Opportunities Unlimited

1950s part-animated film about the middle-income consumer in the 1950s. Nice animation illustrating patterns and habits of post-war consumption. 10:19:24:02 Cartoon of 1950s man in suit pushes wheelbarrow up to a market, food appears in wheelbarrow, then clothing store, clothes appear in the wheelbarrow John Jones builders, a house appears in the wheelbarrow, furniture and appliances store, autos. Nice little animation about post-war American consumption. 10:23:31:14 CU cartoon sign for the U.S. Bureau of Economic Stability, pan down to two doors open to cartoon factory machine, pan up factory machine to various signs: credit control, Inflation choke (her machine gauges look like eyes and mouth and exhaust looks like it is shooting out of machines ears), Deflation Valve. 10:25:54:16 MS door opens to show cartoon man wearing suit and hat holding a sack of money smiling, zoom in on smiling man’s face. 10:26:10:05 Jam-packed city square with text “Expanding Population” superimposed over shot, probably New York City; VS 1950s people walking up sidewalk, Stern’s Department store in background; heavy sidewalk traffic near East 54th St.; heavy human traffic on streets in New York City 1950s, Nedick’s restaurant in background. 10:26:47:13 Pan over 1950s canned food products without brand names: Luncheon Meat, Boned Chicken, Chopped Meats, Orange Juice, Pressure Container, Cake Mix, Soluble Coffee; VS inside supermarket 1950s. 10:27:11:06 Aerial of huge highway stacked interchange; VS construction workers laying concrete for new highway; 1950s cars on highway passing underneath overpass; VS from car on highway in 1950s. 10:28:08:21 1950s housewife wearing apron in kitchen plugs in toaster oven, text “Opportunity- Re-Wiring The Home” superimposed briefly over shot, woman presses button down on another electrical appliance and the power goes out leaving the room dark; silhouette of man in dark house lights lighter, MS angry face of husband yelling it wife illuminated by light from lighter. 10:29:06:14 CU sign “No Parking This Side”; fire hydrant; tracking shot 1950s parked cars along side of urban street; CU sign “Keep Driveway Clear”; aerial of huge arch bridge; pan over concrete frames of building on construction site for housing project; yellow Jefferson County School bus drives past concrete Library building. 10:29:24:26 Pan over chemistry lab equipment, CU scientist looks at glass slide, text superimposed “Opportunity- New Products”. 10:29:34:05 Aerial of large 1950s jet plane, probably Boeing plane. 10:29:37:05 CU 1950s modern stove top automatically flips 180 degrees and becomes part of smooth counter surface. 10:29:39:26 LS man lying in hospital bed with sheet covering him up to his waist; large machine swivels over man’s body, looks like a machine for medical radiation. 10:29:44:08 Scientist in lab coat walks through restricted door to Radioactive Materials Laboratory; VS scientists working in laboratory 10:29:55:10 VS huge hall filled with hundreds of engineers working at drafting tables. 10:30:15:05 LS suburbia, text superimposed “Opportunity The Suburbs”; VS suburban tract housing; construction workers building suburban homes; modern suburban home made of concrete blocks 10:30:56:07 VS teacher leading classroom with pointer at the blackboard, teacher points to concentric rings drawn in chalk, superimposed text “Opportunity- Education”; crowd of over 100 school children walking up stair into museum-like building with roman columns, The N.C.R Auditorium (Dayton, Ohio); students in graduation gowns walking up steps into auditorium passing between the Roman columns 10:31:25:29 Pan over packed huge circular public pool, text superimposed “Opportunity- Leisure Time.” 10:31:30:35 1950s workers leaving factory walking past camera. 10:31:38:04 Man working in textile factory producing sheets of red and orange material. 10:31:47:25 MS man fishing in stream, man picks fish up out of stream in net 10:31:59:07 VS CU engineers working on technical drawing; large architect or engineer with almost his entire body on the draft table drawing 10:32:12:14 MS man wearing protective mask welding; men working on assembly line. 10:32:15:17 1950s futuristic prototype of car in showroom 10:32:19:27 Aerial of plane making sharp turn peeling away from camera down toward clouds. 10:32:27:06 Great tracking shot on narrow bridge leading up to truss bridge; VS construction sites and construction workers, airport construction site; aerial of airport