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United Specialists, Inc.Animals in the Service of Man (Part I)

Presented by American Humane Assocation, produced by United Specialists, Inc., narrated by Lowell Thomas.
0645 PA8768 Animals in the Service of Man


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: United Specialists, Inc.
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Motion Pictures: Sponsored; Animals: General; Animals: Cows; Animals: Dogs

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: lostnyc - - October 9, 2005
Subject: No sound?
Looks like a good film but neither the streaming 64k nor the 256k mp4 seem to have sound while every other prelinger movie I have looked at work with no problems

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - September 6, 2003
Subject: Animals in the Service of Man
It's hard not to be charmed by this 40s film about animals and all they contribute to human society. Made by the American Humane Association and enthusiastically narrated by Lowell Thomas, it also provides a brief history of the humane movement in the U.S. and talks about some of the uses animals are put to in wartime. Another historically interesting aspect is that it was made during a time when horses had not yet disappeared completely from city streets, and we see scenes of horses drinking from public horse troughs provided by Humane Societies, and animal control officers inspecting the teeth of horses pulling delivery wagons. The animals themselves are charming, of course, as are the scenes of lost pets being reunited with their owners. Admirably, the filmmakers let these scenes speak for themselves without milking them for sympathy. A fun and historically interesting film.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - August 21, 2003
Subject: Be kind when we kill our animals!
A pretty strange short focuses on how we should all love our animals, which of course first focuses on how we kill them to make food and products, and THEN focuses on how we must love our pets and keep them happy. Drolly narrated bu Lowell Thomas, the film has some fascinating images, most notably of a woman's club learning how to bandage up a (terribly nervous) dog. This is an SPCA film?

Reviewer: Roland Deschain - - August 13, 2003
Subject: An enjoyably corny left-wing doco
Interestingly brought to you by the American Humane Association. This is a short doco that wants you to believe that animals are just as important as machines to humans, and tells you all the great things we get from them. The transfer is a little dark but the quality is great otherwise.

"Beef, we've come to realise, is far more necessary than automobiles."
Great quotes like that run the length of this, some of which seem tongue-in-cheek but it really is hard to tell.

There's a look at what we take for granted with clothing that comes in some way from animals. A man stands on a corner and gradually (through movie magic) loses articles of clothing. He is initially spared his underwear, but in the next shot he's lost it, although luckily found a barrel, cigar and a dog from somewhere. The narrator says, "but of course, we all could wear barrels". Who would have guessed.

Other great wisdom ensues; "But you can't herd cattle with a jeep". It also suggests that a camel is just as complex as an airplane, just "generally more docile".

On a much more serious note, also shown is a horse dragging a load too big for itself on a carriage, which is a little disturbing to say the least.