The Pan-American Highway (Mel & Ethel Ross, 1961)

This feature-length film was created by Alberta filmmakers Mel and Ethel Ross and documents an epic road journey that the couple undertook in 1960-61 through Canada, the United States, Central America, and South America.
This film and others by the Rosses would be shown with the Rosses in attendance, who would provide live narration and commentary. The narration heard in this video was recorded later by a relative of Mel & Ethel using the original script.
For more information about the Mel and Ethel Ross and their other films, please visit the Provincial Archives of Alberta finding aid at bit.ly/2mKooqq.

[@The_ZeroLine]

This shows how recently modernity has reached most places (and still yet to reach others).

[@camilabarrera6709]

Love this record! Thank u so much!

[@The_ZeroLine]

Ethel & Mel were amazing adventurers. Their Headless Valley home doc is amazing too. It will also quickly dispel all the myths about the place being “haunted.”

[@bonghungk7544]

Ok Mr.Ballen fan.

[@The_ZeroLine]

@@bonghungk7544 I liked it cause it had nothing to do with that idiotic video. There wasn’t a single supernatural event.

[@bonghungk7544]

@@The_ZeroLine thanks for clarifying this. I concur with you.

[@The_ZeroLine]

@@bonghungk7544 To his credit, he stopped doing stories that couldn’t be verified (nothing wrong w/telling spooky tales, but don’t pass them off as true stories), which means no more dumb ghost stories. On the down side, that just leaves horrific murders and grizzly accidents.

[@ldld2311]

Ive seen about every documentary about the headless valley I think a lot of the folklore was about being greedy and going to steal the riches from the ground is when things got hairy.mel and Ethel trip was a righteous one it didn't appear they were looking for gold. The gold kind of found themand as quick as they found it they lost it on the way back w a banoe accident.easy come easy go.i was fascinated by their ability to overcome any problems they had w no other people for it seemed hundreds of miles.

[@stevegibbs9939]

I wonder what would happen if you tried to make the same trip today

[@BrodyYYC]

Thank you guys so much you're the best!

[@albertaarchives]

You're welcome!

[@stephencornell497]

After hearing about the state of the roads, you can see the origin of the phrase, "Where did the road go?"

[@rewardingyoutubeviewers3658]

$4 a day & $1 a day wow!

[@ivanvargas6351]

an impressive audiovisual record, I hope that in the future I can have subtitles :)

[@ru.kiddingme]

A fine GMC pickup truck, it sure did the job! The audio and video need better synchronization over the last half of the program (audio runs a couple of minutes ahead). Nevertheless, an absolutely fascinating travelogue.