VIDEO: Tragic Irony - Vintage James Dean driving safety video
Click above to watch video after the jump
Most know how James Dean died; driving his Porsche 550 Spyder on Highway 466 in California. Dean even received a ticket earlier in the day, prompting many to assume that he was driving recklessly when the accident occurred. Later examination of the crash showed that the Hollywood icon was likely driving around 55 mph at the time of the crash; which was the legal limit at the time.
While Dean was shooting the film Giant (released posthumously in 1956), the Hollywood superstar shot a quick public service video for the program Warner Bros. Parents. The short was about the dangers of speeding on the highway, and Dean insisted that speeding was for the race track and not for public roads. Chillingly, he ends the interview saying "Take it easy drivin'... the life you might save might be mine." As Dean died soon after filming the short segment, it reportedly never aired. Hit the jump to view the two minute interview.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
waiownsyou 12:32PM (7/03/2009)
Oh the irony.
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Kyle 5:41PM (7/03/2009)
Background on the video, as it wasn't really a PSA (from wiki)
While completing Giant, and to promote Rebel Without a Cause, Dean filmed a short interview with actor Gig Young for an episode of Warner Bros. Presents[12] in which Dean, instead of saying the popular phrase "The life you save may be your own" instead ad-libbed "The lives you might save might be mine." [sic][13] Dean's sudden death prompted the studio to re-film the section, and the piece was never aired - though in the past several sources have referred to the footage, mistakenly identifying it as a public service announcement. (The segment can, however, be viewed on both the 2001 VHS and 2005 DVD editions of Rebel Without a Cause).
Tool 5:50PM (7/03/2009)
Irony would be Sarah Palin doing an advertisement for MENSA.
Tmoguy 12:40PM (7/03/2009)
Wow he wasnt very interested in that interview.
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superset5 12:49PM (7/03/2009)
how is the video ironic when james dean was killed by the other driver?
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andrew 1:12PM (7/03/2009)
exactly, how is this ironic when a car hit him head on?
UltimoDragon 3:10PM (7/03/2009)
@superset5: From the Wikipedia entry on irony:
"Situational irony is the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Likewise, cosmic irony is disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world (or the whims of the gods)."
esteva03 5:02PM (7/03/2009)
so pretty much he said "be careful or you'll kill me"0 and he actually was killed by another motorist.
oinky 1:21PM (7/03/2009)
He looked so stoned, it's disgusting to be a role model. Good riddance.
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Stephan Wilkinson 1:47PM (7/03/2009)
Turnupseed didn't hit him head-on at all. He t-boned him--or maybe it was that Dean t-boned Turnupseed--when he pulled out onto 446 from Dean's left.
On and this video has been around forever. And I don't mean just literally but that it's hardly an item from somebody's private vault that just surfaced.
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HotRodzNKustoms 2:54PM (7/03/2009)
Before I even knew who James Dean was his legend was the guiding force in my life. Also I have the audio to this on a CD that came with such classics as "See the USA in your Chevrolet" and "Speedway Gas"
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esteva03 4:59PM (7/03/2009)
two thing i noticed.
one: to the question "do you drag race?" he gives an answer, a really good one. "are you kiding?!" and the guy responds himself saying something along the lines "no, he does real racing, real racing cars, real tracks". so drag racing wasn't real then? i am not saying it was any more real now :). but it is funny that some things never change.
two: he says "the life you could be saving is mine" and he actually did died because of another motorist action. how much does that suck?
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ZeitgeistXIII 7:57PM (7/03/2009)
Esteva03
Drag racing was still a street sport then and for the most part still in its infancy. NHRA was founded in 1951 and was probably still gaining momentum in 56. Kind of like the drift series now moving from the back roads and desert industrial sections to a sanctioned and staged event.
But there will always be street racing of alltypes be it drag on a boulevard or a sunday morning ride of sportbike guys on twisty roads. Most people who drive have at one time or another raced either in anger or just screwing around. But real racing is still a track event for me and even just a track day if some one really wants a turn I have nothing to prove they can have it. But I feel much safer for the most part on a track than a street anday of the week.
Besides seeing a bunch of guys dressed as women running around doesnt seem real to me anyway;)
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esteva03 9:09PM (7/03/2009)
thanks for the story on the NHRA.
i agree that racing happens only in a track. "racing" being going straight or with corners. i have "run" on the street and then went to a track. when you fly on the track you realize, or at least i did, how slow "going fast on the street" really is.
i think the "real race cars" comes also from the fact that maybe in those times drag cars where just modified street cars and not the purpose built machines they are today.
Fooman 10:00PM (7/03/2009)
Estava, Dean raced on road tracks, and died in a road track car, at the time Drag racing was not even close to being formalized except in Orange County and LA County by the NHRA. Alot of people where drag racing at street lights back then.
As for street racing.... to many things can go wrong on public streets, no reason to push there.
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