Summary

American Road, The

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: American Road, The
File Number: PA-0588 Digibeta
Color: B W
Type: Educational Industrial
Year: 1953
Subjects: Aerials
Description: American Road, The Shows development of transportation in the United States during the first half of the 20th century, emphasizing growth of automobile industry, roads and highways. 00:07:23 LS Countryside church and horse drawn carriage in foreground (recreation of early 20th century rural scene). MCU Well dressed man and woman wearing hats on carriage. CU Hands of man opening old fashioned pocket watch on chain. 00:23:28 LS POV from road passing by a white house in the woods. 00:27:16 CU Entrance of house man standing on steps puts on his coat and say good-bye to woman at doorway. 00:32:14 Man with hat gets into carriage. LS Horse-drawn carriage going by country church. 01:L48:14 VS At rural railroad station carriage approaching. Man speaks with agent, unloads truck. Fade out. LS Rails going straight to horizon. 02:02:03 VS LS Carriage and horses on city street. VS Early footage, Fifth Avenue, New York City. VS Women walking on Fifth Ave early 1900's dresses. Also scene of woman walking away from camera. 02:20:13 LS Man and woman purchasing a paper from a newsboy - early 1900's. 02:22:27 LS Streetcar and city traffic in foreground, New York City. On streetcar is written: BROADWAY 263. VS Excerpts from Edwin S. Porter film: LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FIREMAN. 02:29:28 LS Dormitory men jump out of bed simultaneously, put on pants and boots and slide down fire-pole to yard. 02:56:04 LS Buildings on street people walking with umbrellas in foreground. 03:00:02 LS Children playing in street. 03:11:20 VS City bridge with running train. 03:17:29 LS People gather outside stadium: BASEBALL TODAY NEW YORK V. CHICAGO. 03:20:22 CU POV from boat - small waves in water camera pans to Statue of Liberty in mist. 03:39:24 LS Beach children playing in water, running. 03:54:22 VS LS Couple riding bicycles in the park amongst other riders. LS Same couple from behind man and woman holding hands. LS Same shot from profile. 04:28:19 LS Man on bicycle falls on a little path. 04:50:16 CU Wheel of a carriage turning. Camera pans to other wheel. CU Parts of the carriage. Man rides on this carriage through dark streets. 06:10:11 CU Two shadows on the ground (man and horse). 06:33:26 MCU Two men in car that breaks down they exit car and open hood. 06:37:04 VS LS Two men and woman on a wind-surf machine on the beach (on sand). 07:09:16 CU Motor with hands working on it. LS Mechanic under hood, another under car. 07:21:07 MCU Fire in background as blacksmith hammers iron. 07:27:07 and 07:40:08 CU Hand using a monkey wrench on a machinery wheel. 07:51:24 VS LS Racing car on track. 08:08:17 LS Large street with official looking building. VS LS Streets with horses, carriages, and cars. 08:33:12 LS Car with driver rides in a garden towards a house. 09:10:11 Man starts a car. 10:45:23 CU Magazine reads: FORD FOUR-CYLINDER TOURING CAR $850.00 with drawing of car underneath. 11:01:23 LS From above inside factory workers. 11:45:01 VS Parts of a car being put together. 12:06:01 AV of man from behind holding a watch and signaling start. 13:05:27 CU Assembly line hands screwing knobs on a piece of machinery. 13:29:21 LS Assembly lines with wheels and motors. 14:40:09 LS Newly constructed cars driving out of factory. 14:52:06 LS Car arrives in front of house girl jumps with excitement and steps inside car with woman. Man starts car manually and they drive away. 16:02:05 LS Two cars on the verge of an accident (facing each other). Woman in one car raises her hand in alarm. 16:17:23 LS Car driving through mud gets stuck. 16:42:16 LS Workers with horses leveling and building a road. 17:05:18 LS Car driving on asphalt street. 17:06:28 AV of highway and then countryside road. 17:51:27 CU Man in front of directional signs on crossroads: JEFFERSON CITY 28 MILES, DIXONS MILL RT., JONES BOROUGH. 17:58:10 LS Man in hat and bow tie in middle of the intersection next to the signs lifts his hands in a gesture of puzzlement. 18:10:16 MCU Man in a car gives directions. 19:23:03 AV of curvy road with two cars crossing each other. 19:28:29 AV of a car taking sharp turns through mountains. VS Cars driving through mountain landscape. 20:11:06 MCU Mountain with lake in background, family on picnic in foreground. 20:17:05 LS Car in grass in background, women picking flowers in foreground. 20:24:21 Couple napping in car. 20:26:06 LS Group of people on the beach man with picnic basket approaches. 20:44:19 LS Girl and boy running along seashore. 21:21:28 LS Car driving through shallow waters. 21:23:06 LS Car driving through sand. 21:28:10 LS Car driving on snow. 21:29:04 VS Car driving on bridge with train rails in a deep valley. 21:44:16 LS Police officer on motorcycle trying to stop a runaway car. 22:19:25 LS Slope - man between two policemen trying to defend himself. 22:40:10 LS View of factory chimney with smoke coming out. 22:42:03 CU Chimneys with FORD written on them. 22:48:13 CU Top of a chimney with smoke. 22:50:21 CU Liquid, burning metal emanating from chimney. 22:54:13 CU Equipment machinery at work. 23:01:27 AV of factory with workers and large piece of equipment shaping the body of automobiles. CU Pieces of the shaped metal. 23:11:15 LS Line of assembled bodies of automobiles. 23:14:08 LS Assembly line. 23:17:17 LS People assembling car and body. 23:30:21 CU Photograph of man in suit walking out of a house. Montage with animated photographs. 23:56:17 LS Adults and children skating on a lake. 24:28:18 LS Tractor in field. 24:52:13 LS Cars parked in front of a house people saying good-bye. 25:05:13 LS Couple dances. 25:12:03 MCU Man seated in garden with baby sitting on table. LS Baby on grass with mother and father. 25:26:11 LS Old man with two children in a garden digging in the ground. 25:44:21 LS Couple in car (convertible) driving in the snow. 26:13:26 VS Scenes of a camp (tents, men washing faces in bowls of water, men pitching tents, men eating and drinking). 27:15:28 LS Man sitting on a rock washing handkerchief in water. 27:20:27 MCU Men sitting around a round table dishes revolve in center. 31:06:01 LS followed by MCU Traffic sign: BEGIN DETOUR 400 FT. 31:10:07 Camera follows military jeep with two soldiers. 31:22:08 Montage superimposed images. Explosions, tanks shooting, airplane dropping bombs, ship explosion, shots from ship cannons, building on fire, shadow of a man with a cross. 31:44:13 Nuclear explosion, mushroom cloud. 31:56:03 CU Hub cap of tire. 32:08:11 POV From car driving out of highway tunnel. 32:25:02 AV of curling highway patterns. 32:29:20 LS Cars on bridge. 32:38:26 POV Of road from behind right front tire of car. 27:44:18 MCU Two men in suits walking through aisles of factory. 28:13:11 LS Dirty city street (New York City?). VS City traffic. 28:24:22 LS MCU Wealthy woman leaves her house and steps into luxury car. 29:37:24 LS Car being crushed by compactor. 30:16:14 CU Tire spinning quickly. 30:20:24 Montage, super imposed images: couple smiling in car games in an amusement park man dancing the Charleston bottle of wine women on stage in 20's nightclub man lights woman's cigarette sign: BROADWAY, WALL ST. people walking on crowded street cars being loaded CU face of little girl looking out car window. 32:48:25 LS Man on tractor waving. 33:10:02 LS Front of small residential buildings women talking, children playing on street. 33:17:05 LS Children walking out of school onto school bus. 33:44:17 LS Tall buildings and palm trees (camera pans). 34:00:04 LS Sea shore and waves. 34:02:29 Camera pans landscape mountains and clouds in background. Sea and trees in foreground. 34:12:09 POV Road on a bridge pointing to horizon. 34:40:03 Produced under supervision of Office of Public Relations, Ford Motor Company. 14:28:50 09014 14:29:40 Some people might call you a darn fool to leave a fine farm and run off to the city where it was noisy and dirty, where there were pickpockets and swindlers and women who painted their faces 14:32:12 Old-fashioned ladies getting on a roller coaster 14:35:36 The sail-wagon 14:36:37 The 999 first race car (Henry Ford) 14:38:45 The Model T 14:42:14 Early conveyor belt shots - sweat-shop 14:42:20 Wheels 14:42:38 Engines 14:44:06 Young boy at wheel of Model T 14:44:10 Father waves him over 14:44:12 Boy moves over 14:45:02 Car riding slowly over muddy, rutted road (nice shot) 14:48:38 Driving in Sequoia National Park 14:48:41 People feeding bears 14:50:05 Car drives through river 14:50:09 Car drives through snow 14:50:19 Car drives over railroad tracks 14:50:22 Car drives over huge pipe 14:50:28 Car nearly runs over police officer 14:50:34 Car nearly runs over second police officer 14:50:40 Car chased by two policemen on motorcycles 14:50:59 Driver caught by police (on hill) 14:51:04 Car rolls down hill 14:51:11 Man catches up with car and escapes 14:51:28 Ominous factory shots 14:51:35 Lots of smoke 14:51:38 Lots of fire 14:51:42 CU Of engine machinery 14:52:10 Opening family album to old-fashioned black-and-white photos of man outside house 14:52:43 (Henry Ford) Man skates on pond holding a small child (with another child) 14:57:00 Early cars in New York City 14:58:09 Old Model T s 14:58:27 Model T crushed 14:58:34 Model T taken apart 14:59:10 Montage of turning car wheel with roaring twenties images: girls, booze, etc 14:59:20 Roller coaster 14:59:38 1930s Depression montage with car wheel 14:59:58 Begin Detour 400 feet road sign 15:00:14 WWII montage - bombs, planes, etc 40 seconds to Hiroshima! 15:00:20 Car coming out of tunnel POV shot - paean to freeways 15:01:32 POV from back right wheel on 1950s highway 18:25- 27:24 Driving POV (from horse and buggy) we go by an old, white country house (with a porch) in the middle of a rural area. We see some movement of people on the steps. Bare trees in the yard. worth noting: some interesting, short shots of the advent of the automobile and of New York City at the early part of the century ballpark, Coney Island, bicycles and horses. 8:37:15- 8:54:23 We first view a Model A from behind as it approaches a mansion, then cut to the front of it. We view the wealthy man driving it as he makes his way up the house's private drive way where the residents wait to be picked up. 17:15:16- 17:38:00 Long shot of a Model T on a long, skinny road (looks like California -- green hills surrounding the road). It comes to a turn in the road. Ends with nice image of the car coming into the frame. Is this real archival footage? 22:44:22- 22:53:17 Overview of the Ford plant smoke stacks, cylinders, strange structures. Cut to the letters F O R D across the smoke stacks. 28:14:18- 28:31:15 Series of shots of crowded (and chaotic) early city scenes Model T's fill the roads as well as cable cars. People quickly move about the streets. 32:08:28- 32:22:03 Driving POV through a tunnel we see the light at the end of it. We come out of the tunnel onto the California road and see blue sky, cars driving towards us, and the hood of the car. We round a corner. 32:57:03- 33:31:26 Montage of driving POV. First we go by a farmer working on his trailer he waves to us. We then go by a housewife with groceries standing by her station wagon outside her large, white farm house. Next is a group of ladies with baby strollers on a town street, then a child on a bicycle as well as someone waiting at a bus stop on a residential street. Finally we pass a suburban school being let out for the day a school bus waits for them. 33:32:20- 33:46:11 Excellent shot of the silhouette of a driver smoking a cigarette (the camera person shoots from the passenger side). There are clusters of towers outside his window. The sky is blue. 33:46:19- 34:13:26 Series of shots. Starts with driving POV going by long, single level shopping centers. Cut to apartment buildings in either Florida or California, then to a view of ocean, mountains, water, and sky. 34:21:09- 34:43:06 Driving POV along a long bridge. As we approach the middle of the bridge, we see land in the distance.
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