Jerry, a high school student, misuses the ‘BORROWED POWER’ of a car and is arrested on suspicion of hit and run manslaughter. With the help of the judge, Jerry comes to realize the responsibility inherent in driving a car.
B&W 1951
LS cars speed on a neighborhood street
LS car drives on suburban road
LS car swerves as it tries to pass another car
LS cars swerve wildly
MS car runs a stop sign
CU policeman observe car
LS policemen pull car over
LS policeman approaches driver
MS policeman checks driver’s license
LS policemen stand on the side of road beside car
LS ambulance approaches
CU guilty driver
LS driver and family in police station talking to officer
CU officer speaks to supervisor
LS driver’s ed class speaks to officer on a street
CU measuring tape
MS teacher speaks to students
LS car drives along the road
CU car screeches to a halt
LS students measure length of road
MS boys talk
CU officer shakes head
MS parents plead with officers
LS children cross at crosswalk
MS safety officer speaks with child
CU parents pleading
LS boys ride bicycles
CU changing streetlight
MS boys look at traffic
MS teenagers questioned by judge
MS boy helps girl into car
LS car stops at stop sign
CU boy argues with driver in other car
LS car stops in the middle of busy crosswalk
LS teenagers walk down shop street
LS boy knocks over woman with groceries
MS boy picks up groceries
LS crowded bleaches
CU boy track rummer
LS boys run track
LS boy helps fallen boy up during race
CU confused girl talking
CU shocked boy, shocked girl
MS man answers phone
MS upset parents
CU man with model airplane
LS landing All American airplane
LS man operates crane
LS man operates bulldozer
CU man drives car
LS officer hands judge paper
CU scans faces of family and friends
MS relieved parents, relieved friends
MS judge scolds boy
LS boy walks out of police station
LS boy stands outside of car
hit and run accident: squealing of brakes; police pull over speeding car; man denies guilt; testing stopping distances and reaction time of cars and drivers; child at crosswalk working as crossing guard; two drivers have words with each other; Borrowed Power; ; hit and run accident:; squealing of brakes; police pull over speeding car; man denies guilt; ; testing stopping distances and reaction time of cars and drivers; ; child at crosswalk working as crossing guard; two drivers have words with each other; ; young people tell their story to judge; ; commercial aircraft lands [All American airline]; bulldozer; parents look extremely miserable in judge’s chamber; ; man gets license suspended for six months; ; ; 43:30:25- 43:51:10; Series of shots. Starts with overview of two cars facing each other one is trying to pass the other on a thin road. We pass a small town (looks like historic Brookville, Maryland). Cut to a man walking down the sidewalk of a neighborhood street toward an intersection. Cut to a close-up of a nice, old stop sign. We hear the screeching of brakes.; ; 49:17:29- 49:33:08; Nice images of a small town little boy safety guards direct other children at an intersection. We see the middle-class neighborhood streets around them.; ; Jerry Thomas has big ears and a big nose and, more important, a “bad driving attitude.” While he’s rocketing past a weaving car at an intersection in his ’51 Ford, a pedestrian is killed. But was Jerry the culprit?; Jerry is hauled into court by a cop who tells the judge “We’ve been watching this young man for some time,” which says something about the way teenagers were perceived in the early fifties. Jerry is guilty of a litany of offenses dutifully recorded by the town’s watchful police force: cutting in and out of traffic, “shaving the red light,” and blocking crosswalks, among others. Jerry’s future really looks bleak when the officer relates how Jerry didn’t regard with proper respect the “brake reaction detonator” demonstration put on for his driver ed class. “I figured it was only a matter of time,” the cop snorts.; It wasn’t always this way. The judge recalls how Jerry was a safe walker and bike rider; it was only “when he started to borrow power not his own” that his moral character hit the skids. “It was not yours to do with as you please,” the judge proclaims. “It was only yours to control. A powerful machine does not do its own thinking!”; The judge lambasts Jerry for his lack of “good judgment” and “un-sportsmanlike driving” and it seems as if his goose is completely cooked when his girlfriend Nancy is asked to describe the incident and recalls “when we hit that big bump.” Happily, however, it’s eventually proved that the driver of car that Jerry was passing — a worthless drunk — actually killed the pedestrian and Jerry is set free, a changed teen.; “I didn’t drive that car — it drove ME!” he exclaims, the scales falling from his eyes. “From now on when I borrow this power, I’LL furnish the brain! That ought to make a good team! A good, SAFE team!”; ; stock shots: Reckless passing a car tries to pass on the left on a two-lane Pennsylvania highway.; ; HIT AND RUN / ACCIDENT (implied): Image of nice old yellow stop sign and the sound of screeching.; Image of police pulling teenagers over.; ; DENIAL / TEEN BOY IN TROUBLE / TRAFFIC JUDGES : Teen boy denies hitting a man with his car. He says (to his family, the judge, and a police officer) “I didn’t hit him. I know I didn’t hit him.” He’s very anxious. Cop scowls and shakes head at teens. The father asks the judge, “Excuse me, judge, what exactly are the charges against my son?” Judge: “…a charge of manslaughter may have to be made later.”; ; FLASHBACKS: Back to Jerry’s life when he was a child. He used to be safe.; ; AGGRESSIVE WALKING: Jerry and two friends walk along sidewalk. He runs into a woman carrying a bag of groceries and knocks them out of her hands. He helps her pick them up.; ; DENIAL: His friend (young woman) tells the judge about driving with Jerry. She mentions hitting a big bump. Jerry says it was the curb. The judge asks, “Was it the curb or was it a man?” Jerry answers anxiously, “I don’t know.”; ; BETRAYAL: Jerry is afraid of disappointing others. His inner dialogue exposes the guilt he feels. He has disappointed his mother, father, and friends.; ; LOSS OF CONTROL: Jerry says, “I didn’t drive that car, it drove me. I’ll never drive again…I’ll never drive again.” (his inner dialogue of guilt).; ; AUTO EROTICA: Jerry talks to his car (inner dialogue) about its power (horse power, etc.). He puts his hand on the car and talks about his relationship with the car stating, “From now on I’ll furnish the brains.”",,02/15/09 02:30 PM,”1950s