It's hard to understand why this movie was made in 1951. It is obviously a public service announcement (propaganda piece) that was made for some reason.
The movie is made up of eight vignettes whose only commonality seems to be that America is a diverse country. While this notion seems hackneyed to us today, it must have had a reason to be made back then. One wonders if it was made for adult audiences or just for elementary school children. In any case, it is interesting to see what the public thought of as diversity in 1951 and how it was portrayed.
The vignettes display several nationalities and ethnic groups whom American WASPS seem to be just discovering, as if they never knew these groups were also Americans. The celebrities in this film seem to be telling us how diverse American is and doing it with platitudes. If nothing else, this film is quaint by today's standards.
---There is a segment with Marjorie Main (as herself) meeting one of her deceased son's army buddies. At first, she seemed put off by the fact that his buddy (Keefe Brasselle) is Jewish (though the word is never used).
After talking to him a while, she wants to write to his mother to let her know what a fine boy she thought he was. The apparent anti-Semitism of the 40s and 50s in America is something I can't personally relate to. However, it must have occurred since it crops up so often in the movies of that period: For example: Gentleman's Agreement and Crossfire.
----Garry Cooper does a humorous piece about Texas--the biggest of the 48 states at the time—and how Texas is no different than any other state. While he describes Texas and Texans as just like any other state, the clips in the background show just the opposite.
----In another vignette, S.Z. Sakall plays the role of a widowed Hungarian with five daughters. He tells his daughters that he hates Greeks. When asked why, he says that Hungarians just hate Greeks. When his eldest daughter (Janet Leigh) is given a ride by a Greek (Gene Kelly) they soon fall in love, and the two families learn to like each other.
----In presenting stories about the diversity of America in the 50s, the movie fails to show us stories about American Indians or Asian Americans. Evidently, such was what American diversity did NOT include in 1950.
To me, the most interesting segment of the movie was the one featuring American Negroes (for that would have been the correct term at the time). Yet, the term, 'Negro' is never uttered in the cluster of newsreels shown---with a congratulatory narration about these "great Americans."
What we IS shown are the contributions made by great Americans such as: Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Marion Anderson (singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial), and entertainers such as Lois Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, etc.
The reason this segment was interesting to me is that there is no cute little story to be told here: Just newsreels and monuments. The American audience had not yet reached the point where blacks and whites could be seen interacting with each other (on anything like an equal basis) in the same little story.
Why? Because there were no such little stories like this--in any part of the country--at that time. I don't say this to put down the film. I only say it because it was TRUE. And, if nothing else, it demonstrates how far we have come since the film was made.
The film was dull but (in a way) interesting as a time capsule for the period in when it was made.
The movie is made up of eight vignettes whose only commonality seems to be that America is a diverse country. While this notion seems hackneyed to us today, it must have had a reason to be made back then. One wonders if it was made for adult audiences or just for elementary school children. In any case, it is interesting to see what the public thought of as diversity in 1951 and how it was portrayed.
The vignettes display several nationalities and ethnic groups whom American WASPS seem to be just discovering, as if they never knew these groups were also Americans. The celebrities in this film seem to be telling us how diverse American is and doing it with platitudes. If nothing else, this film is quaint by today's standards.
---There is a segment with Marjorie Main (as herself) meeting one of her deceased son's army buddies. At first, she seemed put off by the fact that his buddy (Keefe Brasselle) is Jewish (though the word is never used).
After talking to him a while, she wants to write to his mother to let her know what a fine boy she thought he was. The apparent anti-Semitism of the 40s and 50s in America is something I can't personally relate to. However, it must have occurred since it crops up so often in the movies of that period: For example: Gentleman's Agreement and Crossfire.
----Garry Cooper does a humorous piece about Texas--the biggest of the 48 states at the time—and how Texas is no different than any other state. While he describes Texas and Texans as just like any other state, the clips in the background show just the opposite.
----In another vignette, S.Z. Sakall plays the role of a widowed Hungarian with five daughters. He tells his daughters that he hates Greeks. When asked why, he says that Hungarians just hate Greeks. When his eldest daughter (Janet Leigh) is given a ride by a Greek (Gene Kelly) they soon fall in love, and the two families learn to like each other.
----In presenting stories about the diversity of America in the 50s, the movie fails to show us stories about American Indians or Asian Americans. Evidently, such was what American diversity did NOT include in 1950.
To me, the most interesting segment of the movie was the one featuring American Negroes (for that would have been the correct term at the time). Yet, the term, 'Negro' is never uttered in the cluster of newsreels shown---with a congratulatory narration about these "great Americans."
What we IS shown are the contributions made by great Americans such as: Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Marion Anderson (singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial), and entertainers such as Lois Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, etc.
The reason this segment was interesting to me is that there is no cute little story to be told here: Just newsreels and monuments. The American audience had not yet reached the point where blacks and whites could be seen interacting with each other (on anything like an equal basis) in the same little story.
Why? Because there were no such little stories like this--in any part of the country--at that time. I don't say this to put down the film. I only say it because it was TRUE. And, if nothing else, it demonstrates how far we have come since the film was made.
The film was dull but (in a way) interesting as a time capsule for the period in when it was made.