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1953 Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere 
Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin: 
00:09:52 ![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time
Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2017-12-30 03:31 |
This car plays an interesting character in the movie, and cars in general have a subtle role I noticed in the story arc. I watched the DVD extras, and while the writer and director talked about the split nature of the film - McDonald brothers, still in pre-war mentality, their pre-war, octagonal burger stand with a brown and white sign, and the shift of the colors to the “new” McDonalds. The car follows the arc. Not that there are any spoilers, but... SPOILER ALERT This is the story of Ray Kroc, a 52 year old Chicago-area businessman who is selling 5-spindle milkshake mixers. It is not going well. While on the road trying to sell to drive-ins in St. Louis, we see him getting rejected, and having to return to the Plymouth, struggle to open the trunk, and return the demo mixer to the trunk. He sees drive-ins circa 1954 - teenagers and hot-rodders and motorcycle gangs, cigarette machines, jukeboxes - and lousy service. His “increase supply, and demand will follow” speech about milkshakes is falling on deaf ears of the owners of these joints. Calling in to his office to check messages, his secretary relays an order for 6 machines from one restaurant in California. Thinking it’s a mistake (who can make 30 milkshakes at once?) he calls and the busy owner says, “yeah, better make it 8.” Ray Kroc decides right then to drive across the country and see what kind of operation needs to be able to make 40 milkshakes at once. Several nice scenery shots of the Plymouth and Ray driving on US 44 and US 66, which takes him to San Bernardino, where he meets the McDonald’s brothers, Dick (Richard) and Mac (Maurice). Kroc has his first McDonald’s burger and is slightly confused - an enormous line (“Don’t worry, it moves quickly” the woman in front of him assures him) and his meal is handed to him in a bag, without plates or silverware, in an instant. A lot-sweeping Mac McDonald asks him how things are, and Kroc introduces himself. Mac offers him the tour, and Kroc takes them to dinner, where he hears their story of how McDonalds came to be. Kroc wants them to franchise The McDonalds say no. They’ve tried it, five locations, and there will never be another. Could not maintain quality control. During their discussions, in the McDonald’s office, Kroc sees a photo of a “classic” McDonalds - the green concrete pad around the building, red-and-white striped tile half-wall, angled windows and those Golden Arches. Kroc asks, and learns that they built one. It’s in Phoenix. Kroc leaves with no deal, but you see him driving back in the Plymouth - smiling, thinking. In an earlier scene, after many rejections, Kroc is seen listening to a motivational record in his hotel room on a portable phonograph - A man is what he thinks about all day long. You can see Kroc thinking - and his hand goes out the window, like a child making airplane wing with his hand, going up. He takes the exit for US 17 south to Phoenix. Arriving at night, his car pulls up, pale blue and white at night... and then, reflected in the windshield, the bright yellow and red of the McDonalds. He gets out, his face lit in yellow, Cut to seeing him standing and staring at the future - the Golden Arches - the building. His car is practically a silhouette. Cut back to his face. He returns home, and the color palate returns to muted jewel tones. He tells his wife what he saw, and she responds with “here we go again” (Kroc’s business success had ups and downs). He snaps at her for her lack of support, but immediately apologizes. He goes on another trip to sell Multimixers, and from the car, he sees sunshine and American flags on houses and court buildings and church steeples with crosses. And, in the Plymouth, he gets rejected again - this time, without even getting into the restaurant, still huffing while holding his Multimixer. A screen door slammed in his face, and he retreats, seen through the blurry screen - another fly kept out of the kitchen by another clueless drive-in owner who doesn’t see the future. He walks back out And for the first time, he gets mad. He slammed the trunk, slams his hands on it from the inside of the car, we see him through the drizzle-covered window decide to act. He takes another approach at the McDonald’s apple. Asking them to “do it for their country,” the brothers agree to a strict contract. Kroc can franchise, but he can’t change anything. He opens his first franchise - we see him with the car as ground is being broken, saying a pray “Just let me be right this one time.” He opens his store, He runs it like the McDonald’s brothers, His first franchisees are the “idle rich” he despises who belong to the country club where his wife yearns to spend more time, and they are mismanaging their stores just as the franchisees of the McDonalds brothers. From the Plymouth, he sees one of his franchisees locations selling chicken and biscuits, a cigarette machine, BBQ, and teens - and trash everywhere. He loses it when he sees a horrible hamburger being eaten, flopping open with lettuce. He confronts his franchisees on the golf course. And then returns home to tell his wife they won’t be going to the club that night - her bed is laid out on the dress, and she realizes they won’t be going back there. He has one more visit to the mismanaged McDonalds, and he sits in the Plymouth, drinking from his flask. He returns to his office to see a door-to-door bible salesman, a Jew named Rosenblatt, attempting to sell a Catholic bible to his secretary/office manager. Why? “Making a living” He invites him in, and his wife, says “I believe in you” as they sign their franchise agreement. They open up and she’s handing out lollipops to kids in line while he’s running the kitchen just like the McDonalds - you got time to lean, you got time to clean! Kroc realizes that husband and wife teams - hungry, wanting a piece of the American dream - are the kind of franchisees who will work hard. He tries to convey this to his wife - how amazing it is to see couples acting like teammmaes. He announces that he and his wife will be going to dinner Friday ... “I guess you didn’t re-join Rollingreen” They go to a VFW post, where he meets a veteran who had a plumbing business, now sells vacuums and gives piano lessons on the side. The couple become the next franchisee - and Kroc is off to the races, going to VFWs, fraternal lodges, churches, synagogues (it takes chutzpa! Become part of the McDonalds mishpucha!) New locations are opening up, and the last shot of the Plymouth is Kroc at his own location, hosing the lot, Plymouth in the background. He then flies to one of his franchises in Minneapolis - it’s bright and sunny - and he steps out of a glossy red and yellow cab to a cheering crowd, complete with cheerleaders. It’s also in Minneapolis that he meets a future franchises, and his wife - who will also become his future wife. We never see him driving his own car again. From then on, Kroc does business on the phone, via plane, in person - he’s not seen driving himself again. The last scene is him rehearsing a speech for with Governor Reagan - and a silver limousine (Rolls Royce?) pulling from his detached garage to his Beverly Hills mansion. The car can wait... He finishes rehearsing his speech - and while he has a chance to credit the McDonald’s brothers, it all started, “In 1954.... Des Plaines Illinois... McDonald’s Number One” -- Last edit: 2017-12-30 04:06:37 |
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◊ 2018-01-21 14:31 |
![[Image: founder_000407_c11.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_000407_c11.jpg) ![[Image: founder_000649_c19.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_000649_c19.jpg) ![[Image: founder_001003_c52.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_001003_c52.jpg) ![[Image: founder_001010_c03.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_001010_c03.jpg) ![[Image: founder_002834_c22.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_002834_c22.jpg) ![[Image: founder_002922_c24.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_002922_c24.jpg) ![[Image: founder_002938_c10.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/2/founder_002938_c10.jpg) |
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◊ 2018-01-21 21:21 |
Excellent pictures .gif ":)") |
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◊ 2018-01-22 04:31 |
Yes! |
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