All Films

What Makes a Fine Watch Fine?

1947 • 21 min • United States of America

What Makes a Fine Watch Fine visits Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a guided tour of the Hamilton Watch Company Factory. The film focuses on the design Hamilton pocket watches, wrist watches, and clocks as well as the work of its employees.

The Balance

1947 • 9 min • United Kingdom

A documentary about how trading goods with the rest of the world works to help the UK economy after WWII.

The Hare and the Tortoise

1947 • 11 min

A retelling of Aesop's fable.

Dining Together

1947 • 10 min

Educational short teaching children proper table manners over Thanksgiving dinner

Duties Of A Secretary

1947 • 30 min • United States of America

A young woman starts a new job as a secretary for a realtor. At first she struggles, but she really hits her stride with the McDonald letter and its several enclosures.

Rivers of the Pacific Slope

1947 • 11 min

The Columbia, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Colorado river systems.

The Secretary's Day

1947 • 11 min • United States of America

Compares daily activities of a secretary with those of a stenographer.

The Mighty Columbia River

1947 • 10 min

Hydroelectric power, shipping, irrigation and salmon fishing.

Trading Centers of the Pacific Coast

1947 • 11 min

The Pacific Rim at the start of the air age.

Table Manners

1947 • 10 min • United States of America

Emily Post narrates this traditionally minded film.

What Is Money?

1947 • 11 min

Following the journey of a five-dollar bill through many transactions, the film shows how money functions as a standard of value and future payment, a storehouse of value and a convenient medium of exchange.

The 26 Old Characters

1947 • 22 min

Development of writing and writing tools throughout history.

Just Imagine

1947 • 10 min

Animated character "Tommy Telephone" produces a telephone by assembling 433 separate parts.

In My Beginning

1947 • 20 min • Australia

'A colour sound film funded by the Koornong School in Warrandyte, Victoria. Produced to promote awareness of the school’s activities, in particular its cooperative approach to school management, the film illustrates the traditional left ideal of collective action and again deploys the rural ideal which provides a response to the problems depicted in A Place to Live and These are Our Children. Scenes include the collective building of the school, a meeting of the school’s ‘bully committee’ to discuss students’ problems, and various activities where the emphasis is on groups of people working together. The school is located in what was a rural landscape outside Melbourne and the film shows exercise, learning and craft work in this locale as particularly wholesome activities.' (Deane Williams)

Grief, a Peril in Infancy

1947 • 35 min • United States of America

This film shows the effect upon infants of prolonged absence of the mother. A number of babies in a foundling home are shown. The film indicates that among infants under a year old, if the mother returns after an interval of fewer than three months, their recovery is rapid. If the absence is prolonged beyond this period, it becomes impossible to achieve contact with them, and they become passive and apathetic and begin to suffer damage to their personalities. The film suggests that it is the emotional climate provided by the mother that allows the child's mind to develop normally.

The More We Get Together No. 4

1947 • 9 min • Canada

Three songs: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, Rock-A-Bye Baby, One More River to Cross, and the piano exercise Chopsticks, illustrated by animated figures.

Burns and Scalds

1947 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Hard-hitting depiction of the danger to children of burns and scalds.

Accident Injury Prevention

1947 • 5 min • United States of America

Part of the “Flight Safety” series of animated shorts commissioned by the U.S. Air Force at the end of World War II. This one shows viewers how a Navy pilot’s cavalier attitude to training and safety lead to his fatal plane crash. The film opens with a fighter jet crash landing in the desert. The pilot, “Mr. Smith,” is killed in the crash. An investigative journalist interviews people who knew Smith, and everyone commented about how they knew him as “Indestructible Smith,” which lead to his disregard for safety precautions.

The Power of the Blood

1947 • 22 min • United States of America

Explains the scientific background and Biblical teaching about blood.

Monsieur Badin

1947 • 13 min • France

Based on the short story by Georges Courteline. The story of Monsieur Badin, a model employee who can't bring himself to go to the office and suffers as a result. He can no longer live under these conditions, and to better endure this tedious chore, he needs a raise.

A Day at the Fair

1947 • 10 min • United States of America

A family goes to the local fair to compete with their livestock & produce.

Fiddle De-Dee

1947 • 3 min • Canada

A film fantasy of dancing music and dancing color. Listen to the Mocking Bird played by an oldtime fiddler, brilliant patterns ripple, flow, flicker and blend. A Norman McLaren painting on film, translates sound into sight.

Polka Graph

1947 • 4 min • United States of America

Short film by Mary Ellen Bute

Frente a Frente com os Xavantes

1947 • 33 min • Brazil

An adventure in the jungles of Roncador, marking the historic encounter with the fearsome Xavantes.