Whuzzat #18 - Van Heflin, Charles Bovary and Charles Bovari

[Ray B.]

No prowler here, officer.

[Wendax]

How about the "Green Dolphin Street" and http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=10926.0 ?

[guido66]

Nash Airflyte Theatre?

[Ray B.]

Well tried, lads, but none of these connections (and it's not the Hudson Theatre either, in case you'd think of this too).

[barrett]

He was in a film called 'Back Door to Heaven'...... 

[Ray B.]

Getting colder. What has been established is that:
- The relationship is between the title of one of Heflin's films and the name of a car, or carmaker, as rightfully (although unsuccessfully) tried by several puzzlers. Sure, I could have chosen another actor, or the director or anyone involved in this film, but I chose Heflin.
- This car is the subject of a former puzzle.

[Tom_I]

How about the 1948 film Polly Fulton, and the Fulton Airphibian hybrid car/aeroplane?

[Ray B.]

In that case, shouln't I have chosen Barbara Stanwyck or Charles Coburn instead of Heflin?
You're british, Tom. Polly Fulton was the title in the U.K. but the original american title was B.F.'s Daughter

[Otto Puzzell]

I'm stumped.

[Ray B.]

In that case, shouln't I have chosen Barbara Stanwyck or Charles Coburn instead of Heflin?

I must admit that the (solved) puzzle car is not well known at all, but this kind of reply should help you find which way to go.

[Ray B.]

I must admit that the (solved) puzzle car is not well known at all...

... but the the name who links it to Heflin is very well-known.
Does it click or do I send this to le trou noir?

[Tom_I]

I'll have one more go, then I give up.

If it's a name that links Heflin to a car then I can't find anything convincing in the titles of his films, so maybe it's the name of a character he played. Going through the films where he had top billing, nothing strikes me as a "very well known" name, apart from in Grand Central Murder (1942) where he plays a character called Rocky Custer (OK, I know General Custer wasn't called Rocky, but it's the surname I'm concentrating on).

And here's a Custer Park Car from 1924.

That's my best shot, I'm afraid.....

[Ray B.]

Sorry Tom, it's not Custer.
The name is very well-known, I wrote, well maybe not as much as Long Hair. It is indeed the name of a character he played, and you seem to have missed it. I could give two other clues based on your the wording in your post, but I'm afraid it would be a dead giveaway.

[Otto Puzzell]

Let's try this one: In 1941's The Feminine Touch, Heflin played Elliott Morgan, Publisher.

In April of 2006, the first puzzle posted here was the Morgan SLR. Coincidentally, you posted this puzzle in April of 2011, just a little over 5 years after the Morgan puzzle was posted.

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=28.0

[Ray B.]

Not a Morgan, not a british car. The car isn't well-known at all (except by Auto puzzlers).
As I said, I don't see what clue I could give that wouldn't be a giveaway.

[Otto Puzzell]

OK, common or well-know name. Obscure car; not from the UK...

Let's go with the Evans 486LM (as seen here): http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=10487.msg84261#msg84261

And 1957's 3:10 to Yuma , in which Heflin played 'Dan Evans'

[Tom_I]

I said I was going to give up, but this is bringing on an OCD attack.....

Another try. Film: Johnny Eager (1942).

Heflin won an Oscar for best supporting actor playing a character called Jeff Hartnett. These days Harnett is a fairly well-known name (actor/producer Josh Hartnett), and lurking in Solved Autopuzzles is a 1951 Hartnett Pacific Tourer from Australia.

[Ray B.]

We all like it when it gets addictive. So, let's not discourage your efforts, both of you.
Not an Evans, not a Hartnett.
Not from any part of the Commonwealth, not from Georgia or any state of the U.S. of A.

That should narrow the circle.

[Tom_I]

Looking back over what Ray has said during the course of this puzzle, first there's:

...The relationship is between the title of one of Heflin's films and the name of a car, or carmaker...

and

Sure, I could have chosen another actor, or the director or anyone involved in this film, but I chose Heflin.

Then when I mentioned Polly Fulton:

In that case, shouldn't I have chosen Barbara Stanwyck or Charles Coburn instead of Heflin?

- presumably because their characters were both called Fulton, and Heflin's wasn't.

Then later:

It is indeed the name of a character he played...

It seems to me that the logical conclusion to draw from this is that the name of the character played by Heflin must also be in the title of the movie. And unless I'm missing something (and all evidence to date suggests that I probably am), the only one that fits the bill seems to be Tennessee Johnson (1942), where he played US President Andrew Johnson.

There is a car called the Johnson Controls ie:3 Electric Concept in Solved Autopuzzles, but I offer this with no confidence at all...

[Otto Puzzell]

That was a heck of an effort!

I, for one, hope you are correct. 

[Ray B.]

Sorry, Tom and Otto, but if Tom perfectly summed up the indications I gave...

He is right :
- in saying that the name we're after his the name of his character in the film, and is part of the film's title.
- in choosing a car neither from the Commonwealth nor the U.S.A.
But he still misses the right film, and name.
I must say that the names are the same, but rather phonetically. But here is a clue: Heflin's character shares first name and surname with the maker of the car (again, if you're not too peculiar about spelling).

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[Tom_I]

I think the penny has finally dropped!

The film is Madame Bovary (1949), in which Van Heflin plays Charles Bovary.

The car is the one-off Gordini-engined Bovari, based on a Renault Caravelle platform, designed and built by Charles Bovari.

And I shall spend the rest of the day lying down in a darkened room!

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[Ray B.]

If anyone of you wants to make an extra point, here is your chance:
As you've noted the name of the character has a slightly different spelling. Except in one exception.
Find it (it's not easy), and get that point.
Locked 48 hours for these two brave puzzlers.

In the meantime two more pictures (which I'm sure you already found).