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1920s Farming
Master 3 - Tape 1 B/W documentary-style footage of 1920s agriculture. Man in field uses huge scythe-like object to cut wheat or some other grain. As he cuts (in nice long strokes) an assistant picks up the harvest, strand by strand. Wears hat to protect from sun. Cut to man taking sack of something and slinging it over his shoulder. Harvesting of fields done with Modern Equipment (by 1920s standards). A wheat harvesting machine is attached to a team of horses. The man rides the horses, next to the machines. Several shots of historical agriculture. Man driving horses, men on top of wagon that carries a lot of hay that is pushed onto the wagon by a combine. early motor-driven farm tractors. Various tractors, and other machines that appear to plow, till and harvest. Tractor with load ofhay. Loading hay onto conveyor into truck.
Sheriffs and Deputys - Old West
Master 3 - Tape 1 Cliche TV western footage. Sheriffs and Deputys with cowboy hats go quickly to their horses and mount. One points a finger, as if to say the bad guy went that-a-way. The horses, mounted, ride quickly out of town in pursuit. We see one man (maybe the bad guy; a solitary cowboy, anyway) on a horse come toward the camera and then go up a gorge. The posse comes after him. The posse head has a white hat on. MS they all come to a stop, look around. There appear to be two groups. They look around and then join up with each other to after the lone guy.
Train Robbers
Master 3 - Tape 1 Great shot of old steam train (black smoke) riding fast from left to right. Group of bandits on horseback start to time the train, running alongside. Some gunfire is seen as the bandits shoot at the train. One of the bandits actually gets on the train, starts to climb up. Lots of the other bandits lag behind in the wake.
Saloon Fight
Master 3 - Tape 1 Cowboy on horseback rides hurriedly to the front of a western saloon. He stops his horse and rushes into the bar. (Window in bar has "Saloon" painted in old west lettering, a "closed" sign hangs in front as the guy tries to break his way in anyway.) Another cowboy (with kerchief) takes a chair and smashes it through the window. Then he jumps through the broken window, into the saloon. Fight goes on outside, on the steps. Guys are wrestling, both wearing gun holsters. One wears black hat. Good western action.
Gun Fight in the Old West
Master 3 - Tape 1 Overhead WS of two guys on a dirt road in the middle of an old western town, about to duel. One guy aims and shoots his rifle as the other sort of stumbles forward. He is hit and falls, but then shoots and hits the rifleman. This is kind badly acted so the action is stiff. Another take of the same scene begins but then cuts to a closer shot of the crowd rushing towards the fallen men. CU bearded man lying on ground with gun in his hand, face up, looking dead. But there's no blood. Overhead MS of townspeople runing away from street - chaos. Overhead WS of townspeople carrying both men, assumed dead, off the street.
Series of great shots recreating the Oklahoma Western Migration.
Master 3 - Tape 1 Recreation of the Oklahoma land rush, when homesteaders could squat on the land & make it their own. Campy exaggerated shots. Opens with a covered wagon train flanked by happy, running people. Good color. Families go by: little girls in bonnets, raising their hands. One of the wagons is filled with people and a huge bass fiddle. Man in a top hat side by side with man in a stetson. Lots of people on horseback go by camera. A crowd rushes straight toward the camera. A lone man on a pennyfarthing bicycle. CU of running feet, horse's legs and wagon wheels. Lots of horses feet. DS on more bass fiddle and people running. Sign on wagon: "The Old West Still Lives SEPTEMBER 16, 1893." Men and women on horseback follow.
Cattle Stampede chases men through street
Master 3 - Tape 1 A group of cowboys and townspeople come from a distance and run into a sparsely set-up western town. A stampede of angry cattle follow behind them. Something went wrong and made the cattle angry. Hold on to your hats. Out of control, Rushing, Panic, Retreat.
Land rush footage. West Migration
Master 3 - Tape 1 Land rush footage. CU of man's feet, and a sack of grain. Starts to run. Feet and horse hooves pass by camera in a rush. Cu Camera tracks excited happy young man on horseback as he gallops along. Has very cheesy, poorly painted on beard/mutton chops. Shaky MCU husband (with beard) and wife homesteaders driving a covered facing camera. Man has the reins, urges the horses on. She points to something. Lone man on a pennyfarthing bicycle rides toward camera and falls, crashing to the ground (blooper). Low angle shot of homesteaders rushing past camera. More CUs of people now walking calmly past camera. Lone guy on the pennyfarthing bicycle again. This time he makes it past the camera. Overhead shot of a main street in a small town lined with people. Man on a pennyfarthing bicycle with a cigar rides through street and then dismounts. A guy in a very early automobile is behind him. Could be a parade of sorts. CU low angle shots of Middle-aged women in colorful bonnets, bearded man in stetson passing by. Several more shots of the lone guy on a pennyfarthing bicycle riding towards the camera.
Native Americans
Master 3 - Tape 1 Dramatic shot of Native American Chief closeup, against blue sky with billowing clouds. Profile at first, chief lowers his head a bit. Colorful beads on the headband He looks up at camera. Weathered, leathery face. Holds a staff with feather hanging down. CU horse also decked out in colorful attire. Full headdress on chief. Middle-aged, Native American women on horseback, with two feathers in headbands. Native American children (one 10 or so, the other under 2) together in colorful regalia looking at the camera. Nice shot of chief from the front carrying staff full of feathers. Headdresses against blue sky. Different horses (some white) with multi-colored decorations. Papoose falling asleep. Mountain landscape: mountain, small lake, reflections of trees, snow. Landscapes. Beauty shots. Tepees, blowing smoke, most of this looks staged for tourists, but is still powerful.
Chicago Voting, 1950s
Master 3 - Tape 1 Great coverage of election day in Chicago, Illinois, 1950s--the golden age of machine politics; great footage for the 1960 elections. Good footage of African-American voters.
1956 Chevy Ad
Master 3 - Tape 1 Animated commercial for 1956 Chevrolet. Opens with Chevy logo. Kids scratch their heads, confused. Plays like a children's story: ONCE UPON A TIME, A FAMILY WANTED A NEW CAR..." Done with rebuses. Cuts to live action footage of 1956 Chevy going down mountain roads, real nice. "Better, safer, driving control." Shows how it is able to take corners. Ends with more simple animation. "Find it at your Chevy dealer now."
Desoto Commercial
Master 3 - Tape 1 B/W commercial, 1953 or 1954. Tracking shot of Groucho Marx driving his white DeSoto down the street, on vacation from You Bet Your Life. Groucho, sitting like the host on his TV show, says, "It's a great car, now I'd like to show you some movies they made at my house...) Groucho showing how the power steering works by pushing the steering wheel around; "See, just one finger," and he points it in the air. He then demonstrates the power brakes, pushing his wing-tip shoes softly on the pedal. CU on automatic transmission symbols, as the gear shift is put from Neutral into Drive. At the end he says: "Tell them Groucho sent you." The Plymouth DeSoto logo then appears, with a new voice over. Groucho then opens up the middle of a DeSoto symbol and speaks through it like a porthole. Map of U.S. at end, with logo over it saying "The best of Groucho..."
Rambler Car Ad
Master 3 - Tape 2 Jack Gilford (from the Cracker Jack commercials) and Mason Adams (from "Lou Grant") combine here in an interesting if odd commercial for the Rambler. It has a "pick up a buddy" theme--buying a Rambler means buying a friend. A c.1961 Rambler pulls into a gas station; the driver gets out of the car; the attendant says, "You take regular, right?" And thus a conversation about Ramblers begins. Also a talking car theme, with the gullible gas station attendant listening to the car, waiting for it to talk.Owner says "I didn't just buy a car when I bought a Ramble, I bought a friend for life." He puts his cheek to the car frame and says "what a buddy" (it looks as strange as it sounds). The attendent puts his hand to his ear "Can I hear him?" and the owner says now you gotta buy one of your own, "Go to a Rambler dealer and pick out one...they practically give them away, those great guys. They're saints, those Rambler dealers. Saints."
Our World with Stars
Master 3 - Tape 2 Cheesy clay animated model of earth from space. Blue earth turns in space, behind a field of stars. Fun, wonderfully colorful 1950s camp. Camera starts zoomed all the way in to blue ocean part of globe and then slowly pulls out as the globe spins. The continents are kind of a muddy brown, white space clouds (?!) appear in stars.
Ozark Playgrounds
Master 3 - Tape 2 Opens with a very cheesy title card reading OZARK PLAYGROUNDS, surrounded by green leaves and pine cones. Then strange dollar bills (ozarks dollars), like play money, start to fall free-floating in space in front of the sign. Suddenly, there is a huge pile of dollar bills.
Elephant Runs Past Camera
Master 3 - Tape 2 Four elephants run out of the woods toward the camera, as if on cue. One of them actually runs up to and past the camera. Kind of dark, hard to make out.
Cliche Cowboy in Sunset
Master 3 - Tape 2 Wonderful cliched low-angle shot of a cowboy in silhouette (against a dark blue-ish sky with sunset) riding his horse toward the camera, stopping, waving his cowboy hat, turning round, and riding back away from camera. Very blue dark dusk sky with some remaining sunlight through clouds. Really nice.
Gold Prospector
Master 3 - Tape 2 A prospector (49er, probably, or just a gold digger) is ankle-deep in a mountain stream panning for gold with what looks like a tin plate. He wears a plaid shirt, blue jeans, hat. Brings water int pan and swishes it around. CU of swishing tin pan, hand reaches in and explores for a few nuggets. Doesn't seem to find any. Gold mining. panning for gold.
Old West: Cowboy on horseback on top of hill....
Master 3 - Tape 2 Old West: WS Cowboy on horseback on top of hill. Stopped at peak of hill. Slowly starts to angle down the hill, step by step. Nice blue big sky. Appears that the guy is looking for something, somebody.
Old West Saloon
Master 3 - Tape 2 Great, cliche western. WS of men and women of the old west gathered in a large tavern or saloon, having fun. Playing music, playing cards, looking at pretty women. A friendly looking women in a long flowing dress mingles with some of the cowboys and then sits down with the band. People play guitar, bass fiddle. Nice chandelier overhead. Good scene.
Couple Drive Covered Wagon (Land Rush)
Master 3 - Tape 2 MS-MWS Pioneering couple on buckboard of covered wagon, leading a team of horses. Wildly colorful, a little campy and overenthusiastic. The man really lets the horse have it with a crack of the whip and a pull on the reins. They're rushing, hurrying, going faster, a little manic.
Rodeo - Calf Roping
Master 3 - Tape 2 WS two cowboys come out of the gate on horseback chasing a calf that is in between them. They don't catch it. Nice big blue sky.
Cycolac
Master 3 - Tape 2 Colorful CU of pink telephone receivers being cut apart after being molded. CU gloved hands cutting receivers from mold. Vo describes how there is little waste and everything is reused - worker tosses scrap into bin. MS woman working in the Western Electric plant. Woman takes the dial units of the phone, puts them on moving overhead conveyors. Camera pans as phone casings are floating in various directions overhead (great). "This is the story of Cycolac..." and we see beautifully colored plastic beads inside laboratory beakers. Trade show display: "TOUGH, HARD, RIGID", it says. Animation of these words, flashing on and off. Quick shot of typewriter. Animated chart. CU production workers. Telephone falls off table (doesn't break, durability). Then we see that this film has been watched on a little monitor by men in an office. Man enters, "I'm sorry, Bob, you're busy, I'll be back later.." But they gather anyway and talk plastics. Men having a business meeting, sales meeting.
Death Spa - Opening Credits
Master 31 - Tape 1 : Death Spa - Opening Credits for 35mm theatrical feature.