Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films(2003)

Name: Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films
Director: Bret Wood
Genre: Documentary, History
Released: Jun 27, 2003
Cast: Richard Anderson, Sonny Bono, John F. Butler, Hans Conried

Kino Lorber

1h 31m
- Documentary
- History

Release Date: Jun 27, 2003

The history of traffic safety educational films and their notoriously lurid content.

Release Details

Original Release | Jun 27, 2003 | Limited

2026 Re-release | Jul 31, 2026 | Limited

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Current Showtimes

orround

Thu Sep 3
Fri Sep 4
Sat Sep 5
Sun Sep 6
Mon Sep 7
Tue Sep 8
Wed Sep 9

Director & Top Cast

Bret Wood
Director

Richard Anderson
Self - Husband

Sonny Bono
Self

John F. Butler
Self

Hans Conried
Self

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Storyline

This film covers the early history of post World War II educational films, especially those involving traffic safety by the Highway Safety Foundation under direction of Richard Wayman. In the name of promoting safe driving in teenagers, these films became notorious for their gory depiction of accidents to shock their audiences to make their point. The film also covers the role of safety films of this era, their effect on North American teenage culture, the struggle between idealism and lurid exploitation and how they reflected the larger society concerns of the time that adults projected onto their youth. — Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)