721. V.1. (08:35)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
Crown Film Unit, British Ministry of Information
Summary:
"Here is the first photographic report on the robot bomb since the censorship was lifted. In this nine-minute capsule of buzz-bomb terror, 'V-1' brings to the screen in 16 mm sound-on-film a subject which will arouse its audiences to a vivid realization of the terror that life in London must be under the robot. 'V-1' includes spectacular shots of the bombs being destroyed in mid-air by anti-aircraft fire and by fighter planes." "Scenes include: robot bomb attacks which killed or injured 26,000 persons by September 30, 1944 and destroyed or damaged a million houses. There is one tremendous moment when, in one of the most sensational scenes of the war, a 'V-1' is caught on the wing by a British plane" (Business Screen December, 1944, No. 2, Vol. 6, p. 41).

722. Welcome soldier! (14:35)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
McInnes, Graham, 1912-1970
Summary:
Presents two films. Welcome soldier! outlines the various government plans created to help Canadian World War II veterans return to civilian life in the workplace and at home. In the companion film, John Buckley, the labour representative on the Ontario Social Security and Rehabilitation Committee, chairs a discussion among service men and women on the difficulties faced by veterans returning to the work force.

723. Wetlands (10:39)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
United States. Department of Agriculture. Soil Conservation Service
Summary:
A USDA production conveying the department's policy recommendations for the development of unusable wetlands into productive agricultural land. Narration explains that, for much of the year, land with "too much water with nowhere to go" is rendered unsuitable for farming. Engineering the draining of 31 million acres for the creation of productive agricultural land represents "one of the last great frontiers of America." Various drainage techniques are explained in detail: ditches, tile systems, and the creation of mole channels. "Shows where our 120 million acres of wet land are located. Points out that 78 million of these acres will serve us best if left in their natural state for the production of timber and the preservation of wildlife. Thirty-one million acres are shown to be suited to farming if properly drained. A section of the film illustrates briefly the principal types of water control and methods of land drainage. Through the use of these methods, farmers, working together, can improve drainage on land now being farmed, and bring into production land that is now too wet for any production at all. Recommended audiences: Farmers in Atlantic Seaboard and Gulf States; Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Valleys" (Motion Pictures of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1945, 46).

724. Working With Other Supervisors (07:20)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
United States. Office of Education. Division of Visual Aids, United States. Federal Security Agency, Mode-Art Pictures, Inc.
Summary:
Dramatized scenarios in a machine shop workplace illustrate common problems arising between supervisors. "Larry Daniels fails as a supervisor because he does not recognize the importance of working harmoniously with other people, particularly with his fellow supervisors" (U.S. Government Films, U.S. Office of Education, 1954, 214). Concludes with a group of supervisors conversing in the locker room as they ask "I wonder if a guy like Larry should be a supervisor?"

726. Atacama Desert (16:43)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
United States Information Agency, United States. Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
Summary:
Begins with a brief geography lesson to orient North American viewers to the size and climate of Chile. Scenes of indigenous shepherding in desert villages are followed by a visit to the Christmas celebration of the Virgin of Andecollo. Scenes at a giant open-pit copper mine at Chuquicamata show the extraction process from blasting ore to refining. Narration states that the Atacama holds the world's largest source of nitrate; a history of this lucrative industry is summarized. The mineral riches of the region go to market at the sea ports of Tocapilla and Antofagasta. The wealth from Chile's natural resources are shown accruing in the prosperous, modern cities of Valparaiso and Santiago.

727. Bill Jack vs. Adolf Hitler (18:11)

Date:
1943
Summary:
Shows how the Jack and Heintz Company, in Cleveland, greatly increased its output during World War II through improved personnel policies.

729. Brazil's fishing school (15:38)

Date:
1943
Summary:
Tells the story of President Vargas' favorite project, the Marambaia Fishing School, located fifty miles south of Rio de Janeiro and facing on the Bay of Ilha Grande. Illustrates how the unique project trains Brazilian boys in such fishing arts as handling and building small boats, making and repairing nets, and catching all sorts of fish from sardines to sharks.

730. Brazilian Quartz Goes to War (10:04)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
United States Information Agency, United States. Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
Summary:
The value of Brazilian quartz to the allied war effort is shown as narration proclaims "two-way radio is the one really new instrument in the armory of warfare." Explains the value of quartz in radio communication, showing how a wafer of its crystal makes possible the simultaneous broadcasting of many stations without overlapping. The film emphasizes the necessity for international cooperation in the war effort. Shows quartz mining in Brazil: pictures the hard manual labor involved in mining Brazilian quartz, the inspection, the exportation of most of it to the United States, and the laboratory cutting of it to fit the complex instruments of World War II. Personages: President Roosevelt, Brazilian President Vargas, Joseph Stalin, General Marshall, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek (see U.S. National Archives and Records Administration catalog record http://research.archives.gov/description/40254).