What a Wonderful World It Would Be
What a Wonderful World It Would Be is a short film from 1965 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
Great color - sitcom (drama?) about product reliability & job performance. Dog enters thru special door. Man & woman sleeping in bed. CU sleeping man. CU clock radio. Father carries kid into bathroom. Man looks at himself critically in bathroom mirror. Family at breakfast. Burning toast. Leaking lunchbox. Production lines - automotive. Workers in lunchroom. Good wrecking ball. Child in hospital, parents visiting.
Bill, an average family man and worker at a Chevrolet plant, is frustrated by the appliances in his daily life continuously malfunctioning: his new clock radio fails to sound, the toaster burns his breakfast, and the thermos leaks in his lunchbox, causing the other guys at work to laugh at him. This particularly bad day causes Bill to be inattentive to his work and he is reprimanded by his supervisor for slacking off on the job. This just adds to his list of annoyances, however, and he doesn't take the criticism seriously. Meanwhile, his son Danny, stops with his dog to observe a construction site where a building is being demolished. The dog chases a cat into the building and Danny runs after the dog. Two construction workers risk their lives and run after him, and Danny ends up in the hospital with a skull fracture. Bill and his wife must wait long and patiently through the night while the nurses and doctors attend to their son's critical condition. Back at work, Bill explains that when he thanked the doctor and the construction worker who saved his son's life, "(t)hey all said, ' I was just doing my job.'" The day before Bill thought "(w)hat a wonderful world it would be" if appliances and gadgets actually worked correctly. The next day he thinks, "(w)hat a wonderful world it would be" if every worker was concerned with taking their job seriously.
A shaggy dog sneaks through a dog door A couple sleeping in a bed Close-up of the sleeping man's face Close-up of a clock radio Man holding a boy, swinging him over his shoulder A man looks in a bathroom mirror with a disatisfied look Man, woman and boy eating breakfast A close-up of a man gesticulating with a fork Close-up of a smoke pouring out of a toaster Man getting helped putting his coat on, gives his son a hug and his wife a kiss before running out the door A car filled with four workmen Close-up of the soggy inside of a lunchbox with a banana Man laughing in the driver's seat of a car Man in the passenger seat of a car, unhappy Man dumping his lunchbox out over a garbage can, eventually throws the whole thing in the trash Aerial view of the auto work plant buildings and parking lots Conveyor belts, work men in the inside of the auto plant Two men working in the front seat of a car men working on the underside of a car, on a runner passing over their heads Men conversing under the vehicle passing over their heads Close-up of a man's face, looking serious Man with a furrowed brow, looking up longingly Close-up of a bowl of chili with Tabasco sauce being added A group of men (wearing flannel) eating in a lunch room Close-up of a man's face, laughing whole-heartedly A boy riding a bike through a dumpy environment, followed by a shaggy dog A shot from below of boy pausing with bicycle and looking up A demolition ball, swinging on a crane and smashing a building A crowd of on-lookers looking up, shot from above A boy looking from under a barricade with a shaggy dog A dog followed by a child, running up a staircase past demolished remnants Construction workers running up a staircase, building rubbish falling down immediately after them Close-up of a clock, 2 o'clock Doctor with a stethoscope around his neck speaking on the telephone A worried couple, sitting close together Woman, looking upset, leans her crying head on the shoulder of the man next to her Close-up of a little boy in a hospital bed, his head fully bandaged A hospital bed with a boy whose head is fully bandaged, mother and father sitting nearby A woman wearing pearls, looks up with a stare of ultimate gratitude Close-up of the profile of a man in a suit, a woman in the background both biting on the side of their mouths, looking contemplative Man with his face close to some mini-blinds, he pulls them open, looking out Work men walking into the doors of a plant Two men, one below a conveyor belt, make fist gestures at each other, "Yeah".
03:01:21:00 Great VS dog coming through doggy door, walks underneath kitchen table and beside bed of man and woman asleep; high-angle slowly zooms on man with one hand behind hand sleeping beside wife, radio on nightstand beside him; CU man asleep; CU 1950s radio alarm clock; wife shakes husband to wake him up, man jumps up from bed toward camera �Anybody get hury!�; man turns lamp on, looks at radio alarm clock, alarm buzzer goes off, dog jumps onto bed with excited young boy, dad puts son over shoulder and takes him in the bathroom, faucet is broken man says �First the radio and then this faucet, what�s this world coming too?�, man looks at himself in mirror, sink sprays man in the face, boy laughs at father; CU man looks at his wet face in the mirror.
03:04:08:05 CU Newspaper in man�s hand, camera zooms out to man, wife and boy at breakfast table; man reads from paper aloud �In Russia, 60% of all TV sets break down before they are out of their 6 month warranty period�All of the washing machines manufactured at the Chelyabinsk [man fumbles over Russian word] plant in one month, had to be turned back for re-work�boy if that happened in our plant, wow� man waves fork.
03:04:51:23 CU toaster oven with burning toast inside, smoke rises from toaster; woman runs and unplugs toaster; woman pours toast out of toaster �and just think it 9 months to save the stamps to get this thing,� woman holding piece of burnt toast asks husband holding the paper �And what was that you were saying about the Russians,� horn honks from outside; �It�s Lou� woman puts coat on man, man hugs son and kisses wife, grabs lunch box and runs out the door.
03:06:01:23 Great shot from outside front windshield of four workers in car driving to work; man in passenger seat talks about having �one of those days,� man talks about his broken faucet, alarm clock, and toaster; CU man in cap �they don�t make anything right nowadays, 5 bucks I paid for this lighter, it doesn�t even work.�
03:06:43:14 Man driving asks what�s wrong with man in passenger seat�s leaking lunch box; CU man open�s lunch box with banana, tomato and squished peanut butter sandwich; man laughs on audio track; man gets upset and says it isn�t funny to man driving car laughing hysterically; CU man lifts up soggy sandwich; man says �Ah I just should�a stood in bed, I just should�a stood in bed.�
03:07:31:02 Workers walking into automobile plant, man stops at trash can, empties out leaky lunchbox then throws out the whole thing and walks into plant, his friends laugh in the background.
03:07:58:16 Fisher Body Atlanta Plant; Aerial of Chevrolet plant in 1950s.
03:08:04:02 MS man wearing sunglasses working at machine in auto plant, machine punches hole in part; VS men working on assembly line working on motors on conveyor line; man watches cylindrical pieces rolling out of machine; men work at machine that welds part onto piece of metal, sparks fly briefly; VS men working on car engines; the shell of the vehicle is lowered on the mechanical components set in the frame.
03:08:56:22 Man in factory screws round knobs on gear shift levers, man opens door of car on assembly line; VS men installing car parts in car; VS men working on undercarriage of car moving down assembly line, men uses power drill on car; two men have conversation about quality of car parts while cars on assembly line pass closely overhead.
03:10:49:29 Man working on car moving down assembly line is called up by inspector; CU inspector complains about man�s work installing the gear shift knobs, man defends himself, CU inspector �I think it is everyone�s job to check the work he does, we all have to think about the customer who is going to buy the car�, CU worker rolls his eyes says � I should�a stood in bed�
03:12:14:25 CU disembodied hand pours Tabasco in soup red bowl of soup. Workers eating lunch in auto plant cafeteria. Man loses his temper when friends pick on him, man sitting down asks �what�s the matter with him?�
03:13:36:19 Boy rides bike through dump followed by dog; boy watches crane demolish house; high-angle people watching demolition; demolition ball destroying brick building; boys parks bike to watch with dog, dog runs into building being demolished, boy chases after dog into building, construction workers chase after boy into building.
03:14:56:02 Yellow sign Quite Hospital Zone in front of dark hospital at night; CU wall clock reads 2:00; nurses in waiting room writing on charts, husband and wife nervously hold each other; doctor on phone tries to get hold on another doctor, doctor on phone describes patient as young boy with depressed skull fracture who suddenly started convulsing; doctor leaves officer and passes man with arm around woman crying.
03:16:54:15 CU wall clock reads 6:03; CU man sleeping on woman�s shoulder in hospital waiting room, audio track intercom voice calling doctors names, camera pans out, doctor approaches, couple jumps up to speak with him, doctor says their son is going to be alright, woman cries in relief.
03:17:40:26 CU boy with head bandage on and lots of make-up lying in hospital bed, camera pans out to parents leaning over kid, boy asks if the dog is alright. Man in sweatshirt holding silver hardhat under arm enters hospital room to check on kid; CU woman with tears in her eyes grabs man�s hand thanking him.
03:22:26:13 VS interracial crew of men and shot of one woman working on assembly line.
03:23:05:19 Great high-angle shot of man in factory gives thumbs up to man in working in trough to work beneath cars on assembly line, man goes beneath car passing overhead.| What a Wonderful World It Would Be | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Handy (Jam) Organization |
Production company | Handy (Jam) Organization |
| Distributed by | Handy (Jam) Organization |
Release date | 1965 |
Running time | 22:16 1/2 |
| Language | English |
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