Ken Burns' Horatio's Drive 4K restoration at The Park Theatre

A fundraiser for The Park Theatre made possible by Florentine Films

First screening of the 4K restored film in any theatre.

Tickets $25 – general admission

VIP Tickets $40 with a wine reception that includes the film’s writer, Dayton Duncan. Also, includes ticket to film. Reception starts at 3pm.

Runtime 1hr47min • Rated TV-G • Original release 2003 • 4K Restoration 2025

In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car, hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled “horseless carriage.”

At the time, there were only 150 miles of paved road in the entire country, no gas stations, and virtually no road maps as we know them. Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future––and a transcontinental drive seemed impossible.

Traveling with his co-driver Sewall Crocker and a faithful bulldog named Bud, Jackson was determined to prove them wrong.

Using a treasure trove of photographs and live cinematography of the vast landscape along the route, and relying on previously unpublished letters, Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip puts viewers in the front seat of this historic––and hilarious––journey.

Directed by acclaimed storyteller Ken Burns and written/produced by his long-time colleague Dayton Duncan, the documentary was initially broadcast on PBS in 2003––the centennial of Jackson’s remarkable trip. Tom Hanks is the voice on the irrepressible Jackson.

Now the original film negative has been painstakingly restored in high definition, and this will be the first time it has ever been shown in a theatrical screening.

Duncan will introduce the one-hour, forty-five minute film and then take questions from the audience.

“I don’t think Ken and I ever had more fun making one of our documentaries than we did out on the road following Horatio Jackson across the continent,” Duncan said. “I can’t really express how excited I am to see the restored version on a big screen, 22 years later, this time in high definition. And where better to premiere this lovingly restored film than in the lovingly restored Park Theatre?”