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All Together (ca 1970s)

Lou Rawls plays Naval recruiter trying to lure the young black whos tired of the limited work opportunities available to him or her. While the Navy did offer more opportunities to minorities than the civilian world, this film exploits the dissatisfaction the many minorities felt regarding racial equality in the workplace. Music is by Port Authority the US Navys Soul Band.


This movie is part of the collection: A/V Geeks

Sponsor: U.S. Navy
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: military
Contact Information: This film comes from the A/V Geeks archive. For more information regarding this film and the archive, visit http://www.avgeeks.com

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: loyaltubist - - September 24, 2006
Subject: This was post-Vietnam
If you notice some of the sailors sport beards and long sideburns. Those were permissible from just after the Vietnam War for about six years. The Coast Guard allowed beards until 1986.

The film is realistic, recalling that this was only a few years from the time that segregation was condoned in the areas where the naval bases were located at the time. It gives a realistic look at what the Navy is all about.

Reviewer: Bob Capps - - July 14, 2006
Subject: Lou Rawls Navy Propaganda
Hey bro! Shave off that 'fro and join the Navy! In four years you can work your way up to Senior Barber on a ship, and hang out on the beach in Hawaii with a fine black chick!

Reviewer: Spuzz - - January 6, 2006
Subject: You know what I'm saying? I think you do.
First off, Lou Rawls sent me. (R.I.P. by the way, kind of freaky I just saw this film yesterday)

Heyyyy man, you know what? Being in the navy is way cool, you can operate all sorts of right on equipment, and they'll pay you dough for doing it brother! And they'll give you a better education, you know what I'm saying? As a matter of fact, just watch this film that almost can be marketed to anyone without all the jive talk. (Oh, and that woman's scary, scary afro).

Right on.

Reviewer: Mewster - - December 25, 2005
Subject: Lou could sell the Brooklyn Bridge
The US Gov. used Lou a lot in PSAs. I saw him on TV once pushing Selective Service with that same delivery.

Did the military develop a slightly relaxed atttude about hair? I saw a few beards.

BTW, Lou was never in the Navy. He was an Army paratrooper.

Reviewer: ScotisRule - - September 27, 2004
Subject: This is a great little film, ya dig?
Lou Rawls is amazing as the narrator of this short-film/commercial about the U.S. Navy. His frank but casual speaking style conveys a very strong and convincing message; giving the impression that he is a older brother, mentor or well-respected best-friend. Rawls delivery hits upon a lot of convincing topics making the hard sell of military service without crossing the line seperating brotherly advice and snake-oil sales pitch, in my humble opinion.

I wonder how effective this Naval recruiting video was during in the late-Vietnam/post-Vietnam era United States.

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - September 12, 2004
Subject: It's a Soul Brother's Life in Today's Modern Navy!
Soul bruthah Lou Rawls narrates this early 70s naval recruitment film, so you know it's cool. Targeted at young black men and women, Rawls makes the Navy sound like free education, a good-paying job with perks aplenty and equal treatment with whites (women are promised equal pay and treatment with men), world travel to beaches full of babes and hunks, and civilian employers lining up to hire you when you're discharged. Not mentioned is the Navy's not-too-distant history of assigning African-Americans to the kitchen, or the three-letter word beginning with "w". I guess those topics aren't cool enough. The afro hairstyles in this film are a sight to behold, and you feel sorry for what the Navy is bound to do with them.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Soul Quotient: *****. Overall Rating: ****.