Albert Einstein Driving a ‘Flying’ Car With His Wife Elsa (1931)

On February 3, 1931, Albert Einstein and his second wife, Elsa, visited the Warner Bros. First National studio lot in California. This home movie footage captures the famous physicist, who never actually learned to drive, playfully getting behind the wheel of a car on a soundstage while utilizing early rear-projection special effects.

Einstein and Elsa toured the active Warner Bros. lot, where he received demonstrations on sound recording and early cinematic special effects. Footage shows Einstein in the driver’s seat with Elsa as a passenger, pretending to drive past projected backdrops in a practical effects demonstration.

The rare silent film was rediscovered decades later in boxes belonging to a co-inventor of Kodakcolor and premiered publicly 87 years after it was shot.