around. But honesty I barely paid attention to all that. I just liked seeing the kiddos play grown-up in these adorable little cars. As the short goes on, it moves from the kids into more familiar territory: the '50s scourge of hot-rodding teenagers. Because of this stuff, the second half of the short is a lot less fun and more of the traditional boring lectures you might expect. I still suggest you seek this one out. It's got corny "educational" value but the main selling point is the cuteness overload.

Nowhere near as bad as claimed

[Thor-Delta · 8/10 · 24 July 2010]

This a short film showing a program to teach young people the basics of driving years before they start driving. It is enhanced by great narration by James Stewart. There is footage of "practice cars" being driven by children. There is footage of driving real cars, and even brief footage of a hot-rod race, with the note that there were now hot-rod races carefully supervised for safety. Some people find this film to be promoting McCathyism, but I don't see it. Also, this film is hurt by the lack of refrigerators, since it's a scientifically proved fact that all 1950s films are improved by footage of refrigerators. We are also shown a class for "problem drivers". Though this is not the best film of it's genre, or even the best film of it's genre for the year, it's a fine film worth seeking for rare historical footage.