April 4, 2011

Music Monday: Beech-Nut Gum Commercial Featuring The Four Seasons!

April 4th, 2011

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6 Comments »

  1. Here’s a question for our resident entertainment historians. What movies, TV shows, etc., are those “Hang On” scenes from? They missed my favorite, the scene from the face of Mt. Rushmore at the end of “North By Northwest”.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — April 4, 2011 @ 10:09 am

  2. Always loved this commercial. But I didn’t realize, Ted, that each clip was based on a movie. All i got is the one with the big clock – either Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton, no? Or was it Charlie Chaplin?

    Comment by stubbleyou — April 7, 2011 @ 12:04 am

  3. My resident movie expert says that the rain forest scene is from a “Tarzan” movie, stubbleyou.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — April 7, 2011 @ 9:14 am

  4. Stubbleyou and Ted, the scene with the woman dangling from the clock is from the Harold Lloyd film, “Safety Last!,” a silent from, I believe 1923. Definitely a classic! (both the movie and the commercial). I have seen this clip before, but never associated it with depicting famous scenes from various films. I’d be curious to hear other peoples opinions regarding the other shots in the Beech-Nut Gum commercial.

    Comment by Len Gersten — April 8, 2011 @ 10:51 am

  5. I figured they had to be from movies. It would have been far to expensive to reenact such scenes. The clock scene is in remarkable shape for a 1923 movie, Len. I’ve been seeing a few really old movies on RTN (Retro Television Network), which is on digital subchannels in many markets. For you folks in the New York City area, RTN is on low power WKOB-LD, which transmits from near the UN Building. Some of the old movies RTN shows aren’t in nearly that good of shape. Of course, a movie from 1923 was only about 40 years old when that Beech Nut spot came out, now its been about 88 years. It’s hard to believe that Thomas Edison’s invention has been around even that long!

    Comment by Ted Hammond — April 8, 2011 @ 12:49 pm

  6. I found a clip on YouTube of “Safety Last”. There’s a few important differences, which suggest some sort of reenactment. One, it’s a girl in the Beech Nut clip, and “Safety Last” shows a man. In the “Safety Last” clip, the clock has Roman Numerals, whereas in the Beech Nut commercial, the clock has Arabic Numerals.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — April 8, 2011 @ 1:17 pm

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