Henry Browne, Farmer
Henry Browne, Farmer is a short film from 1942 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
A simple and moving story of Henry Browne, a farmer and his family - what they are doing individually and collectively to win the war.
| Henry Browne, Farmer | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
Production company | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
| Distributed by | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
Release date | 1942 |
Running time | 10:40 |
| Language | English |
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Comments from EFG 1945
A simple and moving story of Henry Browne, a Negro farmer, and his family -- what they are doing individually and collectively to win the war.
Farmer Browne, rooted in the soil, goes about the daily tasks of farming so important in wartime. He plants fifteen acres of peanuts so that we will have more vegetable oils, needed so urgently today. He conserves his land and takes care of his equipment. He greases his farm tools to prevent rust, saves his burlap bags. "Henry Browne's family, too, do their jobs. Mrs. Browne has a Victory garden, Young Henry milks the cow, sister has a flock of chickens, and the eldest son is serving with the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the Army Air Forces. The film ends with the family's visiting the Tuskegee air field." Indiana "The racial problem is deftly handled." Collaborator
Shot List
2:07:77- 2:24:82
A little boy (African-American) in overalls milks a cow in a pen. A calf walks over and begins nursing the cow. The boy gets up and walks out of the frame.
3:02:53- 3:24:57
Henry Browne saddles his mules and begins walking by his peanut field with the two mules.
4:29:31- 4:51:80
The little girl tends to the chickens. We view the nice chicken pen there are many chickens wandering about and others in a large, wooden cage. She feeds the ones walking freely and then those in the cage (chicks-?). Cut to image of her mother walking out to the fields with a hoe. The girl runs after her holding her own hoe.
4:52:65- 5:19:97
Nice view of the field with Henry Browne and his mules plowing in the distance. The mother and daughter come into the frame. Cut to a closer shot of the boy working the fields. The girl and her mother come into the foreground of the frame.
5:59:26- 6:18:63
Nice pan of the intricate rows of a peanut field.
7:30:80- 7:48:70
Series of shots of the Browne family going through town (Macon, Georgia) in a horse drawn carriage. First image shows them coming onto Main Street where there are stores, cars, and several white people standing on one side of the street (one woman crosses the street). As they round a corner we see a group of African-American men sitting on the curb. Cut to a view of the Brownes coming towards the camera on a different part of Main Street we see the "Macon" movie theater. Cut to them on a different road in town they pass a church and several parked cars.
8:38:94- 8:48:55
Nice image of the Browne Family walking with an African-American air force pilot they walk along an air force base (by barracks). An army vehicle passes them as they walk towards the plane yard.
Good footage rural Black family in the 1940s working the farm and visiting their son an enlisted army pilot.
19:11:29:17 VS great shot of soldiers marching in close formation wearing helmets and carrying upright rifles with bayonets. Tight fascist-like formation. Narration: These are Americans on their way to the battle front for democracy.
19:11:37:17 VS army tanks driving past camera.
19:11:45:10 VS men working in WWII weapons factory.
19:12:33:20 VS healthy and fit looking Black farmer of 38 wearing overalls washes his face then dries hands.
19:12:52:14 VS young Black farmer boy milks cow then allows a calf to feed on the cow.
19:13:09:15 VS rural Black family eating breakfast at table in kitchen of Lincoln log cabin style house. Mother serving breakfast as Farmer, son and daughter eat at table.
19:14:09:04 Black farmer beside plow drawn by two horses squats down and runs soil through his hand, then begins to plow.
19:14:35:20 VS CU vegetables growing on the farm: tomatoes, watermelon, peas, squash, corn, cabbage.
19:16:14:25 Black female farmer in straw hat hoeing in field with preteen daughter.
19:16:24:17 CU Bag of Champion nitrate fertilizer.
19:18:15:24 Black farmer and his family pull through town in a cart pulled by two horses. Cars are parked along the street.
19:19:56:03 VS rural African American family, farmer and his wife in straw hats, boy in cap and girl, meet with the eldest son an army pilot on the runway. Rural Black family on runway watch the young Black army pilot step into cockpit of fighter plane and take off.