The World's Largest Electrical Workshop
| The World's Largest Electrical Workshop | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ray Culley |
| Narrated by | Alois Havrilla |
| Cinematography | Robert Sable |
Production company | Tri-State Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The World's Largest Electrical Workshop (1938), is a 30-minute, black and white, sound documentary film produced by Tri-State Pictures for General Electric. The film examines GE's research and manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Canada, highlights key GE inventors, and shows GE workers manufacturing a variety of products, including radios, refrigerators, televisions, and turbines.
The film's entry in the 1946 Educational Film Guide describes the movie as providing "an intimate glimpse into America's largest electrical workshop".[1]
Background
An article in Business Screen indicates that "The World's Largest Electrical Workshop" was included in a 50-city 1939 GE appliance dealer/distributor program called "Get Over Into Clover."[2] The program included the movie and a professional stage show. Two full crews were hired to put on the program – one in the east and one in the west. Each crew had its own special Pullman car, baggage car, professional actors, stage sets, stage crew, and projection equipment.[3]
On January 27, 1939, the movie and stage show were presented to an audience of national trade and consumer magazine editors.[4]
"The World's Largest Electrical Workshop" was one of three GE-sponsored films on the benefits of electricity produced by Tri-State Motion Pictures[5] and coordinated by Fuller & Smith & Ross,[6] an advertising agency. The other two films were "From Now On" (1937), a five-reel movie showing how a newly married couple can build an electrified home on a limited budget,[7] and "Bill Howard R.F.D. " (1937). This "six-reel" motion picture shows how the advantages of electricity can benefit farmers.[8]
Synopsis
Alois Havrilla, the film's narrator, opens the movie saying: "The march is on the steady march of a new peacetime army, in the quest for a better way of living. Men, money, knowledge, research machines, visions carefully, painstakingly perfecting, which contribute to man's mastery of his destiny."
As a huge electrical storm wages outside, the film peers through a window to see a grandfather explaining electricity to his granddaughter.
In the section that follows, the film discusses the contributions of famous GE scientists.
References
- ^ "Educational Film Guide. Annual Edition, June 1946" (PDF). Internet Archive. H.W. Wilson Company. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ^ "Local electrical dealers to see unique commercial show". The Morning Call. March 23, 1939. p. 20. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- ^ "Business Screen Magazine". Hagley Library Digital Archives. Business Screens Magazines. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ^ "Leads Appliance Show". Plain Dealer (newspaper). March 30, 1939. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ^ "Tri-State Motion Pictures". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. January 29, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- ^ "Fuller & Smith & Ross Inc". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. August 9, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- ^ "Play House Actors Play in GE Tri-State Films". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio). October 27, 1937. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- ^ "Bill Howard R.F.D. = The Bill Howard Story". Government of Canada. Library and Archives. Collections Access. Government of Canada. Retrieved May 18, 2025.