Talking to the Italians Part 5

Description

This film describes the methods the Information Division of ECA Italy used to explain to the people of that country the ERP’s missions and activities. Mission Chief James D. Zellerbach and other staffers confer about meeting the 1000th ERP ship, soon to arrive in Genoa. In delineating other publicity efforts, the film mentions that materials put out by the Mission do not carry a byline. The same goes for the Mission’s radio programming, which is instrumental in delivering its message – especially the weekly show, “Radio, Inc.” Related footage illustrates Mission staffers interviewing a number of “ordinary Italians” with a microphone and then editing the tapes. An Italian family and people in a bar listen to a radio while the narrator says that millions of listeners tune in, and the Mission receives a lot of fan mail each week. The Mission uses other media, too, including posters, magazines, pamphlets, and essay contests for school children. A 15-year-old boy who had won first prize the previous year describes his trip to the U.S. Also shown are workers getting ERP messages in their pay packets, ERP symbols emblazoned on projects, and a poster picturing an arch made of the flags of ERP countries. Trucks roam the countryside with mobile exhibits. Since its arrival, ERP has participated in every local fair. The mayor of Bologna, a city dominated by communists, praises an ERP exhibit and the work of the ERP in general. Finally, views are shown of the all-important Milan Fair, where more than a million people from all over Europe pass through the ERP exhibit, which was housed in its own pavilion. A Marshall Plan film, produced by ECA for MSA Italy.

Collection

Records of the U.S. Information Agency

Series

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