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X Marks the Spot (1944)
Worst Instructional Movie in New Jersey.
The most reviled titles in film history??The State of New Jersey probably has the worst reputation of any state in the Union, especially when it comes to driving & driving conditions within its borders. This WWII driving education short would like to remedy that by showing the results of not following traffic rules/laws, however it leads to comic situations. Do NOT watch un-MST3k.
Alternative movie titles : "The Commish" , "Ghost Court" or "The Garden State"
After a brief and soporific monologue by Arthur W. Magee, the "Commissioner", we are presented with a hypothetical situation that would be a common sight to any NJ resident : namely a bad driver. We follow that typical NJ driver, Joe Doakes, in a typical driving day (where accidents seem to be possible at every intersection). Shortly after we meet Joe & live through some of his driving escapades with him, he dies in a traffic accident. (add canned shocked response here)
Instead of dying and meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates, Joe ends up in ghost traffic court with his driving-guardian-ghost defending him. Instead of St. Peter we have a judge. The rest of the film is just a series of flashbacks to all of Joe's driving indiscretions, near accidents, accidents and eventual death, as his guardian ghost recounts all.
They tell time differently in New Jersey.
The trial unfortunately goes nowhere. The judge doesn't make an actual ruling but either leaves that to a ghost jury (not shown) or to the viewing audience (also not shown). In the end, I'm not even sure what was at stake in the hearing, Joe's soul or Joe's ghostly driver's license. After 20 minutes, I felt much like Joe did. I pleaded with the LCD & god himself to make it stop : "Please let me go back. Just this once. Besides, I got almost a full book of 8 coupons left."
Nothing but silence.
Then Greg laughed.
Alternative movie titles : "The Commish" , "Ghost Court" or "The Garden State"After a brief and soporific monologue by Arthur W. Magee, the "Commissioner", we are presented with a hypothetical situation that would be a common sight to any NJ resident : namely a bad driver. We follow that typical NJ driver, Joe Doakes, in a typical driving day (where accidents seem to be possible at every intersection). Shortly after we meet Joe & live through some of his driving escapades with him, he dies in a traffic accident. (add canned shocked response here)
Instead of dying and meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates, Joe ends up in ghost traffic court with his driving-guardian-ghost defending him. Instead of St. Peter we have a judge. The rest of the film is just a series of flashbacks to all of Joe's driving indiscretions, near accidents, accidents and eventual death, as his guardian ghost recounts all.
They tell time differently in New Jersey.The trial unfortunately goes nowhere. The judge doesn't make an actual ruling but either leaves that to a ghost jury (not shown) or to the viewing audience (also not shown). In the end, I'm not even sure what was at stake in the hearing, Joe's soul or Joe's ghostly driver's license. After 20 minutes, I felt much like Joe did. I pleaded with the LCD & god himself to make it stop : "Please let me go back. Just this once. Besides, I got almost a full book of 8 coupons left."
Nothing but silence.
Then Greg laughed.
The rest of the screen shots are here.
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