“ALCOHOL IS DYNAMITE“ 1960s DRUNK DRIVING DRIVER’S ED SCARE FILM 13144

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Alcohol is Dynamite (1958) is an educational scare film warning young people of the dangers of alcohol. Sid Davis Productions heads the main title frame, neat Mid-Century font centered in a sunburst design. Dramatic music blares, the film’s location is listed as Inglewood. A sign reading “LIQUOR” opens the story. The film introduces two young men trying to buy beer. They shoulder-tap the narrator. An illustration of an XXX-labeled liquor bottle transforms into a bottle of lit dynamite (1:19). The narrator tells the two boys the story of Paul, Jim and Tip. Enter Paul, carrying a guitar case and a bottle of hooch (1:35). Tip and Jim pull up in a convertible. “You’d be surprised at how little it takes to get you tight that first time,” states the narrator, “alcohol is a violent narcotic.” The boys drink on some public stairs. Paul ridiculously tosses the bottle off-screen (3:05). As the narrator discusses alcohol’s effects on the brain Paul’s profile fades to a stylized illustration of a man with a large arrow pointing to his frontal lobe (3:14). The drawing changes to an ape as the narrator discusses alcohol’s suppression of reason (3:29). The stairway scene continues, Paul dramatically passed out. The scene fades to an illustration of a teen in a letterman sweater, shaky lines indicating intoxication and confusion (3:54), this image changes to a drunk lying on a curb (4:03). Cut to a cemetery, a further stage of drunkenness: “brother, you’re a dead duck” (4:14). The film shows the exterior of Scotty’s Diner, the boys are seen through a window spiking their Cokes. Afterwards, the film shows cops pulling Jim over and finding a bottle (4:51). Cut to a police station— Jim’s dad escorts his son home. The boys drive up with some girlfriends, “even dates were no fun anymore without a bottle.” (5:51). Music turns dramatic as the group is shown at a restaurant (6:00). Jim spikes everyone’s drinks. Jim’s date Judy reacts dramatically to the alcohol. The group is booted out and they pile into their car— Judy appears trashed. Judy grabs for the bottle, takes a swig and faints. Jim is shown driving, disoriented and squinting. Jim suddenly swerves, Judy’s head hits the dashboard ridiculously, cut to a rolling hubcap, an arm shown dangling from the passenger-side. A 1960s ambulance is shown, Judy is loaded in on a gurney (8:19). Jim is drunk-tested. A Hollywood newspaper fades in with the headline “DRUNK BOY GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER.” The narrator sums up each boy’s fate after the accident: “Paul was almost a complete alcoholic for a while.” Jim is shown on skid row (9:20). The film shows Tip’s face superimposed over the crashed car and dangling arm. The narrator states that Tip never drank again. “How do I know? Because Tip is my son.” The narrator finishes his tale by summing up the dangers of alcohol use. The film cuts to the illustration of dynamite in a bottle and fades to END titles. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ 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