1933 Graham Heading to Hollywood Public Enemies Style

It started off innocently enough; my Father sent me an e-mail for a movie looking for 1930 to 1933 cars. I have 1929 Graham Paige 827 in excellent original condition so I sent a few pictures thinking it would be great to have my car in a movie. On the end I pasted a small poor picture of Grandfather’s 1933 Graham. A few days later I received a call from Universal Studios telling me they would love to use the 1933 Graham in the upcoming movie Public Enemies.
Let’s see, my Grandfather’s Graham has not been on the road in over 50 years. It is buried behind a mountain of junk sleeping till next spring when I had planned on getting it running enough to trailer it down to the 2008 Graham Meet in LaCrosse WI. Something crazy in my head said we can make it….”Sure, I would love to bring the 33 down for the film”….what was I saying? I had to be insane! 5 weeks to do what the last 2 years had not accomplished with the same resources and the outside temperature is like 5 degrees below zero!
First week; unbury the Graham and use the tractor to pull it through the snow banks to the garage. Did I mention I had to do this while my lovely wife is at the store because she did not know she would be losing her garage for the next 5 weeks. In MN that is a big thing. Once I got the Graham defrosted I made the list of things to do, OK I cut the list of things to do down to the absolute minimum. I still had an enormous list, like painting wheels, mounting tires, welding up the frame, repairing holes, installing seats, locating a rear bumper to borrow, just the small stuff.
Week two; I am insane this will never work. I pull off the rear valance and uncover the mess that was the temporary gas tank. I was lucky enough to have a friend from the Graham Club help me locate a replacement tank. After ripping all the old junk out, I started looking at the frame. Anyone who has worked on a Blue Streak will tell you the frames are a little weak in the rear, but mine was gone! It looked like a shark had viciously ripped the rear bumper from the Graham; all that was left was shredded metal. I make a panic call to my friend in Texas, you do have a bumper bracket, sure my first-born would be fine, and it was in the mail.
Week three; someone should have committed me years ago. I am now cutting up old farm equipment for parts but the frame is looking good and after much heating and beating it is the right shape (I think). Wow my part arrived! Those Texas guys are great! I have never seen a 33 Graham frame in person so I make my best guess and it looks great. I proceed with the installation of the gas tank, this is going great, three hours later and trying to get the rear valance on correctly, I think wow these guys spent a lot of time building these cars. I had to solder up a few lines for the gas tank but there is a 48% chance it will hold gas.
Week four, I am running out of time!! Just shoot me! Paint the wheels how hard could that be? Two hours of sanding on each of the six wire wheels. I had built a wheel spinner, wow, that worked great with another 5 hours of painting but the color was worth it. It has been over 50 years since the wheels have looked this good. I start mounting the tires in the living room! I love my wife! I have a great friend that is a sign painter he says he can do the job if I get them there in time. I stay up till 3am but the wheels are done. I deliver them Friday morning at 7am.

Week five; seriously who was I kidding this will never work. My friend calls I can pick up the wheels, wow that was less then 24 hours! Maybe….The wheels are on the car, wow that looks great. The bumper, I have no rear bumper, my friend in Iowa comes through he will send it today. Tuesday the bumper arrives, the gas tank is holding, the bumper bolts right up. I know I have a battery here somewhere. I order windshield wipers on the way to the doctor my youngest has an ear infection. I spend most of the night trying to get the grill installed (this was supposed to be easy) 3am again.
OK, I have to call them today…. I will never make it! I have three days left. I walk dejected to the garage, what a beautiful day. What the heck, I drop the battery in and turn the Graham over, she starts right up! We are talking 50 year old wires, condenser, coil, points and she is purring like a kitten. A short jaunt, a half-mile to a small town, brakes! They work almost too well, this is awesome! (I had rebuilt them but have not had time to test them). On the way back I figure why not break her here instead of in front of all those camera men? I nudge her up to about seventy miles per hour and hit the brakes hard, she stops fast and straight, the Graham is still idling perfect. Now I know why my Grandfather loved this car. I load her on the trailer.
The trip to Columbus, WI goes off perfect well except the truck runs out of gas on the Interstate (another project on hold, repair fuel gauge in truck). Putting gas in a stalled truck on Interstate 90 is like picking up a penny off the racetrack in the middle of a NASCAR race! I escape with my life, less a few years. We meet up with friends in Columbus and head down town for supper, great food. We wonder the set (downtown Columbus) the store fronts and just inside the windows are all decked out in 1933 regalia, signs, wood doors, vintage products, it was like walking through a time warp, until we saw the door to the bridal shop open. Behind the facade we entered the tattoo parlor! No, I will pass on the John Dillinger t-shirt, thanks anyway; I did not want to explain to my small children why Daddy is wearing a t-shirt with a tattoo parlor advertisement on the back. I did get a similar shirt at the 100 year old drug store, much more presentable.
Tuesday morning filming day 5am, pack up at the motel, load the truck, time to head to the picture car garage…the truck dose not start, the starter is dead! My friend from LaCrosse gives me a pull start and we are off. A 5 min drive to the film garage exposes a fleet of 1930 to 1933 cars, even a 1935 semi truck and a wrecker. What a wonderful sight in the morning dusk as the cars file up to be aged. Aged, interesting term, I would call it getting the car dirty, lots of dust and a black substance to dirty the wheels.
They loaded all of us on a small bus and sent us off to breakfast during the “aging process”. The breakfast was good and we started to meet each other, what wonderful people, most are retired all excited to be involved this experience. Just as we were beginning to bond the hammer fell, the reading of the cars to be used in the day’s production. Suddenly we were in separate groups, basically three; driving cars, parked cars, and the extras. I fell into the extra group and was needless to say disappointed. As we were shuffled to the group going back to the garage I tried to keep a good face, they must need us for something or they would not have called.
Just as we get off the bus and start staring at our aged cars, looks like something the kids would have done if left unsupervised. The car coordinator comes running up and says my friend and me are needed immediately on the set! Quick to the Graham! My wife and I scramble to get into the Graham and try to follow this small truck at an unreasonable speed for a 78-year-old car. We are flagged to a spot in the road and instructed to wait for instruction. We are supposed to wait till the car across the street comes half way across the intersection, we then proceed to roll and make a right turn, just as we complete the turn we are instructed to back up and do it again, same sequence. After the second trial run the 1930 Plymouth coupe across from us makes very unhappy sounds and stops dead. He is pushed off the set and a replacement is called, my friend from LaCrosse! He is in too! As I start to settle down I ask my wife where we are on the set? Just then I realize we are across the street from the bank Dillinger (Depp) is robbing! My friend is even closer, better than I could have ever imagined. I should mention the weather now, it is about 30 degrees and misting just enough the car and road are wet, the colds starts to set it, I mean the cold that goes to your bones, and you never get warm. We are in our 1933 outfits and I would really like my parka, boots, and a wool hat. I am blessed with the only car with a heater but the fan is not working, so our car is about 50 degrees, I do not complain about the temperature after all we could be sitting inside with the extras.

We turn the corner 15 to 20 times in the 3-4 hours the scene take to shoot but it goes by in a flash and it is over. The next scene we are not involved and we have time to visit with other car owners and enjoy the filming. It was an extraordinary day, and an unbelievable opportunity to be in such an undertaking. We met so many wonderful car owners we just wished we had more time to get to know everyone. Grandpa’s Graham ran perfectly, I think she thought it was 1933 all over again.

“Public Enemies” with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale is due out July 1, 2009. Look for the Graham on LaSalle Street and all the bank robberies…but that is the next story.