| Family Affair | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | 963 |
| Catalog #: | 493086 | |
| Clip Number: | 493086-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | WPA 388 | |
| Timecode: | ||
| Location: | N/A | |
| Year Shot: | 1955 (Actual Year) | |
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | COMMUNICATIONS: Telephone | |
| Description: | Made by Western Electric, this film promotes the use of the telephone in a 1950s house. Zoom into cartoon aerial of neighborhood; houses with expressions on their faces: happy, sad, angry, loud. Interior views in cartoon style, dissolve to live footage. Color is a little faded. Interior of house, tracking shot through rooms, to end up with tilt to phone on desk in the study. Phone rings, and a woman doing laundry in basement looks up in annoyance. Husband on other end in business suit. He's forgotten his glasses, and they have a friendly chat. Daughter comes in, asks about shortening her dress, and kisses mom goodbye for school. 01:03:30 husband fusses over his pregnant wife in kitchen, threatening to cook her breakfast. Phone rings, and he has to go all over the house to answer it, getting tangled in the cord. "I wish we had a telephone in every room in the house," says the wife. Indeed. Woman wakes up in bed, telephone rings in background, another woman answers it. Lots and lots of footage of family types on the phone. Good condition but the color, alas, has faded. Best feature: cameo by a very young Steve McQueen (on the phone) as a sailor at 01:08:08. Pot boils over on stove, 01:10:02. Paper working Dad figure at desk answers phone and hands it to his teenage daughter. Woman in bed wakes up, thinks she hears the phone ringing, goes to it and answers "Hello, hello." Then menacing music causes her to lock the door and look about fearfully. 01:16:28 pregnant woman wakes up, "I think you'd better call Dr. Gage," bringing about slapstick action of husband with the inconveniently located phone. 01:19:40 nice old passenger plane landing, our Sailor Steve goes to phone booth and makes call after looking hard for his nickel. More phone play. Steve shows up with a bunch of flowers. CU crying baby on changing table, hand putting bottles in sterilizer. CU modern (1950s) phone, housewife, answers phone in kitchen. Sailor Steve says, "Hey, we can get married." Woman answers phone in basement, man at desk. CU daughter in typical phone-mad teenager pose, lying face down on bed. Cast list at 01:26:50: J. Pat O'Malley, William Redfield, Genevieve Frizzell, Elaine Joyce, Beverly Dennis, Phyllis Wynn and Stephen McQueen. | |
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