MTFCA Forum

Hey guys, wanted to be sure everyone knows about this BIG movie coming out this October. I had the privilege to be an extra/car driver on the movie project and there are lots of Model T's, Dodge Bros., Chevrolets, Moons, Hupmobiles, Buicks, etc used in the making of this film. The title is "Killers of the Flower Moon", it stars Leo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brendan Frazier, Lily Gladstone and many others and takes place in the early '20's in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. It's based on a true story of the native Osage people who were murdered for their oil wealth. Here's the link to the trailer that just came out today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP34Yoxs3FQ

My '27 Speedster was part of the race scene which can be seen in this trailer - my car is the second red speedster. If you love Model T's and cars in general from this era, you won't want to miss it!

I saw the trailer earlier today and knew it would get a mention here with all those T’s.


Andy

I am very much looking forward to this movie!

I've been following the production of this movie for several months. It's gonna be a great one, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Pawhuska and Fairfax (another town mentioned in the movie) are both about 20 miles from my old stomping grounds of Hominy.

How did you get the cars listed to be in the film?

John

You gotta know a tradesman known as a ‘Picture Car Coordinator’ or ‘Provider’. Or if your state government has an arm of bureaucracy called “Film Commission” like Texas; simply provide them a portfolio of your antiques.

How did you get the cars listed to be in the film?

If I had a car being used in a movie, I would insist on being present. I'm sure the stories of damage through ignorance or lack of care don't happen often, but I'm also sure they do happen.

My experience is you get payed more for the car than you do for your time which might explain why some drop their cars on location and leave them till the end of the shoot. I'm with you Steve, I was the driver and I took it home at the end of the day.

Actually, we had a very good experience having our cars used in the movie. My friend and I met the movie car boss quite by accident while we were on vacation in Pawhuska (took our wives to visit the Pioneer Woman TV show film set, Mercantile store and restaurant). While there, we found out there was a movie being made and we just happened to be "at the right place at the right time" and met the movie car director. Once he found out we were Model T owners and drivers, he offered to rent our cars by the day set us up with the casting company who paid us to be extras/car drivers, and even sent a truck and trailer from Pawhuska to Waxahachie, Texas and picked them up and took them back to the movie set in Pawhuska. Apple Studios had an enormous warehouse rented where they stored all the movie cars when not needed for a scene and had a crew of 4 very knowledgeable mechanics on-site to do any repairs needed and keep the cars in good running order. We were surprised how much they knew about Model T's, and we actually helped them do a transmission band change one day. They took good care of our cars and even upholstered the seat in my Speedster for free. When we were all done after working on the movie set during June, July, and August of 2021, they cleaned up our cars, loaded them up on a trailer and delivered them back to our homes...with full gas tanks too! We were vey pleased with the way they treated us and our cars. An incredible experience I will never forget.

That's fantastic! It's definitely an interesting experience being part of the making of a movie.

... we had a very good experience having our cars used in the movie.

I expect that would be due to Mr. Scorcese and the other producers. They hire all the folks and set the atmosphere where the work is done.

I see this picture will be shown in iMax, so I'll be going up to Wichita to see it.

I would highly recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. There were some slight deviations/embellishments from the story for added entertainment factor, but the book helps make the movie more interesting, in my opinion. It's a true story that needed to be told.

I was going to post about this movie upon seeing the trailer. SO many Model T's in it! Great to hear your car is featured. I would love to have my car in a movie as I've always had a fascination with movies. As others mentioned, my only concern would be the safety of the car. If I was allowed to be on set/drive the car myself it would be a no-brainer. That is great to hear you had a good experience. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie! Thanks for sharing.

I plan to see this movie as it will be full of Model T's. I did read a review of it today and it was not real complimentary of the director and the content. It is 3 hours long, so there will have to be lots of T's to keep me interested! The review suggested it was a bit dull in parts and did not deal with the real issues properly????

Since the movie is over 3 hours long I suspect I’ll wait for it to come out on video. How come the don’t have intermissions anymore? These movies keep getting longer and longer and a guy can only wait so long.


Andy

I saw it today. It is 3 hours and 25 minutes

If you look away from the screen, you’ll miss something, a little nuance, that is important

Yes! The pace of shows and movies seem to move faster than the pace of life itself. At home I frequently go back because the image is flashed so quickly or they talk so fast, if you blink, you'll miss it. No wonder younger people are bored with older movies where the camera stays and the actors move, more like real life. I guess I'm an old fart.

I went and saw it today, and it is a magnificent film.

For those who may not know all the background, the Federal government moved the Osage Indian Tribe several times, the last to a remote part of Oklahoma. The difference between all the other tribes in history, that got moved, was that when the Osage made their final move, THEY BOUGHT THE ENTIRE RESERVATION with money they had as a tribe from liquidating their prior properties by selling them to white people. One of the standards was that the tribe owned not only ALL THE LAND, but also ALL THE OIL AND MINERALS under it. The Osage owned it ALL.
THEN, they discovered OIL. The result was years of incredible wealth.

Starting in 1880, each fully enrolled member of the tribe got a "Headright" share from the money the tribe made.
In 1880, it was $10.50 per person.
In 1920, it over $9000 per person.
In 1924, it was $12,000 per person.
The absolute highest peak for the tribe in 2012, was $40,000 per person.

The equivalent was that each person in the tribe, in the 1920's was receiving the equivalent of about $1 million per year.

Naturally, the whites in the area wanted to get some of that money.
But you could not buy into the tribe. The ONLY way in was to marry into the tribe, be adopted, or be born into the tribe. The government rules were very strict.
What dishonest whites did was marry into the Osage Tribe. Then they would start killing off all their Osage relations, one at a time, carefully monitoring the inheritance angles, until they had accumulated headrights from ALL their relatives, which dropped into their hands as they killed their in-laws, and in some cases, their wives and husbands.
The movie concentrates on one particular man, William Hale, who called himself the "King Of The Osage" and pretends to be their friend while organizing murders to gain headright status that was controlled by his organization. The movie is basically the factual story of how he operated.

They do mention in the movie that Osage County had the LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF PIERCE-ARROW automobiles in the entire world. They don't mention, but it was also a fact, that the Osage Trading Post eventually had a "TIFFANYS" store established inside it at one point in the 1920's.

There was so much jewelry being purchased by the Osage, that whites started to loot Osage graves to collect the jewelry and re-sell it.

So there are DOZENS of cars in the movie, including a lineup of Pierce-Arrows in front of the local dealer, being selected from by local Osage

If you ever wondered what would happen if you ran your 26/27 Model T Roadster into a tree head-on, you can see it in this movie. Remarkably, it bounces back away from the tree, and the bumper is not even bent. I don't know if this was just special effects, or they really launched the car into a tree trunk, but in any case, it shows Model T toughness to great advantage. (Also, why you should have seatbelts in your T. The car can take it, but I wondered about the people flying around inside of it.

On another side note, if you have diabetes, they show the FIRST distribution of drug company insulin, to Indians who are diabetic, after a drug company develops it, and the tribe has enough money to pay for it to be supplied to their members. When they started distribution, they were only supplying 5 diabetic patients in the entire world, at the time, with this new insulin.

I'd love to see the movie, but I don't have a 3 1/2 hour attention span. I'll wait until it is shown on cable and record it, then I can watch it in chunks.

Well, don't skip any of it. Scorsese is a thorough and careful film maker, but even he could not cut it down to less than 3 hours and keep it coherent. Every scene in the film is important to the story. and gives meaning to the film.

Scorsese is also seen on screen as the announcer for the last segment of the film.

What Bill did not mention is the Osage were not allowed control of their own money. The US government required a white person to manage it for them, like a conservatorship. These guys charged huge management fees, so that Pierce-Arrow might have a 100% markup. Unfortunately, our schools in Oklahoma aren't allowed to talk about this because we have a law against discussing any race related issues that might make someone feel "uncomfortable". Incidentally, Bud Voth told me he bought this Mercury at a Tulsa swap meet from a rich Indian, undoubtedly an Osage.

Well, I tried to Google my question - to no avail so will have to ask it to my Forum Friends who’ve seen this movie. Does the script contain any ‘f’ bombs or G.D.s ?

Little or very few if any that I recall.

There is some profanity. here's a breakdown

https://parentpreviews.com/movie-review ... lower-moon

On second thought there are a couple spots with explicit language.

AndyClary wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 20, 2023 5:05 pm

Since the movie is over 3 hours long I suspect I’ll wait for it to come out on video. How come the don’t have intermissions anymore? These movies keep getting longer and longer and a guy can only wait so long.

Andy

Take a nap before going Andy sometimes we gotta act our age!

Thanks "Oily Bill' for the great insight into the story behind the movie. I will be sure to make the effort to see it.

Thanks Jeff and Mike. Guess I’ll go today for the Model Ts; the missus wants to stay home Too bad extremely talented and highly paid ‘artists’ can’t make a point without vulgarity

The film is brilliant. I would suggest to everyone to go and see it. A little long perhaps, but worth the time. We went for a 2:00 show and it was a good time to see it. If you go after dinner you may doze a little. Also, hit the bathroom first, don't drink coffee before, and limit the liquids. The cars are beautifully represented. He is a master cinematographer. I wanted ALL the cars.
John

I watched the movie a few days ago and will see it again this afternoon. It's worth two looks.

I doubt it has an intermission like the old 3hr movies use to have.

OK. I’m seated in the theatre now - by myself. Feature to start in 2 minutes. Review tomorrow

My problem is I usually can't sit for 3 hours without a "necessary room" break! Even if I go just before going in, and avoid liquids before. This happened to me watching "Elvis" so. . . I'd rather see it on the big screen, but I might have to wait for the DVD.
Getting older is not always the best thing, but it's better than not getting older!
T'ake care,
David D.

Lotsa cars of the 20s appearing in-era environment. Mostly Model Ts made it fun to recognize inaccuracies. DeNero and DiCaprio greatly expressive of anguish. Latter had perpetual frown. Would see again. Leonardo started out as a”cab” driver in this small OK town. His ‘cab’ was a ‘15 Ford touring. In two scenes he opened the door for his future wife fare. The T wasn’t running. He then jumped into the front seat. I wondered how he would start the T from there

David, I’m sure you can remember when movies had intermissions for those necessary bathroom, popcorn and leg stretch breaks so you wouldn’t miss any of the movie. They need to bring those back. When I take a break, I always miss the most important or interesting part and I’ve been known to need more than one intermission per movie. Jim Patrick

jeffstag wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 01, 2023 5:09 pm

There is some profanity. here's a breakdown

https://parentpreviews.com/movie-review ... lower-moon

Apparently, the film contains all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices that I admire.

(Apologies to Winston Churchill for borrowing a sample of his wit.)

You would think theatres would demand intermissions, concessions are a big part of their profits. Remember the dancing soft drink cup and popcorn container singing "Let's go out to the lobby" (I'm showing my age)

Yeah John. It was a 3 hr.30 min. show and I have a 3 hr.15 min. bladder. But I thought profanity was at a minimum.

This might help. I had to wear them after surgery for times I could not get to the other room.

Right after my kidney stone surgery I had to use those all the time, and yes, I did think about wearing them for the film, but wasn't certain how "dependable" they would be.
David