Yankee Story, The
Yankee Story, The is a short film from 1956 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
Promotional film for the Yankee network, a network of radio stations in New England with excellent shots of radio production and radio broadcasting.
10:01:38:29 Nice product placement MS �Scan-O-Scope� radio.
10:01:47:07 1950s to 1960s housewife sewing beside �Scan-O-Scope� radio.
10:01:54:00 From elevated angle camera looks down on man between two high-tech looking radios with many knobs dials between speaker box; man turns large knob tuning radio on right.
10:02:00:06 CU old fashioned small radio (Zenith ?) with two tuning knobs, one frequency dial, and one speaker in single rectangular box.
10:02:04:23 Young man in twenties, screwdriver in hand, attentively working in workshop fixing or building radio; tools scattered on table and small old-fashioned radio on work table.
01:02:09:18 CU woman�s elegant hand in white glove carrying by handle very small metallic radio with one dial and red button.
10:02:15:22 Title �The Yankee Story� superimposed over graphic of New England with each state differentiated by color. �Only Yankee serves all of New England� superimposed over New England graphic with lines animated spreading from Boston in 360 degrees.
10:02:47:21 CU hand plugging in 1/4 inch cable into row of inputs.
10:02:53:08 Man in from of wall of modular electronic, smoking cigarette, patches quarter inch cables into bank of inputs.
10:03:14:01 Man in suit point finger at globe, turns and looks away from globe.
10:03:18:03 CU Man in suit and tie faces camera �Pardon me if I may interrupt. Before we get saturated with statistics I�d like to make perfectly clear one very important point. Whatever New England might be statistically, New England is people [raising eyebrows]. So if we are going to understand the area we�d better meet some of the people and found out what they think about the place they live.�
10:03:44:10 MS young brown-haired professor drawing with chalk on blackboard long arc over drawing of New England; professor stops drawing, turns to camera, and explains history of New England geography.
10:04:14:25 CU man in suit and tie, gray hair, says to camera �Well that is not exactly what I had in mind.� Man creepily bulges his eyes.
10:04:20:20 Scholarly looking New England man (�gentleman of culture and learning�) in suit, bald with round wire-frame glasses, seated in chair by fire place with open book on lap, stops his reading and speaks to camera about the foundation of America.
10:04:52:07 Gray haired man in suit, arms crossed, globe bottom left of frame �Yes we�re a tough minded people, deliberate in decisions; but once we�ve made up our minds, we�re hard to dissuade. �
10:05:12:14 Missourian farmer hoeing land in short-sleeved plaid shirt and slacks looks up to camera resting hands on hoe �Farming�s been her from the first, there�s still fifty thousand of us, making a living off the land.�
10:05:41:15 VS bustling commercial downtown area with heavy sidewalk traffic.
10:05:54:04 LS bright red car pulls up to four people in sand dunes.
10:06:34:24 VS two men, one holding horse wears cowboy hat, other in baseball cap and red t-shirt falls hoof of horse.
10:06:50:00 MS gray-haired man in suit beside globe with magazine rolled up in hand, speaks to camera �As one of those people who are always saying things to remember, once said: �New England is whatever you�re looking for.�
10:07:14:13 VS saw mill off coast of Maine; paper factory; potato farm; New England harbor; lighthouse and watchtower off coast.
10:07:51:29 VS Portland, Maine.
10:08:10:14 Maine Trading Post shingled building.
10:08:14:06 Cartoon graphic of cash register registering $994,236,000.
10:08:34:07 Downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Loew�s Theater and Crown Hotel visible.
10:08:37:21 VS industrial factories along Blackstone River.
10:09:21:27 VS Connecticut. Narration �Connecticut, most yankee of the yankee states.�
10:09:38:23 VS Connecticut tobacco farms. Classic red farmhouse.
10:10:27:18 VS man in brown suit enters living room to young wife and cute daughter, each with one hand outstretched to receive money; husband hands wife cash, CU woman mouths thank you; daughter handed money; father tosses left over change in hand to dog, CU dog eating money; CU moustached man in shrugging.
10:10:54:13 VS dairy cows on Vermont dairy farm.
10:11:07:20 VS Granite or Marble quarry in Vermont.
10:11:37:24 New Hampshire�s �Man of the Mountain.�
10:11:51:08 VS New Hampshire�s Lake Winnipesaukee.
10:12:41:04 Great CU two men�s hands counting wads of cash.
10:12:46:08 Pan up flag pole with sign �Birth Place of American Liberty�; nice low angle shot of American flag blowing in wind framed by tree branches.
10:13:03:09 VS aerial shot of Boston.
10:14:36:16 Great shot man taking picture of woman holding pose with beach ball in Cape Cod sand dunes.
10:14:39:14 VS two women in bathing suits throwing beach ball on sand in Cape Cod.
10:14:53:09 CU camera looks over shoulder of bald man in glasses as he writes on paper which reads �How to prepare your Income Tax Return.�
10:15:38:19 VS Sturbridge Town Hall.
10:16:00:06 LS woman at bus stop holding groceries on sidewalk in front of �Pharmacy Luncheonette� to narration �New England a collection of whole towns where a Providence house wife will say,� Providence housewife holding groceries �Yes I�ve been to Boston, but there is nothing there that I can�t buy right here, downtown.�
10:16:15:02 Comical VS of old newspaperman at desk on phone, giving orders to reporter, then typing on typewriter. Good newspaperman sound-bites.
10:16:28:21 Low angle of rich high-society woman on phone with pretentious Boston accent �Ah, yes my dear to California�mmhmm�.�
10:16:46:17 Two rich men in suits. Younger man ingratiating himself with old rich Boston businessman �Sir, considering the size of our business, your international contacts and all, why do you maintain home offices here in Boston;� MS of old rich man with pretentious accent �Well my dear man, I live here.�
10:17:0403:10 Great zooming in shot and sound-bit of old fisherman with white hair, glasses, pulling his suspenders with one hand and smoking pipe with other. ��Washington, never been, all I need is right here.�
10:17:43:01 VS CU radio and hand turning volume knob; woman sitting with hand held radio turning dial.
10:19:09:08 CU street sign for intersection of Radio and Television Lanes with a marlin on top of sign post.
10:19:12:11 Three people, one man and two woman sitting outside on grass along water listening to radio.
10:19:16:01 VS man and woman in bathing suits on beach simultaneously drinking then exchanging loving gazes.
10:19:32:19 Engineer working during broadcasting in radio studio.
10:19:47:18 VS water skiing.
10:20:20:13 Great shot of radio announcer in studio with engineer working on broadcast in background.
10:20:26:25 Young couple lying on beach flirting with radio between them. The young woman rolls over onto the young man.
10:20:31:10 couple snuggled close listening to radio in convertible car parked on beach.
10:21:10:27 VS Connecticut �shade grown� tobacco farm; �the World�s Finest Cigar Wrapper� ad on roof of building.
10:21:34:23 CU hands patching 1/4 inch cables into wall of inputs. CU electric lines. CU various dials.
10:21:48:02 Sign �Yankee Network News Service�; row of six printers printing news feeds.
10:21:54:17 VS reporters at desks working on typewriters in Yankee News Service office; one smokes cigarette.
10:22:12:16 Women in green dress walks through busy Yankee News Service office; all the reporters stop to look at her; sexual harassment in the workplace.
10:23:05:23 Two young boys wrestling in living room between mother and father. CU father (comically bad acting) yells �Quiet!� clenching fists;� CU to kids and mother looking shocked; MS father looking into camera �Its time for the news,� leans over and turns up radio.
10:23:20:11 MS classic radio announcer behind WNAC radio microphone.
10:23:48:24 VS cars pulling into Otis Air Force Base Buzzards Bay Gate.
10:24:03:04 Older man turning knobs on large panel of high-tech radio.
10:24:04:22 Great shot of WNAC Yankee microphone in front stern radio announcer �This has been the six o�clock edition of the yankee network news service� followed by great montage engineers working behind the scenes in every technical aspect of the radio broadcast.
10:25:47:19 VS blonde woman driving alone in turquoise and white convertible on highway.
10:26:29:03 Man and woman in front microphone in radio studio. Archetypal radio man in perfect announcers voice reads announcement for Yankee home and food show catered toward the modern women of New England and homemakers.
10:29:40:19 Great 1950s to 1960s shot of suburbia. White picket fences and friendly neighbors walking dogs on sidewalks; car in driveway.
10:31:20:29 Great finale montage of each New England types in their various settings.| Yankee Story, The | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | RKO Teleradio Pictures, Yankee Division |
Production companies | RKO Teleradio Pictures, Yankee Division |
| Distributed by | RKO Teleradio Pictures, Yankee Division |
Release date | 1956 |
Running time | 1167 Feet |
| Language | English |
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