Mechanic, The

The Mechanic Prod. Julien Bryan for USIS / Dir. & Photography Francis Thompson filmed in Ohio & Connecticut 21:08:27 Man walks on foot bridge looking up at faulty clocktower w/ hands spinning - VO “only when the commonplace like the town clock runs wild are we reminded that its machinery must be regulated by a man’s hand” - 23:08:13 CU clock face; INT, mechanic fixing clock mechanism. Workers on electric & telephone poles. High angle & street level of town street scenes w/ traffic; factory parking lot. 23:09:07 INT factory - large diesel engine manufacture. Steelmaking; pouring. 23:09:47 Industrial engineers at drawing board designing machines. Workers make tools from blueprints. More shots of workers in factory. 23:10:43 Meeting of factory management & labor; VO re experience gained through wartime production & benefits of co-operation in manufacturing. Shake hands across table. 23:11:43 Worker being treated for minor injury by nurse at first aid station; CU eye swabbed. Montage: female workers using new washing facilities; workers eat lunch & play cards. 23:12:20 Mechanic operating heavy machinery in Midwestern factory - VO “men like him who work with their hands are not the servants of the machine, they are its masters”. Man & co-worker fill out timesheets & receive pay packets; packs away his own tools. 23:13:42 Men clocking off time clock; out of factory. 23:14:11 Man walks home greeting neighbors etc. - small town street scenes, arrives at nice residential home. 23:15:02 INT greets wife & young kids; housewife on telephone & bottling preserves. Charlie helps her carry jars to basement for storage in well-stocked larder - VO “the Blakes know how important it is today to conserve food at home to release supplies for the hungry in other lands”. 23:16:07 Charlie finishes building small car w/ kids - helped by boy from next door. INT Mrs Blake cooking - VO “doesn’t get very far away from the kitchen during the afternoon” - modern appliances. Charlie shaving watched by son who mimics him. Family at dinner table. 23:17:54 Family & neighbors at PTA meeting - parents & teachers discuss problems. Sunday - Charlie washes car - kids read funny papers; family into car for outing to country - VO re Charlie’s car - “the system of mass production which depends on men like him brought it within his reach”. Car into parents home in rural town, greetings, sit in shade. Charlie milks cow. Mrs Blake picks fruit for preserves. “The Blakes find a spiritual renewal in their frequent visits to the country”. 23:20:48 Car journey home - kids asleep. Charlie off to work on Monday - thru factory gates. Post-WWII USA; Post-WW2; Rural Americana - Midwest; Heavy Industry; Nuclear Family; Housewives; Economics; Blue Collar Working Class; Consumerism; 1940s;