I'M LIKING TRUCKS

I'M LIKING TRUCKS

Sunday, April 05, 2009

1949 Mighty Joe Young / 1949 Impact - A Moving Movie Mystery

Okay, so this is what happens when you spend time over on Hank's Truck Forum discussing old trucks. It all started with a simple post from my friend Jerry Austin, a regular contributor to Hank's. He had posted about the "Great Western" moving van used towards the end of the 1949
RKO film "MIGHTY YOUNG". His initial question was, "what make is this vehicle?"

Well, it seems like the discussion had been going on for some time - his first post appeared in 2007.
At first it was thought the truck might be a MORELAND. I was somewhat exasperated by the fact that no one had put up pictures of the actual truck in question, and an internet search produced no results. So, I rented and watched the movie, taking the following shots for our evidence.
















I posted these on a video in You Tube, and immediately got a response that it was an International Harvester. Our mystery got deeper as I suggested this possibility back on Hank's
Truck forum, and presented the pictures. My friend Jerry came to the rescue when he suggested that it looked like a WHITE frame had been used. I now had the basis for a new theory to put to the test.

Round 2 was about to begin. Find a White similar in appearance to this "unknown beast".
































Hmmmm --- somethings look familiar, I have seen that grill before. Those headlights, the bumper, I think my friend Jerry was onto something. Our "GREAT WESTERN" movie van was a WHITE. But, how could this be? This was something special, perhaps as special as the following known WHITE, with a latter grill as in this picture of a horse hauler of the late 40's ---
LUCKY HORSES!!!


We deduced that WHITE may have been doing more "specialized" work than their famous series of beer trucks. Could our "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" moving van be a lost example. Was this really a WHITE?

THE PLOT THICKENS-------

Early on in the forum when we were thinking this was a MORELAND, someone suggested checking the movie files on IMCB.org for trucks in the movies. Of course, there were no MORELANDS to be found. But, had we overlooked some new evidence? No one had looked at
WHITE as the culprit!! I went back to serch the scene ----














AH, you noticed too!!! This is not the "same" truck. It is a BEKINS van. Why this van isn't from "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG", it must be from another movie.

You're right of course. This BEKINS van is from the 1949 movie, "IMPACT". It too is obviously a White.

BUT - 1949, two movies, same type of RARE vehicle - SAME TRUCK OR NOT???

IF YOU WANT TO WATCH A CLIP OF THE BEKINS TRUCK - you got it --



THE MYSTERY EVOLVES TO THE NEXT STEP -----------

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!!!!!!