In 1895, champion horse racer and livery stable owner Hank Armstrong is greatly disturbed by the advent of the "horseless carriage" in Maple City. He mocks Elmer Hays, a car manufacturer, when he states in a public lecture that the days of the horse are numbered and that a car will one day go 30 miles an hour. However, Armstrong's efforts are in vain. He quarrels with his friends when they start purchasing the machines and is only stopped from horsewhipping his own car-mad son Bob by the timely appearance of Bob's girlfriend Rose Robbins. Bob leaves to find a job in nearby Detroit. There, he is present when famed driver Barney Oldfield breaks the speed record, driving a mile in a minute. Meanwhile, Hank goes bankrupt and has to sell off all his possessions to satisfy his creditors. One day in 1905, Bob returns without telling his father to compete in the first car race in the county. A jealous rival for Rose's affections convinces Hank to tamper with a car on display so that it will explode. When Bob sends Rose to bring his father to the race, Hank is horrified to discover he has sabotaged his son's car. They hurry to the track, but are too late. Bob's car crashes and burns. Hank is convinced he has killed Bob and burns down his livery stable, but Rose brings word that Bob is expected to live. Relieved, Hank gives up his hopeless resistance and joins his son in his car manufacturing company.
William Demarest as Dave Doolittle, the village cut-up
Paul Kruger as Steve Bentley
Gibson Gowland as the blacksmith
E. H. Calvert as Elmer Hays, the inventor
Douglas Gerrard as Banker Stebbins, the richest man in town
Anders Randolf as the auctioneer '
Cast notes:'
Most of the cast of
The First Auto'' were established actors who had either made many films already, or would go on to make many more. Charles Emmett Mack, however, was a relative newcomer who had only been making films since 1921. He would only appear in two more after this one, before dying in a car accident.
Production
To ensure authenticity and provide a measure of safety in the racing scenes for The First Auto, race car driver Barney Oldfield was hired as a technical coordinator. Oldfield, the first to reach a speed of, in 1903, also was given a small role in the film. Mack was killed in an accident while driving to work, prior to the end of filming. According to Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies, his car was struck broadside by a wagon on a country road. His co-star Patsy Ruth Miller had turned down a ride with him that day because she was not needed for filming until later. The last scene shows Hank at a car race, while Bob and Rose are away at a horse show.
Reception
The New York Times reviewer, Mordaunt Hall characterized The First Auto as "... packed with sentiment, but it is nevertheless a good entertainment." He noted that Oldfield was driving a famous race car, Henry Ford's 999.
