For New Hampshire native Nick Cammilleri, some stories are so fascinating, so enthralling and so socially important that they must be told before they are lost to the passage of time and dusty pages of history.

Those sentiments led Cammilleri on a decade-plus journey to chronicle the story of the Dale automobile and the key figure behind it that captured the imagination of an entire nation with the promise of a three-wheeled, affordable, fuel-efficient car amidst the mid-1970s Arab oil embargo.

“The documentary was like a mission or a crusade or something,” Cammilleri, the documentary’s co-director said. “It felt like the story was going to be lost to time if nobody did it. Nobody was doing it. I felt like I was on the cusp of losing that. It felt like I was a custodian of history. A lot of the reason and motivation for doing it was to save the story.”

“I realize that a lot of these people (involved) … were going to die, and they were going to take this story with them,” Cammilleri added. “I remember thinking to myself, if I can pull this thing back from the hands of the reaper before it’s lost to time, it would probably be the greatest accomplishment I’ve ever done in my life.”

The story starts in the early 1960s with Jerry Dean Michael being arrested on counterfeiting charges by the U.S. Secret Service in Los Angeles. Michael ultimately jumped bail, faked a serious car accident and shed that identity to become Geraldine Elizabeth “Liz” Carmichael.

Carmichael, who was transgender, later met Dale Clifft, who had invented a three-wheeled car that was powered by an 850 cc air-cooled engine capable of getting 70 miles to the gallon. The car, made of aluminum tubing and covered in naugahyde, was marketed by Carmichael and her newly formed Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation. The company name was inspired by the novel Atlas Shrugged and that story’s Twentieth Century Motor Company.

For several years, the car remained in development, with a large staff of people toiling away at perfecting the vehicle so it could go into production.

“By eliminating a wheel in the rear, we saved 300 pounds and knocked more than $300 from the car’s price,” Carmichael said at the time. “The Dale is 190 inches long, 51 inches high and weighs less than 1,000 pounds.”

Carmichael also said that she was, “on the way to taking on General Motors or any other car manufacturer for that matter.”

Indeed, the prospect of the fuel-efficient, bright yellow car did grab the attention of the Big Three manufacturers – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – but it also grabbed the attention of intrepid reporters and news anchors, especially when things started to go sideways at the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation.

Although Carmichael expected sales of 88,000 or more cars in the first year and 250,000 in the second year, the Dale never really got past the prototype stage. In fact, during the vehicle’s initial test drive – in front of several high-profile Asian investors – the vehicle tipped on its side, showing a lack of safety and stability.

Despite that, a mechanically unfinished model was displayed at the 1975 Los Angeles Auto Show and was a prize on an episode of the “Price is Right.”

Problems persisted, though, for Carmichael, with legal woes from the California Corporations Department. Officials ordered the company to stop offering stock options for public sales; however, that didn’t happen immediately, with options still being sold even while TV news reporters’ interests were piqued.

One such news anchor, Dick Carlson – the father of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson – began an exhaustive probe into Carmichael and her company. He eventually discovered that her own touted credentials – degrees in mechanical engineering and business from The Ohio State University and Miami University – were fraudulent.

Pressure – and investigations – continued to mount, and Carmichael eventually was arrested and charged with 31 counts of fraud, grand theft and security violations.

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Being transgender, she had a difficult time in jail while awaiting trial, being housed in a men’s prison.

At trial, Carmichael successfully argued that she should be allowed to dress as a woman in court, where she ably represented herself.

Despite many compelling arguments – and a questionable excuse of an ill juror – Carmichael was convicted on several charges and sentenced to prison.

The story and intrigue doesn’t stop there, though. Carmichael again went on the lam, settling in Texas and running a flower business.

Her freedom eventually ended when she was featured on an episode of Robert Stack’s “Unsolved Mysteries” in 1989. Two weeks after the episode aired, Carmichael – living as Katherine Elizabeth Johnson – was apprehended, extradited to California and served 18 months in a men’s prison, despite being recognized as a woman by courts in the Golden State.

After serving her term, Carmichael returned to Texas and continued her flower business – although not without some controversy – until her death in 2004.

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THE DOCUMENTARY

“The Lady and the Dale” premiered in January, with the fourth and final episode airing on Feb. 14.

Episodes include: “Soldier of Fortune,” “Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware,” “The Guilty Fleeth” and “Celestial Bodies.” Total run time is about four hours.

The documentary is directed by Cammilleri and Zackary Drucker, who also served as executive producers. Mark and Jay Duplass – Duplass Brothers Productions – also served as executive producers, along with Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Alana Carithers, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller.

Producers were Madison Passarelli and Tina Nguyen; cinematography by Nathan M. Miller; and editors were Christopher Donlon, Nicholas Alden and Mel Mel Sukekawa Mooring.

HBO Documentary Films also served as producers, and HBO distributed the documentary.

“The Lady and the Dale” is available on HBOMax.

The series features interviews with some of Carmichael’s 10 children – she was married twice as Jerry Dean Michael – including daughter Candi Michael and son Michael Michael. Other interviews include employees of the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation, Carlson, Carmichael’s brother-in-law Charles Barrett and more.

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ABOUT Cammilleri

Cammilleri grew up in Hampstead, in Rockingham County.

“… I lived there from about 5 or 6 years old until I was 17 or 18,” he said. “I went to Bridgton Academy in Maine, and then I went to Plymouth State for a year in New Hampshire. Then, I left to go to California.”

“I didn’t get the idea of making movies until I was 18 at Bridgton Academy,” Cammilleri added. “That’s when I realized what I wanted to do. I managed to make about $3,000 in the hallways of that school rolling dice, then I went to California, then ended up going to Cal State Northridge, and that’s where I graduated from. I started screen writing, then I decided I wanted to start directing. About that time, I was trying to decided what I wanted to direct, and I ended up coming upon Elizabeth Carmichael’s story.”

Cammilleri knew it would be a long process to tell Carmichael’s story, but he also was surprised that not much existed on the subject – no books, no movies, no documentaries – nothing.

“From the moment I saw it, it was the most incredible story I had seen in my life,” he said. “It was so remarkable. There’s not many things that interest me, but this did.”

“I realized the average documentary takes about seven to 10 years to get done, so I figured I would be able to shoot a couple shorts, and then in the meantime, direct the documentary. I pursued that project (Carmichael) for more than 10 years.”

Cammilleri’s ideal interest and trajectory is in scripted filmmaking, he noted, although he does offer those mulling creating content some advice.

“The biggest thing is always going to be the story,” he said. “You’re always aiming for something that looks great, but at the same time, you shoot with what you can. You shoot with what is available to you. Just keep shooting and keep making stuff. Your quality will improve, and as you improve, the quality of what you makes improves, and then the equipment will improve.”

“So much is your determination to do it,” Cammilleri added. “I shot on any camera someone would give me. None of them matched. They all had different color spaces. Everything was completely different. You wouldn’t be able to export them at the same quality. It (the early work on the documentary) was a real Frankenstein cut. It wasn’t the greatest looking thing. It’s not about the cameras, it’s about you. I really do believe that. I didn’t have a plan. I just knew Liz Carmichael’s story was incredible, and I had to shoot it any way I could. We have interviews that are on the old cameras that I couldn’t get them again, and there were other people that had passed away since. All those interviews were in the series, because I shot them over the years. Imagine if I had waited. Significant portions of the documentary would be gone. Just keep shooting and shooting and shooting.”

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SOCIAL IMPACT

In the documentary’s final episode, the issues faced by transgender people are brought more to light, including gaps in the justice system, the prison system and the way it deals with transgender inmates and media bias toward the trans community.

The thought-provoking segments certainly will make viewers consider what would happen if such a case were to go to trial in 2021, and if progress – even a little – has been made in everyday social circles.

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IN REVIEW

The four-part HBO documentary ‘The Lady and the Dale’ truly has something for everyone – alleged scams, counterfeiting, fugitives, multiple law enforcement investigations, courtroom drama, social issues and much more. The brilliant series is well thought out, compelling and artfully told. This is a must-watch for fans of true crime, car buffs and everyone in-between. Five out of five stars for sure!

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Publisher and Editor Matthew Burdette may be reached at 603-594-1240 or mburdette@nashuatelegraph.com. Follow him on Twitter @Telegraph_mattb.

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