In the first reel of "The Wendell Baker Story" there are many exterior and interior shots of what I reckon to be a '54 Spartan Royal Mansion. The movie was set and shot in and around Austin Texas so the vintage mobile home sports Texas plates. It was nice to see the old bird under tow (by a mid-80s El Camino, I think) though it was distressing to see the leading man swing a golf club inside the coach (what I could see of the interior past a heavy, goofy set decoration, was definitely unrestored and kinda rough) and play for laughs the joke of his 9 iron crunching into and getting stuck in a birch wood ceiling panel. Even though the vintage coach in this movie wasn't a beautifully restored specimen (of which there are many available) or a vintage coach preserved in original condition, still it was thrilling to see a mid-fifties Spartan featured in the movie as a key set piece. What caused me to groan out loud in the theater was the leading man, with the exquisite curves of his Spartan Aircraft Company trailer fleshing out the near background,refer to it as an Airstream.
To the production designer's (or art director's) credit, the movie was an ode to vintage aluminum, for also featured in this movie was a beautiful polished vintage twin beech aircraft, the progenitor of the airframe construction technique -- aluminum skin riveted to aluminum studs --used by Spartan Aircraft Co. to such great effect for more than forty years. And continuing the aluminum theme, in a much shorter appearance, a shiny Haliburton valise was used as a key prop.
I don't know if this light and entertaining movie about a quirky character is still in release in your neighborhood, but I'd be a terrific DVD rental. Even if you are not a vintage trailer fan, take a look at this well made little picture.
Spartanaciously, Michael Katz
To the production designer's (or art director's) credit, the movie was an ode to vintage aluminum, for also featured in this movie was a beautiful polished vintage twin beech aircraft, the progenitor of the airframe construction technique -- aluminum skin riveted to aluminum studs --used by Spartan Aircraft Co. to such great effect for more than forty years. And continuing the aluminum theme, in a much shorter appearance, a shiny Haliburton valise was used as a key prop.
I don't know if this light and entertaining movie about a quirky character is still in release in your neighborhood, but I'd be a terrific DVD rental. Even if you are not a vintage trailer fan, take a look at this well made little picture.
Spartanaciously, Michael Katz