| To Men of Earth | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | |
| Catalog #: | 494704 | |
| Clip Number: | 494704-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | WPA 1762 | |
| Timecode: | ||
| Location: | Various | |
| Year Shot: | ||
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | ENTERTAINMENT/FICTION FILMS: Science Fiction | |
| Description: | B&W & Color ON PREVIEW CASSETTE # 210210 This is a peculiar home movie with an obvious sci-fi / paranormal bent. Constructed from newsreels and home movies, the earnest director of this quasi-fiction film sought to present a displaced, almost cynical, view of life on earth (as seen through the eyes of curious aliens about to descend upon the poor unsuspecting planet). Some very bad and utterly forgettable moments ensue. Bad, shaky, occasionally out of focus shots of the cosmos, the earth, and orbiting spaceships. Soft focus color MS's male and female teenagers dressed as "aliens" sitting in cockpit of their "spaceship" (a red hued room with TV screens and various electronic knickknacks). The VO says that life on earth is an evolutionary experiment, the pieces this theory out. Color LS's landscapes (sunsets, oceans, mountains, etc), intercut with excerpts from a B&W science fiction film involving flying saucers and aliens abducting humans and a clunky B&W B.C. film about "dinosaurs" (actually, reptiles fighting it to the death on a miniature set made out to be a prehistoric wasteland silly). Color LS/MS's lions, giraffes, wildebeest, elephants, and rhinos on display in a wild animal refuge. MS's seagulls, whooping cranes, peacocks, parrots, flamingo, Japanese carp and seals B&W MS's African tribesmen rowing, shooting arrows, dancing at ceremony. Color LS's commercial jets taking off, in flight. Color LS's luxury homes and yachts in Miami; LS apartment tower in Miami. VO calls attention to paradoxes of living standards, though not explicitly showing them... Color LS red USAF rocket taking off, in flight (seems to be a prototype of a remote-controlled missile). Color LS's pollution spewing from factory smokestacks (sickly plumes of silver & purple filling air). Shaky shots of garbage in ditch (might be part of a landfill)... 1913, inauguration of WOODROW WILSON, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT accompanying him. Early 1900s, MS's crowds waving American flags at parade... shaky color shots of churches and Christian-themed statuary in the SW US. VO points out foolishness of nationalism & peculiar pursuit of idealistic religious endeavor... World War One battle scenes, day & night: trenches, explosions, infantry charges, tanks, officers inspecting, soldiers away from the front, Russian soldiers eating at snowy camp, then folk dancing; soldiers walking atop large pile of debris. Cut to blown out tLS's Chief Justice WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT swearing in President HERBERT HOOVER. Cut to excerpt from early USAF bombing display as arranged by Billy Mitchell (biplanes drop bombs on targets in water). Cut to LS's H-Bomb explosions... Color LS SETI satellite dish. Color LS's USS Vanguard. B&W MS's small ground satellite dish. Funny (cuz it's so bad) color shots of "flying saucers" in flight (hubcaps and such hanging from fishing line). MS's USAF officers (including Air Force Intelligence Director General Sandford) speaking at press briefings. Color LS's scenics (buttes, forest, mountains, sunsets, autumn foliage, etc). Great B&W LS/MS's volcano erupting, spewing clouds of ash and gas, hot lava rocks tumbling down rock-face. B&W LS's flooded Midwestern town, waters raging... NYC, early 1900s, traveling shot along street littered with carriages, trolleys, pedestrians and one automobile. 1922, LS across water of Smyrna, Turkey, burning. Fuzzy, dark shots of aftermath of San Francisco earthquake, 1906 (general destruction, rubble, people walking along devastated streets). Color stop motion of clouds moving across sky in Miami, palm trees in BG. Color MS's coastal houses destroyed by hurricane... still of the moon, Sea of Tranquility. More shots of "aliens" in cockpit of "craft". MS/LS of famous and not-so famous blunders in aviation history, 1910-20s: small motor-powered & man-powered planes of every shape and design, including one possessing a gas-inflated balloon. Montage of dirigibles like the Roma and the Hindenburg; shots of disasters, explosions & aftermath; some successful flights are shown. MS's ORVILLE & WILBUR WRIGHT wheeling plane from French hangar, starting propellers, taking off; good CU's, too. MS/LS's USAF WWI pilots pushing French plane from hangar, onto airfield; MS/CU pilots (Eddie Rickenbacker) leaning against biplane fighter. Newsreel of US airmail service (inauguration ceremony?): MS's plane, man placing letter into mail sack, President WOODROW WILSON shaking hands with pilot. MS/LS's CHARLES LINDBERGH boarding Spirit of St. Louis, taking off. MS AMELIA EARHART, leaning against plane, smiling into camera. LS/MS's experimental commercial & military jets in flight, including one plane speeding for a landing but is suddenly sent into a fatal spiral, crashing & exploding on ground. LS's military bombers and cargo planes in flight. Color home movie shots of a rocket club meeting in the desert to launch small homemade missiles. B&W LS of a failed V-2 launch, the rocket falling to the ground and exploding. Color MS sign: White Sands Proving Ground Ordnance Department; LS failed V-2 rocket experiment, the missiles veering after launch, exploding on ground. LS successful rocket test. Very colorful shots launch pads, military bomber in flight and launching propulsion rocket. Color LS's desert area, Organ Mountains in BG. Home movie of White Sands Missile range and signs. CU/MS's scientists working in NASA lab. MS's DAN FRY, wearing short-sleeve plaid shirt, sitting at desk of home; he wipes sweat from face, leaves house. VO says aliens have chosen Fry as their intermediary. Lucky guy. | |
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