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Handy (Jam) OrganizationInternational Moves the Browns to Sterling Street (1941)

Motivational film for International Silver salespeople describing how installment buying has made silver tableware available to a broad range of consumers.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: International Silver Company
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Consumerism; Marriage; Sales: Training

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Spuzz - - September 2, 2003
Subject: Sterling Silver has never been so cheap!
This is an epic of unbelievable proportions.. I am agog as to what to say. I will try though.

This is probably the cheapest looking Jam Handy short film I have ever laid my eyes on. Let's start at the very beginning!
From the start, we see some very badly lit cards, poorly chosen music etc etc. A couple get married, then a husband gives his wife a dimaond ring that clearly is 2 sizes too many.
The film then focuses on the history of people buying silver (using cheap cards again) and a VERY badly done set, with actors in cheap costumes.. Is this supposed to represent 1920?? The wife wants silver badly, but it's too expensive! Soon after, the Silver Theater comes on the air, sponsored by International Theater ("You're On The Air!" a emcee whispers.. We also see an "On The Air" sign in case we MISSED it. Flash forward to 1940, now we can finance our silver purchases, and every Tom Dick And Harry can have a heavy Silver dispay look totally out of place in their cheap badly mortgaged apartment! Joy!
Once again, badly edited, laughable cue cards. and just amazing cheapness. It's a shocker to see the Jam Handy moniker on this. Nevertheless, it's a MUST SEE on this site!

Shotlist

No synopsis in Educational Film Guides.
Ken Smith sez: This is a film about silverware, not moving. "Sterling Street," according to this film's narrator, was the monicker once given to the wealthiest street in a town -- the only street where every resident could afford silverware. But now, he cheerfully explains, everyone can afford silverware -- thanks to the miracle of installment buying.
"A ship of matrimony," the narrator tells us, should be "fitted out with the best gear a couple can buy." By way of example, we are first introduced to newlyweds Bill and Mary, who opt for PLATEware. The narrator tells us that they've sacrificed "lifelong prestige" for the lesser rewards of "other things." "A heritage was within their grasp!" he laments. Thankfully, a second newlywed couple, Hank and Alice, are more reasonable; they know that sterling is "a tangible expression of good taste," and "will truly give substance to their adoration." Get the picture?
06:35:54:09
Film begins
Camera pans down stone church and cuts to wedding ceremony - camera is facing minister
MCU Bride and Groom

06:36:13:16
CU minister
Wedding march is playing all through this part.

06:36:19:09
CU Groom mouthing "I Do"
Cut to minister
CU Bride, she looks to her right and smiles, turns back to camera and mouths
"I Do"
Cut to minister who raises his hands and mouths: "I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU MAN AND WIFE"

06:36:46:26
"JUST MARRIED" - large title across screen, camera pans as car drives away with "just married" sign fastened to its rear

06:36:56:18
MCU man and woman standing together from the knees down; woman lifts her heels as if she is kissing taller man and slowly lifts (bends) one leg seductively
NOTE: the woman's shoes are bright blue with pompoms on the toes.
She is wiping his chin with a napkin.
They sit down on couch together; he presents her with an engagement ring
CU man putting ring on girl's finger
She hugs him
Couple working on budget, man is smoking
Graphic with dollar sign ($) and coins around it
Series of pages from a 1941 calendar

06:38:34:09
Woman opens refrigerator and takes out milk
Woman hands man a hammer, he hands it back and she begins to hammer (curtain rod?)
"Our house shall be beautiful, because our love is beautiful"
Settings for sterling silver

06:39:43:25
Couple sitting in living room, man playing with dog
woman looking through magazine

06:41:21:04
Covers of "Social Register-New York & Who's Who in America"
Salesman showing a woman a sterling coffee pot
Title: 1938, then CBS
Face of a clock - 6:00 exactly
Sign (fills whole screen) ON THE AIR
Radio announcer reading into microphone
Woman sitting in front of radio listening to sterling silver advertising pitch

06:42:29:08
Map of U.S., Title HOLLYWOOD with animated radio waves emanating
Title: 1939

06:42:57:27
Man walking up to door, rings door, woman answers, he takes survey
Cover of LIFE magazine

06:43:54:29
Man hammering (silversmith)

06:44:27:01
CU setting of International silver, $16.75
Covers of LIFE, VOGUE, BRIDE'S & TOWN AND COUNTRY superimposed

06:45:18:12
Title: 1940
CU Bride's Magazine, hands open to pages

06:45:44:29
Huge title - OPPORTUNITY
Cover of TOWN & COUNTRY magazine, man flips through pages
Title: 1941
Office door reading: International Silver Co.. Sales and Advertising
CU pair of hands typing, camera pans up to typewritten page

06:46:42:25
CU woman's legs, camera pans up to show she is reading LIFE magazine
Superimposed magazine covers

06:46:45:25
Excellent woman reading Life Magazine!

06:47:48:10
MCU SILVER THEATER Presenting International Sterling
CU hand adjusting a radio
CU man at CBS microphone
CU pictures of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Merle Oberon, Jimmy Stewart

06:48:35:10
CU old radio
MCU Salesman helping two ladies, (check the hat on the left)
Art card of sun coming up over horizon and title "36,000,000 SELLING MESSAGES
THEN TO TITLE "126,000,000 SELLING MESSAGES"
THEN "A GRAND TOTAL OF 162,000,000", then "13-1/2 MILLION SELLING MESSAGES EVERY MONTH"

06:49:33:23
VS doors and houses

06:50:02:23
Title: TODAY

06:50:24:16
Set table, CU of one of the settings
Woman standing by window at table scanning LIFE magazine
Husband walks up and she shows him page in magazine
Same couple in store looking at sterling flatware
Same couple opening chest of sterling at home, taking it out and laying it on cloth

06:52:33:27
VS Display of chest of sterling silver dinnerware

06:54:16:12
CU cover of LIFE

06:54:22:00
MCU set table with sterling object on shelf behind

06:55:18:04
MCU Money bags and stacks of coins


FAMILIES COUPLES SILVERWARE HOUSEHOLDS HOUSES HOMES COUPLES WEDDINGS MARRIAGE FOOD UTENSILS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS NEWSPAPERS MAGAZINES Silver Couples Marriage Weddings Consumerism Radio broadcasting Radio studios Animation Money Dollar signs (zoom in on graphic) Churches Bells (ringing) Ringing (bells) Signs ("Just Married" on car) Automobiles ("Just Married" signs) Kisses Feet (during kiss) Sexuality (suggestive) Shoes Legs Lipstick (woman wipes off man's face) Engagement Cigarette smoking Men and women Head scratching Worry Embraces Happiness Savings Graphic design Calendars (1941) Refrigerators Curtains (hanging) Home improvements Hammers Cutlery Silverware Silver (sterling) Graphic (1920-23) Couples (1920s) Fireplaces Catalogs (reading) Salesmen (in store) Shopping Clocks (6:00) Radio programs Radio (production) Finger pointing Signs ("On The Air") Radio advertising Advertising (radio) Radio (listening to, woman) Maps (United States) Animation (radio waves) Radio waves (animated) Titles ("1939") Salesmen (door-to-door) Forms (filling out) Magazines (Life) Life magazine Magazine covers Silversmiths Engraving Budgets Magazines (Vogue) Magazines (Bride's) Magazines (Town and Country) Vogue magazine Bride's magazine Town and Country magazine International Silver Co. (sponsor) Titles ("1940") Magazines (reading, woman) Reading (magazines, woman) Advertising Graphics ("opportunity") Titles ("1941") Typing Pipe smoking Businessmen Meetings Conferences Legs (woman's) Wallpaper Mademoiselle magazine Magazines (Mademoiselle) Radio programs ("Silver Theatre") Photographs (movie stars) Hats Fashions (1940s) Title cards (sales impressions) Houses and homes (Georgian) Houses and homes (mansions) Mansions Graphics ("Today") Streets Houses and homes (middle-class) Dinner tables Table settings Candles Dolls (brides) Maps (U.S., animated) Graphics ("Your Town") Money bags Coins (in bags) Gold (in bags) Wealth Grapes