The Changing Face of Europe (No. 4): Men and Machines Part 2

Description

This film is part of a series meant to assess the achievements of the European Recovery Program and the condition of Western Europe five years after the end of World War II. This film focuses specifically on industry and is a survey of Europe's Marshall Plan-aided economic recovery. It seeks to convey a message - establish harmony between men and machines. To lower costs, more automation and mass production is needed in both the new and established industries. But the film also warns that traditional craftsmanship and the production of quality goods must not be abandoned. Europe needs its Venetian glassblowers as well as the new German plant that turns out a million beer bottles a day. Good coverage is provided of European industry five years after the war, set to a narration that prophetically notes, "While a portion of our output must now go for defense, there is the promise of an abundance which Europe has never before enjoyed." Other industries featured in the film include Italian shipbuilding, the first Renault factory, the manufacturing of tractors and gas ranges, a textile mill, a Danish silversmith, and molten steel being poured into molds. A Marshall Plan film produced by Ian Dalrymple and Wessex Film, directed by Diana Pine, and narrated by Leo Genn.

Collection

Records of the U.S. Information Agency

Series

Moving Images Relating to U.S. Domestic and International Activities