Midweek Matinee: Something for Nothing, 1940

All photos are frame grabs from video below.

Are you still kind of fuzzy on that whole fuel-energy-power process that goes on (or not) within circa-1940 internal combustion automobile engines? Well then, have we got a film for you, featuring Rube Goldberg at age 57, as only Jam Handy could produce it.

But first: A few thoughts on an automatic door opener, a hat-tipper and perpetual motion machines in general. Hey, this guy’s quite the comedian.

Looking like a MythBusters prototype episode, our prequel Adam and Jamie experiment with some of our favorite test materials: gunpowder, gasoline under pressure, electricity, flying pistons, a mortar fashioned from an engine block, a big wooden mallet and floating targets in a pond. Sounds like the makings of a memorable day to us.

The extent of the sponsor’s corporate marketing seems to be two short clips of what appears to be a Cameo Cream ’41 Chevrolet Special De Luxe Sport Sedan. That’s all we see.

Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.