Summary

LEVITTOWN - THE MIRACLE CITY

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: LEVITTOWN - THE MIRACLE CITY
File Number: DN-DB-014 Beta SP; DigiBeta (at FAS)
Color: Color
Type: Documentary
Year: 01/01/1950
Subjects: Aerials
Description: Color 1950s Levittown, Pennsylvania promotional film The 1950s suburbanites who make the model community of Levittown their home relax, engage in sports and leisure, happily maintain their homes and property and raise their children Many shots of classic single family-homes of the era, along with their patios, driveways, manicured lawns and flower beds As one would expect, Levittown is filmed lovingly, as a utopian, sterile City of the Future Mysteriously, the VO narration is in Russian Excellent film 00:50:40:00 Color 1950s The circuited grid of Levittown, POV AV also at 1:00:14 00:51:12:00 Color 1950s Women wade with their small children in kiddy swimming pool 00:51:22:00 Color 1950s Car backs out of driveway, woman waves goodbye and blows a kiss from front lawn 00:51:31:00 Color 1950s Women and their small children relax on patio 00:51:47:00 Color 1950s Baby sits in grass on front lawn of house 00:51:52:00 Color 1950s Woman washes her car in the driveway: she scrubs windshield of car, and scrubs the CAM, soapy water drips down lens - as if POV car 00:52:01:00 Color 1950s Woman kisses her two children goodbye, the brother and sister hold hands as they walk down driveway holding briefcase-style school bags, wave goodbye to mother 00:52:30:00 Color 1950s Well-kept street, no cars, WS, houses in BG car on street slows and stops at mergence, houses in BG 00:52:40:00 Color 1950s Levittown houses, POV moving car 00:52:53:00 Color 1950s Levittown street scene: woman and children walk down sidewalk past children playing on lawn, houses on the other side of the street in BG, HA 00:53:05:00 Color 1950s Suburbanites tend to their gardens and lawns: man pushes electric lawn mower woman waters flower bed with garden hose woman cuts flowers from flower box beneath trellis pergola at 0:51:01, man does gardening yard work WS, distant 00:53:28:00 Color 1950s A little league baseball game, VS 00:53:42:00 Color 1950s Beach club sports club poolside scenes: woman ascends ladder to diving board, ZO through lifesaver life preserver inscribed with Levittown, PA swimmers in swimming pool divers dive off diving boards of various heights man standing in swimming pool converses with woman reclining on the poolside pavement little girl wades in swimming pool 00:54:31:00 Color 1950s People exit a cold, modern church (?) building outside, a few people confer over a clipboard EXT WS other church building, VS 00:55:21:00 Color 1950s Dentist examines patient 00:55:32:00 Color 1950s Nurse carries baby over to its mother in waiting room of pediatrician's office, baby smiles, looks as if about to laugh Good Humor ice cream truck and ice cream man waving to the camera great but short shot 00:55:48:00 Color 1950s Architect's office: men sit at drafting tables covered by blueprints man with pointer stands in front of blueprint plan of housing development on wall, it says Levittown on top CU architect's technical drawing of a typical Levittown house 00:57:25:00 Color 1950s A perfect little strip mall shopping center, spotlessly clean plaza with trees, benches and lampposts separate tiers of stores CAM ascends in an unusual, slow crane shot 00:57:55:00 Color 1950s Home INT: three woman sit around and laugh in slightly gaudy living room - orange couch, blue carpet 00:58:07:00 Color 1950s Home INT: friends sit around in living room, one person wheels over a bar cart service cart and pours drinks from pitcher 00:58:21:00 Color 1950s Home INT: boys sit around read in sparsely decorated, wood-panelled room, mother comes in and serves them drinks from tray boys drink from cups 00:58:54:00 Color 1950s Levittown housing development under construction, VS 00:59:10:00 Color 1950s EXT various models of Levittown houses, VS good quaint shots 00:59:32:00 Color 1950s A woman and two children walk down sidewalk, up driveway and into their house, EWS JMR
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