MovieChat Forums > Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) Discussion > The 'Big Speech' - anybody know how real...

The 'Big Speech' - anybody know how real?

posted 19 years ago by eStreetBeat
9 replies | jump to latest

I think I'd eat my hat if the big courtroom speech was anything close to a verbatim rendition of an actual event. But I'd love to be wrong.

Anyone else think about how utterly '80's that monologue really was? Again - if Tucker were really that prophetic, it would be an excellent detail for a generally excellent film.

But, for folks who really remember the '80's, they remember how freaked out Americans were over the Germans and the Japanese. Both were making and selling stuff "much better" than the US. The US was, therefore, "in decline" and the bitter irony seemed that its defeated WWII enemies were ultimately the big winners in the world.

So, that whole part of the courtroom speech was simply too neat and pat as a shameless bit of pandering to the prevailing sensibilities of the time. Really, though, I hope someone out there can prove me wrong. I'm very curious.

Any trivia geeks available to give me a hand?

[–] fivefids 19 years ago

I wondered exactly the same thing when I first saw the film in 1988. I have found no evidence to suggest the speech was an acurate portrayal. Hope someone can help out here as I would like to know too.

[–] eStreetBeat 19 years ago

Thx for touching base, fivefids. This isn't the busiest board by any stretch - so I'd imagine we might have to wait a bit, for our answer! Anyway, glad to see someone else thought about it, as well...

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kip595 19 years ago

Hi'ya folks. I looked into this same question some time ago, being an avid car buff. The speech, in general specifics, is fairly accurate as far as I can find. Unless I'm mistaken, several of the original documents have been sealed, as sometimes occurs in legal cases. But Tucker was the type to say just these things in his own era, so the speech isn't too far off the mark.
And as a side note, despite some reports, apparently the few production cars really did line up outside the courthouse during trial. There are a few photos floating around.

[–] northerngirl 19 years ago

Yes - Many of the production cars did show up at the courthouse in real life as far as I have heard (my dads a big car buff as well)
and in the movie, the cars used, especially for that scene, were mostly original Tuckers pulled from collectors all over the country. A man in the town I live in (hicksville, Vermont oddly) owns three original Tuckers and has kept them in great condition, and when they made this movie, they had them specially delivered out to the movie set, used them for a few scenes and returned them.

[–] eStreetBeat 19 years ago

Thanks for your feedback, Kip! What exactly makes you think it's accurate? I'd love to read anything you may have come across when you looked into this. Could you suggest any links, by any chance?

[–] strawberrymilkandgin 19 years ago

"Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left."

http://alanthebox.com/rabbit.htm
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/kidcondom.mpg

[–] dkonkin99 19 years ago

As a huge Tucker fan and having talked over the years with people more in the know than I, YES, the speech given at the end of the movie is a very accurate description of what went on in that courtroom. BUT, the difference is that Tucker's Lawyer, Jack Kirby was the one giving the speech. Matter of factly, Tucker did not say a single word during the entire 16-hour trial. He felt very strongly that the case presented by the opposition was, in a nutshell, a complete stinking load.

Also, only 8 NOT 50 cars showed up at the end of the trial. At that time, only 37 Tuckers were operational. The final 13 were rolling chassis' awaiting driveline installations but were otherwise complete.

To this day, only 3 Tuckers are known to be completely unsalvagable with 1 missing and #1051 being completed!! It was finished using leftover parts and some fabricated parts.

(Keep in mind, the original 51 is considered to be 50 + "Tin Goose" Prototype)

Was Tucker a conman??? My thoughts? NO. C'mon.... 50 years after the fact, 90% of the cars built still survive and are driven. What other car company can boast a 90% survival rate over 50 years?

[–] Alek_Hidell 18 years ago

I suggest you go to www.tuckerclub.org for accurate information.

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