Flying "A" Free Trips to Paris (aka Paris Sweepstakes)
Flying "A" Free Trips to Paris (aka Paris Sweepstakes) is a short film from 1962 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
An early 1960s couple dreams about a trip to Paris. The woman thinks of the Eiffel Tower, while the man thinks of scantily clad chorus girls at the Moulin Rouge and other such nightclubs. They take a ride around Los Angeles and suburbs in their 1962 or 1963 Chevrolet Impala convertible.
Excellent shots of Flying A service station, where helpful attendants discuss the "Free Trip to Paris" sweepstakes and pump gas, wash windshield. What follows this are superb scenes of Paris, including aerial views, street scenes, the Eiffel Tower, artists painting, romantic Paris, a scantily-clad belly dancer, and a Bohemian cellar jazz club (smoky and dimly lit) where possibly jazz trumpeter Bill Coleman is playing. Also includes nice shots of Boeing 707 Air France jets taking off, passengers climbing steps to airplane door, etc.
Bob Reed, Tidewater Marketing Manager introduces the history of The Tidewater Company through a series of shots of still images and illustrations to create enthusiasm for the new advertising program campaign. The film then explores an idealistic scenario of how the campaign will idealistically affect an average young couple and their fantasies of Paris, reminding the worker that if the winners enter the contest at his station, he wins a trip to Paris too. Not only does it promote the scenic beauty of Paris, but through the wandering mind of the perfect husband, it also promotes the beauty of the exotic Parisian woman. Its humor involves the husband's desire for a French mistress, also appealing to the Flying A employees; clearly illustrated at the end of the film through the fantasy sequence of a gas attendant -- an amazing double exposure sequence of famous shots of Paris and a woman performing a striptease, fading to the face of the attendant, the stripper, and the Flying A logo.
Close-up of a house slipper dangling on foot moves to man in arm chair reading the paper. Woman in white dress arranging fake flowers. Close-up of newspaper advertisement for trips to Paris, with an image of the Eiffel Tower. Watery fade from man's face, eyebrows raised to topless woman in long gloves and brightly feathered hat with an accentuated shadow profile parading on a stage. Slow zoom from inside convertible to close-up of gas station attendant wiping windshield with blue cloth. Jet taking off, jet flying, close-up of jet engine in flight, jet landing in field. Includes many scenic ground and aerial views of Paris. Gesticulating waiters in red jackets in outdoor cafe. A couple embrace in the shadows near a river. Flashing neon signs Belly dancer striptease on stage Can Can girls chickens rotating on a spit Artists painting with easels outside High fashion models posed at the top of a staircase with photographer Man rubbing woman's feet on outdoor bench a horse race man ripping up orange ticket and throwing it into the air Couple entering a dark underground jazz club with jazz musicians playing Waiter popping the cork out of a champagne bottle
SURREALISM double exposure of Parisian sites (including the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, a windmill and a Jazz musician) while a woman performs a striptease.| Flying "A" Free Trips to Paris (aka Paris Sweepstakes) | |
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| Produced by | Davis (Sid) Productions |
Production company | Davis (Sid) Productions |
| Distributed by | Davis (Sid) Productions |
Release date | 1962 |
Running time | 27:44 |
| Language | English |
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