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This 1951 color sponsored film created by Raphael G. Wolff Studios of Hollywood for General Electric Company (GE) and the U.S. Public Health Service makes dramatic use of popular music and montage to stress the importance of clean water, the increasing demands on the water supply of U.S. citizens, and the necessity of supporting waterworks developments (TRT:24:36).

Opening titles: “A More Power to America Presentation, Technical Supervision by General Electric in cooperation with The United States Public Health Service, Pipeline to the Clouds” (0:06). Montage: A stream, snowy mountaintops, melting ice, a rushing waterfall, rocky coastline, a mill (0:34). Snatches of popular songs romanticise water. A young lovers share a kiss by “The Old Mill Stream.” A steampowered riverboat on the “Swanee,” etc. Moonlight on a waterfront (1:22). The Mayan temple of Chichén Itzá, a stone carving (2:44). Buckets are filled with water. A showerhead. A faucet pours into an overflowing glass. A girl drinks (3:03). Aerial photography of cloudy skies. A cutaway illustration of a residential home highlights a water heater, a kitchen sink, a toilet, a bathtub, with pipes running out under city streets. A water treatment plant, an aqueduct, a reservoir (3:32). Montage of clouds, thunderstorms. Animation of raindrops running to streams, sinking into the ground, startling a cartoon worm (4:12:). Water is taken up by corn, a tree in continued animation. Grass evaporates water. A lake’s water level lowers (5:05). The sun is depicted heating water, which forms a cloud (6:01). A hydroelectric dam, a man watering his lawn, sprinklers with children at play, golfers, washing a car, a child taking a bath, a woman swimmer in a bathing cap, a public pool filled, empty (6:37). A sign: “Swimming Pool Closed, Water Shortage.” A radio announcer speaks of a drought. A restaurant: “Sorry… Water Served Only on Request!” and other signs imploring, “Save Water” (7:27). A man in an undershirt reads a headline: “Water Situation Critical.” A surly man washing his car is reprimanded by a Police Officer (8:15). Men punch timecards. A farmer examines dry soil. An abandoned boat (8:39). Animation of “water famine” (9:00). A well with running water. A shower is installed. A father waves to a child in a hospital maternity ward (9:39). Suburban tract housing. A washing machine, a garbage disposal, a dishwasher (10:19). Banners advertise air conditioning: “Cooled by Refrigeration” (10:42). Aerial photography of industrial factories. A gas pump. A plate of food. Dressing a baby (11:00). Paper making. Canning. Woolen cloth. A steelworks. A cement factory (11:32). Irrigation canals, sprinklers (12:10). A smouldering forest after a burn, silt (12:37). A polluted stream (13:05). An animated treatment plant supplies a city (13:14). Stream fishing. A waterfall. A flood. Headlines: “Three Towns Doomed.” A car drives through flood waters (13:39). Waterworks engineers, surveyors. A truck hauls gravel. Turning a valve in silhouette. A girl uses a drinking fountain (14:22). Replanting. Wilderness lakes. Pumping groundwater. A reservoir fills with water. Reclaimed water irrigates crops (15:13). A plane uses dry ice to seed clouds (15:54). Pollution. A gutter pours into a barrel. Rain. A chemist in a laboratory tests water (16:19). Purification montage (17:00). An animated diagram illustrates the process of chlorination, clarification, filtration (17:20). Laying pipeline for new homes. A water meter reader takes a reading. Chemists at work (18:46). Inside a waterworks. A power substation. An electric switchboard, motors, pumps (19:31). The U.S. Capitol with the seal of the Public Health Service overlaid. Titles call for “3000 New Treatment Plants, 9000 Wells and Well Pumps, 8000 Water Storage Tanks, 45000 Miles of Water Pipe” (20:04). A girl in a crib receives a midnight drink. Firefighters douse a blaze. Waterworks men review a map (20:50). A campaign sign: “We Can’t Wait 5 to 10 Years for Water, Vote No” (21:38). Native American cliff dwellings. A man on horseback traverses a barren plain to the tune “Cool Water” (22:45). Review of previous scenes. End titles (24:17).


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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com