''One Bad Knight'' is a 1938 theatrical advertisement for

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

, produced by the

Jam Handy Organization Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the metho ...

, featuring the

gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

Nicky Nome Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy (March 6, 1886 – November 13, 1983) was an American Olympic breaststroke swimmer, water polo player, and founder of the Jam Handy Organization (JHO), a producer of commercially sponsored motion pictures, slidefilms (l ...

.Nicky Nome Rides Again, Cartoon Research
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Plot

To the tune of "The Love Bug Will Bite You," a "love bug" sprays a pair of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s, a pair of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s and Nicky's "horse hopper," Hortense, with a love potion. A young boy, pulling a toy horse, sees a wanted poster for the Black Knight, then meets a princess. While he and the princess are picking flowers, the unnamed hero boy encounters Nicky, while the Black Knight kidnaps the princess. King Louis, a

trencherman A trencher (from Old French ''trancher'' 'to cut') is a type of tableware">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''trancher'' 'to cut') is a type of tab ...

, leaves his dinner table to rescue the princess, only to be repulsed by the Black Knight's castle. Overnight, Louis is lamenting how to breach such a strong castle, mentioning many horsepower, a mobile fortress and great speed. Nicky then whispers to Louis, and through the remainder of the night, a

Trojan horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...

is built. At dawn, Louis looks out of the right eye of the Trojan horse and says, "Give up, Blackie?" only to be answered with a salvo of arrows that surrounded the eye where Louis issued his challenge. Louis replied, "Let 'em have it!" A hatch opens in the front of the Trojan horse, and out drives the hero boy at the wheel of a 1938 Chevrolet. The wheels bounce over logs and rocks to tout their "Knee-Action" suspension, arrows go in and out of the vent windows to tout their "Draft-Free Ventilation," rocks bounce off the roof to tout their "Turret-Top" roof, and then the car bulldozed the castle walls with the sound effect of a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

blowing its

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

for a

railroad crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The ...

. The hero boy returns in the undamaged car to the last turret standing in the castle, rushing up a spiral staircase to free the princess and to battle the Black Knight, although with a wooden toy sword. The hero boy winds up on his back, and the Black Knight picks up a

battleaxe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for use in one ha ...

and swings it at the boy, who rolls out of the way. When the knight hits the floorboard, it acts like a catapult, hurling the knight down the spiral staircase to his doom. The Princess and the hero boy kiss. Back at the king's castle, Louis knights the hero boy for bravery on the field of combat, and offers the hero boy one wish, pushing his daughter toward the boy. The boy looked at the Chevrolet and said, "One wish, Sire?" The boy looked again at the car and back at the king, and said, "Double or nothing, Your Majesty!" Louis gave the boy a waving, left-handed salute. Flanked by knights on horseback singing "The Love Bug Will Bite You," the young couple drive away in the Chevrolet. Nicky and Hortense appear from behind the grille and shake hands. The End.

References

{{Reflist

External links

IMDBYouTube
Chevrolet Advertisements 1938 animated short films Jam Handy Organization films 1938 films Promotional films American short films