The Cars of THE ARTIST: Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, LaSalle & Lincoln

James Cromwell, with Penelope Ann Miller and Missi Pyle, arrive at "The Artist" premiere in Hollywood, in a blue 1935 Pierce-Arrow. This is not the car he chauffeured in the film.

[Please note: This post has been updated with new information!]

HOLLYWOOD

The movie “The Artist” takes us back to the dawn of The Talkies Era in Hollywood, from 1927-1932. Unfortunately, the movie’s cars only take us back to the mid-1930s.

The filmmakers tried mightily to re-create that bygone era, with period-correct wardrobe, buildings, furnishings and – notably – automobiles. Close investigation of the cars that were selected raises some eyebrows.

Filming in Hollywood – an area around which there is no shortage of late 1920s and early 1930s automobiles that have been lovingly preserved (the climate helps!) – it should have been fairly easy to find the right rides.

But what did they actually choose?

Fatty Arbuckle's 1919 Pierce-Arrow (Coker Tire)

A successful silent film star of the late 1920s, such as George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), would likely have been able to easily afford the best American automakers had to offer: Cadillac, Duesenberg, Marmon, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Chrysler. (Most could be had for $6,000-$8,000.) All these models were favorites of the real stars of the day; notorious comedian Fatty Arbuckle had a custom-made Pierce-Arrow that he spent more than $25,000 on – about $500,000 today. (No, it did not actually have an onboard toilet, as rumored.)

But, for the limousine-like sedan that chauffeur Clifton (James Cromwell) drives – supposedly in the years 1928-1932 – the filmmakers apparently decided on what appears to be a 1931 Lincoln Model K.

1931 Lincoln Model K 7-Passenger Limo

(Yes, I did originally say this was a 1935 Pierce-Arrow 12-cylinder sedan probably a Model 1602 – because that is what the stars arrived in, at the AFI Fest premiere of the movie in November 2011). I came to this revised conclusion after re-viewing the movie, multiple times.

Why do we say the movie car was a 1931 Model K, rather than the similar 1929 or 1930 Model L versions? The outboard trunk looks like a 1929 vintage piece, raising the possibility the movie car might have been a model year, or two, earlier than the 1931 Model K. But let’s compare the photos above and below.

George Valentin's car in the movie: '31 Lincoln, yes?

The two-bar grille with a wider, mouth-like gap in the middle of it, was more typical of the 1931 models (although 1929 models with that grille do exist; they may have been a custom order item or replacement. Generally, however, pre-1931 Lincolns had single bar grilles, either side of the mouth-like center. The Standard Catalog doesn’t show the two-bar grille as being offered by Lincoln until 1931).

Notice the long hood with vertical louvers on each car. Identical, aren’t they? Wheels and hubs are the same. Even the small spotlight mounted atop the spare. The twin horns. (The movie car differs only in its optional running lamps.)

Other identifying features of Lincolns of this era? Flat plate glass headlights. Flat radiator shell. And of course, the “greyhound” radiator mascot.

This car first appears in scenes dated 1928.

Having lost all his money in the 1929 stock market crash and imprudent film production,  a new Lincoln – even of the correct era – would have been light-years beyond George’s budget.

Charlie Chaplin's 1929 Pierce-Arrow (subsequently owned by STP king Andy Granatelli)

Especially at a time when he had not paid his chauffeur in a year.

A more appropriate choice for the movie might have been the actual 1929 Pierce-Arrow that Charlie Chaplin owned. (It was offered for sale on eBay in May 2011 by a Costa Mesa, Calif., museum.)

Using as a guide the Pierce-Arrow driven to the movie’s premiere at AFI Fest 2011 in Hollywood, the cut of the front fender – down to a sharp corner behind the wheel – is a notable identifier of the model year. But the only Pierce-Arrow I can find in the film is a 1932 model that drives by at the 1927 premiere that opens the film!

Mr. and Mrs. Hazanavicius and '35 Caddy

In an earlier post here, I discussed the 1935 Cadillac Fleetwood Imperial Convertible Sedan that Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) and her husband, the movie’s director Michel Hazanavicius, drove to the premiere in Hollywood. It’s a lovely car, and about three years too modern for scenes set in 1932. Was that the same car she drove in the movie? Most likely.

But some claim it is not.

Read the comments below.

Here is the movie car, which a reader swears has door hinges only seen on 1934-35 Cadillac

Note the similarities between the movie car and the one driven to the premiere, especially the bumper, lights, grille, wide whitewall tires and mascot.

1932 LaSalle phaeton

A sharp-eyed reader points out a shot in the movie where Peppy is honking the horn in her car – and a LaSalle logo is seen on the steering wheel.

This confused me. Could the movie car be a 1932 LaSalle phaeton, one of the legendary Harley Earl‘s earliest designs?

But, look at the 1932 LaSalle shown at left. That car was not in the movie, folks. was a very close cousin of the Cadillac back then, in General Motors’ pecking order.) It would not have been a 1933 model, as Earl replaced the ’32’s vertical hood louvers with distinctive horizontal ones.

LaSalle's logo

Credit is due to the film makers – the 1932 LaSalle would have been a period-correct choice. But…!

But if a LaSalle like this was in the movie, it appeared only as an extra in group shots, or cutaways like the horn-honking scene.

The car driven to the premiere is so similar to the one used in the movie, I believe they are the same car. I can almost visualize that red Cadillac, with its front end wrapped around a tree. (Of course, it wasn’t really crashed; that was Hollywood magic.)

What is the value of the movie cars, the LaSalle and the Lincoln? Depending on condition, each would be worth $50,000-$75,000. If either of the movie cars were to be offered for auction, each could be expected to sell for the high end of that estimate, because of their unique “star” status! The Cadillac might be worth $100,000 or more.

Al Jolson's 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood 36

During the movie, I thought the filmmakers had used perhaps what would have been the ultimate car for the job – the exquisite 1933 Cadillac V16 Fleetwood Model 36, a five-passenger All-Weather Phaeton, once owned by Al Jolson. How apropos that would have been!

Jolson, as movie buffs know, was the actor whose performance in 1927’s “The Jazz Singer” pretty much singlehandedly killed the Silent Movie era. Or at least Jolson’s performance was the beginning of the end for the silents, and the beginning of the beginning for the talkies.

Jolson became a very discerning collector of classic cars from the Flapper and Depression Eras. His garage was full of Cadillacs, Mercedes-Benzes (most notably, a 1928 Model S), and Packards (including his famous 1932 Packard Twin Six, known as the “Million Dollar Packard” because that is what it sold at auction for in 2011).

Peppy's tour bus (UnderTheHollywoodSign blog)

There were dozens of other old cars that appeared in the movie (reused in multiple scenes), including plenty of Ford Model A and Model T coupes, a delightfully preserved mid-1920s Hollywood tour bus, and even glimpse of a cool race car (possibly a Bugatti, based on the appearance of its “horse-collar” grille) at the beginning of the film.

A great movie – and an unexpected opportunity for some car-spotting.

Jerry Garrett

December 19, 2011