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Handy (Jam) OrganizationTest Tube Tale (1941)

The magic of industrial chemistry and its effects on our immediate environment. Shows new products such as nylon stockings and transparent raincoats, and also how chemists are finding ways of controlling pollution from factory chimneys and vehicle exhausts. Ends with a call to young men to join this dynamic profession. Though World War II is not explicitly mentioned, the strategic importance of chemistry weaves a covert thread through this short film.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Chevrolet Motor Company
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Chemistry; Occupations: Research; World War II: Prewar preparedness

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Spuzz - - July 6, 2005
Subject: Chemical Dependemcy
A funny thing happens in this orgy of everything that chemicals have made. Watch, when the model fondles the curtains, pulled down the shade, twirl around in her dress etc, how the narrator is right on the ball to tell us what is made of chemicals. This is pretty much a list of what can be made synthetically, and doesn't hold much interest besides that.

Reviewer: trafalgar - - March 24, 2004
Subject: Chemistry to the rescue
Standard fare raves on endlessly about how many wonderful things we've done with chemistry. Could be useful for stock footage, but not much entertainment value.

Shotlist

"THE JOB THAT INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY IS DOING TO PRESERVE OUR CLOTHES, FURNITURE & TRANSPORTATION IS BROUGHT OUT IN THIS PICTURE. NEW PRODUCTS & NEW METHODS OF PROTECTING THE OLD FAITHFUL PRODUCTS & MATERIALS ARE DRAMATIZED."

Test Tube Tale presents the "magic of chemistry," showing how industrial chemists have altered our immediate environment. Men, the experimenters, fabricate products for women to use: windowshades, upholstery, nylon stockings, transparent plastic raincoats. The camera dwells tellingly on the young chemist's older sister, showing her legs as she dons new synthetic stockings. "Chemistry is responsible, too, for the gossamer-light threads of these new stockings." Music issues from a new plastic radio.
But chemistry is not just the bringer of goods to be worn and consumed. It also protects against dirt, disease and pollution. In an unintentionally revealing sequence, the film shows how soot, dust and sulfuric acid emanating from factory chimneys and auto exhausts cause metal and stone to decay. Chemistry becomes the protector against damage, much of it of its own making. A decade and a half before Silent Spring, Test Tube Tale reveals the dangers of pollution and the hidden costs of industrial development. Circling without a solution, technology creates problems and responds to them with more technology.
Test Tube Tale makes no mention that much of the world is already at war. However, it's a strong (if implicit) statement that industrial chemistry was a a strategically important industry to the United States in 1941, especially given the worldwide strength of Germany's chemical combines. In addition, the duPont family, who held a controlling interest in General Motors, would have viewed the message of this film through friendly eyes.
As in The 1936 All-American Soap Box Derby, this film ends with a call to young men, which one might interpret as a plug for a strategically important industry: "Great things have been done. But much more remains to be accomplished. Some young man, perhaps one watching this very picture, may develop a startling new formula from a test-tube experiment, may give the world finer things to use, to wear, to better man's health. In this new world of industrial chemistry, the horizon is unlimited. Unexplored potentialities beckon. Hidden secrets of nature sound a call to this young man, the industrial chemist, the pioneer of tomorrow." Rubbing his eyes, a young experimenter opens his window to reveal a still image of the rising sun, on which is then superimposed an image of a bubbling beaker.



INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY CONSUMERS PRODUCTS CLOTHING FASHIONS TRANSPORTATION AUTOMOBILES CHEVROLET ADVERTISING MATERIALS PROTECTION PRESERVATION SCIENCE ALCHEMY YOUTH PROMISE OF THE FUTURE