Made to promote Greyhound Bus Lines and its coast-to-coast service, FREEDOM HIGHWAY was produced by Jerry Fairbanks, a seasoned Hollywood filmmaker, and directed by Harold Schuster. The film features the GM PD-4501 Scenicruiser, operating from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., and follows the stories of several passengers — including the journey of a Boy Scout headed to Washington, and a budding romance between two warm blooded passengers.
The film is chock full of historical incidents including the discovery of gold in California at 5:20, to an Indian and cavalry battle that starts the film, and images of the Alamo at 16:00 and the Boston Tea Party at 23:00, and the Colonial Congress at 23:40. Gettysburg is seen at 28:50, and there is a re-enactment of Abraham Lincoln’s address at 30:55. The film ends with images of Washington, D.C. and the veteran’s memorials at Arlington Cemetery including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
In addition it features imagery of the USA, including the bus riding through the Golden Gate at 4:10 and Market and Sutter streets at 5:20. The bus cruises to the route of the Pony Express at 10:00, and rides into Reno at 12:30. At 18:00 Chicago is shown, along with a re-enactment of the great fire that leveled the city (borrowed from a feature film). At 20:27 the Key West highway is shown.
The GM PD-4501 Scenicruiser, manufactured exclusively by General Motors for The Greyhound Corporation, was a three-axle monocoque two-level coach used by Greyhound from July 1954 into the mid-70’s. 1,001 were made between 1954 and 1956.
The Scenicruiser became an icon of the American way of life due to its presence throughout the USA in cities and along highways and popularity with the traveling public. The name was a portmanteau of the words “scenic” and “cruiser”. The high-level design concept of Scenicruiser resembles some of the rolling stock of the passenger-carrying railroads of the United States and Canada, particularly their popular stainless steel dome cars. This type of two-level motorcoach body was common in the late forties in Western Europe, including Great Britain where it was known as Observation coach.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
