Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (TV 2003)

The saga of Horatio Nelson Jackson, the first man to cross the United States by automobile--in 1903!

Director:

Ken Burns

Writer:

Dayton Duncan

Stars:

Keith David, Tom Hanks, Adam Arkin

Cast

Credited cast:
Keith David	...	Narrator (voice)
Tom Hanks	...	Horatio Nelson Jackson (voice)
Adam Arkin	...	Other Voices (voice)
Tom Bodett	...	Other Voices (voice)
Philip Bosco	...	Other Voices (voice)
Kevin Conway	...	Other Voices (voice)
John Cullum	...	Other Voices (voice)
Murphy Guyer	...	Other Voices (voice)
Amy Madigan	...	Other Voices (voice)
George Plimpton	...	Other Voices (voice)
Eli Wallach	...	Other Voices (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger Allison	...	Himself (scenes deleted)
Mary Louise Blanchard	...	Herself
Dayton Duncan	...	Himself
William Least Heat-Moon	...	Himself (writer)

Storyline

In 1903, Americans considered automobiles practical for short trips only. Horatio Nelson Jackson believed differently. He bet a man fifty dollars that he could drive an automobile across the country. Nelson paid a man to accompany him on a trip that attempted to go from California into Oregon and the Rocky Mountain states, then across the Midwestern U.S.A. and finally to New York City. Jackson's trip made him a media sensation. While Jackson, the other man, and a dog travelled by car, they encountered numerous setbacks involving mechanical difficulties. After the Jackson car started, two other teams of drivers set out from San Francisco, each trying to be the first team to reach New York.

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Plot Keywords:

automobile | bet | dog | marriage | breakdown | 

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Taglines:

America's First Road Trip

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Genres:

Documentary | Adventure | History

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Official Sites:

PBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 2003 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Lives II Film Project, Florentine Films, WETA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

At the end, a photo of Dr. Jackson's dog is seen, and the sound of a dog barking can be heard.

User Reviews

A wonderful tale of men, machine, and dog.

There's something that's just so amiable and adventurous about this documentary about a doctor from the state of Vermont who wanted to be the first to drive an automobile from the West to the East Coast. He's an amateur who buys his own vehicle and personally funds most of his other expenses as well. He's challenged by a team sponsored by an auto maker.

Somehow, Ken Burns finds just the right mix of archival and location footage to make it all a grand and very real adventure, an accomplishment given the limited resources with which he had to work.

And then there's Bud, the dog who accompanied them, and for whom they fitted his own pair of driving goggles.