And now something from the T.U.D. (totally unbelievable department.) Sit down, everybody, because this is going to take a few minutes. On FaceBook, I have periodically scanned and uploaded old photos from my archives. It’s just fun, and I know people get a kick out of seeing old photos, sometimes for the very first time. A few of the negatives I’ve scanned have never seen the light of day, even as conventional prints, all those years ago. The film was just processed and filed away. In that category were some images I shot during the filming of a Canada Dry commercial that some of us ASPers were hired for in 1973-74. This was the era of "American Graffiti" and the crew came to ASP to recruit kids that they thought "looked American" for a 50’s commercial. They payed us handsomely to go and get crewcuts, and hang out with a bunch of old cars at a local quarry, I think. I don’t remember where we were, exactly. The cast of characters included me, Steve Mueller, and Ed Eaton. Those are the only ones I remember with certainty. So in May of 2009 I posted a few of those pictures. The very next day, Steve Mueller called me from Paris. I hadn’t spoken to Steve in almost 30 years! He was calling, he said, to thank me. He had been trying for years to convince friends and family (his kids in particular, I garnered) for years that he had been in a Canada Dry commercial in high school. No one believed him, and he had no proof. We never saw the commercial, and couldn’t even remember what the product was, beyond just Canada Dry, and we had no clue who the director was or the production company or anything… Who was paying any attention to that kinda stuff in high school? So Steve was just in seventh heaven, finally vindicated, with photos of himself at the wheel of a ’56 or ’57 Chevy! He was so grateful it was almost embarrassing. He and I have stayed in touch since then and speak on the phone periodically, and he has even been to visit with his family who are lovely. Two great teenagers and a talented creative wife who works for Disney Paris. During the next couple of phone conversations I joked with Steve about having done my part, and how it was now up to him, since he still lives in Paris, to find the commercial. We had no idea where to start. I hadn’t thought about it for years until 3 weeks ago, sitting in the Cell-Phone-Waiting-Area at Dulles airport waiting for a cousin who was coming to town for my Mom’s memorial service. All of a sudden my phone is buzzing, and it’s a text message from Steve which says nothing but, "Found it" and a URL. Unbelievable… I was sitting in my car, watching a video for the first time of a Canada Dry commercial with Steve and me in it that had been made forty years earlier. FORTY YEARS, folks! I still don’t have the details, but somehow, Steve discovered the director had made some web pages as a sort of on-line portfolio, and this was one of the commercials he wanted to showcase as part of his history. Now it’s my turn to be grateful. Thank you Steve, I have had so much fun telling this story and watching this video, showing it to anybody who’s interested, and now, I’m putting it here for all to see. Thank you, Thank you. I’m sitting on the hood of the car in the opening scene brushing off some girl for about 3 seconds, and at the very end for about 3 seconds doing sort of the same thing. Steve is in the middle somewhere for about three seconds, carefully examining his chin in the side-view mirror of one of the cars. Enjoy! photolee/CanadaDry.html
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 18:23:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015