Business screen magazine (1957)

VBiiEzuGla: Land With a Future Cultural and Economic Growth Shown in "Assignment Venezuela' Sponsor: Creole Petroleum Corporation. Title: Assignment: Venezuela, 24 min., color, produced by Sound Masters, Inc. * • « M A young petroleum engineer from the I nited States who takes an assignment with Creole in Venezuela is the subject of this new film. It not only shows how he adjusts to his work in a foreign country, but also illustrates much of the environment of his new '"home" — including many of the highlights of Venezuela's cultural and economic way of life. Assiiinment: J eneziiela supplements People and Petroleum, also produced ft>r Creole by Sound Masters. Inc. The latter was a b \v motion picture which documented the economic deyelopment of Venezuela and the part played therein by the American-operated oil industry. The new film is a cogent answer to recent critics who have characterized the oil industry's public relations as antediluvian. Hardback economic royalists are present in every industry, and the petroleum business is no exception. But Creole, as illustrated in this film, has taken great pains to insure that it will exist only as a good citizen — of Venezuela, where it lives — and of the I'nited .States, where its parents live. Assignment: J enezuela will be widely distributed to television stations, civic groups, women's organizations and other outlets. Distribution of both films will be made through Sterling-Movies U.S.A. for television showings, and through Modern Talking Picture Service, Inc.. for adult groups and other audiences. W" Califurnia Fiqiits Traffic Menace Death "The Invisible Passenger" of Film to Awaken Citizens Sponsors: Cal. Highway Safety Council: .'Vssn. of Cal. Insurance Companies. Title: The Invisible Passenger. 21 min. color. Produced by Jack L. Copeland and Associates. •♦f When you drive, death is always just a few inches and a fraction of a second away. This admonition is made by "Ralph Parks." police traffic investigator in The Invisible Passenger, a new 2I-minute color motion picture sponsored by the California Highway Safety Council and the .Association of California Insurance Companies. Starring stout-jawed John .4gar in the police role, the safety documentary features an introduction by California Governor Goodwin J. Knight. It was premiered to Southern California audiences on December .30. 1956, on television station Below: producer-director Jack Copeland rehearses actors Pierre Watkin and John Agar for scene in dramatic new safety film. KRCA. It is being distributed to motion picture theatres, schools, courtrooms and tv stations. Designed to quicken public interest in traffic safety and to keep people from getting themselves injured and killed. The Invisible Passenger was produced by Jack L. Copeland and .Associates and was filmed in the Copeland studios in Hollywood and on location in Pasadena. California. The Pasadena Police Department cooperated in its production. With a matinee cast and an original jazz score beating out the moods and attitudes of the people portrayed. The Invisible Passenger takes its cue from a grim warning by Governor Knight and paces through a hospital and speeds over dark roads to make its safety points. In the hospital, a young girl is in critical condition as the result of a car crash. Her boy friend is shaken up. ,\ man is dead. The boys father has the automobile accident visualized for him ( and the audience) through an account by the police investigator. Flashbacks re-create the fatal afternoon when '"Bill"' and his girl leave the house of a friend and drive toward town. As dusk approaches, so does '"Mr. Willis." a business man. motoring home from work. The "invisible passenger" of death is a stowaway in both cars as they come closer and closer to an intersection and crash. The night accident horrors — the broken cars, flares on the street, gaping bystanders, ambulance and police — all work to impress a familiar and tragic image on the viewers mind. The life-searing denouements of this destructive road scene are symbolized by the dead Mr. W^illis. the near-death crisis felt by the boy and the anguish experienced by his father. The safety lessons are depicted in the actions which precipitate the accident and are underscored by the police inspector's additional explanations to the father. The Invisible Passenger was written and directed by Jack L. Copeland. Judge Richard C. Fildew of the Pasadena Municipal Court was technical advisor. B" Roush camera crew on location in a Bethlehem Steel Co. wire mill. Betlileliem Retires Histnric Film 22-Year-Old Wire-Making Picture Replaced by "The Long Pull" Sponsor: Bethlehem Steel Cumpan). Title: The Long Pull. 28 min. color. Produced by Leslie Roush Productions. M Bethlehem Steel Company, the nation's second largest steel producer and an early sponsor of industrial films, passed a mile-stone in its colorful motion picture history with the release of its newest film The Long Pull. This film, telling the story of modern custom-made steel wire in 28 minutes, sends Bethlehem's earliest 16-mm sound picture inlo retirement. Twent\-two years ago. not long ifter the 16-mm sound projector was making its commercial debut. Bethlehem developed a process for zinccoating steel wire electrolyticallv. To help promote a market for this new wire, the company sponsored its first sound picture entitled Wire, .An Industrial Impression. A comparison between this film and The Long Pull is both interesting and revealing. The first Bethlehem picture on the subject of steel wire was black and white and used red film stock to indicate hot-metal operations. Since 16-mm sound projectors were extremely scarce in 1935. IFire was introduced with an initial stock of two prints. These were shown by a Bethlehem representative who toured the country from big city to whistle stop carrying projector, speaker, screen and film. Later, additional prints were made for distribution bv Bethlehem's librar\ . In the twenty years between 1935 and 1955 showings I CONCLUDED O.N .NEXT P.^GE) Below: weaving wire cloth in a scene from Bethlehem's latest film "The Long Pull" — an historic milestone. 7TH ANNUAL PRODUCTION REVIEW 161