Film, Motion Picture

Coming Out Party

16mm reel containing the Packard Motor Car Company promotional film, "Coming Out Party," produced by Wilding Picture Productions, Incorporated. The film begins in black and white, then changes to color. The promotional film is presented as though it were a story about the filming of a promotional film about the company's 1941 line, complete with shots of the crew, and audible cues from the director.

The film begins in black and white with a young couple arriving at the large estate of the man's parents. The young couple convinces the parents to host the film shoot, which they explain is also a Red Cross charity event. Once the filming begins the film transitions into color.

The film showcases five Packard models--the Packard 110, the 110 Deluxe, the 120, the 160 convertible, and the 180. The features of each are highlighted in vignettes that occur both within the on-screen film as well as in "behind-the-scenes" moments. During the filming, the parents' African American domestic worker is shown sneaking into a Packard 180 to admire it. The parents follow him into it and then discover the car's power windows.

The film is on a brown metal reel housed within a metal canister with a tin with a Wilding Pictures Productions Incorporated label.