Master Hands: Car Assembly Line Workers in Flint, Michigan Documentary (1936 Movie)

DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JNPXCU/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=d...

http://thefilmarchive.org/

Master Hands is a 1936 sponsored documentary film short which shows what work is like in a Chevrolet automobile factory. Credits include original music by Samuel Benavie, cinematography by Gordon Avil, and film editing by Vincent Herman.

It was produced by the Jam Handy Organization, a pioneer in industrial film production. In 1999, Master Hands was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy (March 6, 1886 -- November 13, 1983) was an Olympic breaststroke swimmer, water polo player, and leader in the field of commercial audio and visual communications. Handy was noted for the number of training films that he produced over the years.

Handy attended the University of Michigan during the 1902-1903 academic year. During that time he was working as a campus correspondent for the Chicago Tribune when on May 8th he wrote an article about a lecture in the Elocution 2 class given by Prof. Thomas C. Trueblood as a "course in lovemaking." Handy went on to describe how Trueblood had dropped to a bended knee in order to demonstrate how to make an effective marriage proposal. John T. McCutcheon, a Chicago Record Herald cartoonist, followed the next day with a cartoon about a "Professor Foxy Truesport" showing his class how to best make love.

Neither Trueblood nor university President James B. Angell were amused. Ten days after the initial article was published, Handy was suspended for a year for "publishing false and injurious statements affecting the character of the work of one of the Professors." Handy was told he could re-apply one year later. Instead, Handy decided to apply to a different school, but he was unable to gain acceptance to other schools because of what had happened at the University of Michigan. Handy was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, but was told to leave after two weeks of classes.

Tribune editor Medill McCormick tried to intervene on Handy's behalf, but Angell refused to change the suspension. At that point McCormick offered Handy a job. Handy worked in a number of departments at the Tribune. It was during his time working on the advertising staff that Handy observed that informing and building up salespeople's enthusiasm for the products they were selling helped to move more merchandise. He also began researching exactly what made people buy a particular product.

Handy left the Tribune to do further work on corporate communications. He worked with John H. Patterson of National Cash Register, who had used slides to help train workers. With help from another associate, Handy began making and distributing films that showed consumers how to operate everyday products. After World War I broke out, Handy began making films to show how to operate military equipment. During this time the Jam Handy Organization was formed.

Handy was married to Helen Hoag Rogers and had five children. One of his daughter Chaille's children is the printmaker Garner Tullis.

After the war, the Jam Handy Organization was contracted as the Chicago-Detroit branch of Bray Productions, creating films for the auto industry, Bray's largest private client.

General Motors selected Handy's organization to produce short training films as well as other training and promotional materials. One such film was Hired! - a training film for sales managers at Chevrolet dealerships. This film was eventually featured as two parts on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes Bride of the Monster and Manos: The Hands of Fate. Many films produced by the Jam Handy Organization were collected by Prelinger Archives and may be seen and downloaded at the Internet Archive.

Handy also produced films for other companies and for schools. He's estimated to have produced over 7,000 films for the armed services during World War II. Handy was noted for only taking a one percent profit on the films, while he could have taken as much as seven percent. He was noted for never having a desk at work, instead using any available work space. Handy's suits didn't have pockets as he thought they were a waste of time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Hands

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[telejimmy57]

@cengeb What video were you watching? There were guys all through this film wearing safety gloves. At 3:09, 4:20, 6:30, 9:20, 9:25, 9:55, 11:10, 11:20, 11:43, 11:56, and 12:07. I gave up counting at the middle of the thing.

As for "no fatso", this was filmed in the midst of the Great Depression. You do the math.

[telejimmy57]

@rustydog0329 The guys working at the time of this film DID revolt, as a matter of fact. There were repeated strikes about over-work, about safety, etc. It's not about one generation being better than another. I truly don't understand all this nostalgia for times before improvements that THESE guys fought for, and would have loved to enjoy.

I also am astounded that you seem to think people no longer work hard. I, for one, do.

[cengeb]

no gloves or hand protection, they musts had calluses and hands like iron, no fatso either, called WORK!

[cengeb]

And just think, all this labor and effort, it's all gone, the stuff is recycled and recycled over the years. and everyone of these people are gone probably. And so is GM, looks like it wasn't worth the effort. Sure was a lot of intensive hand work.....was there any kind of automation in 36? Besides the stampers and stuff, was sort of automated...

[cengeb]

With the music I'm expecting either Buckwheat or Spanky to appear.....Hal Roach production?  Where's Alpha?

[samcordion]

These guys DID revolt (the 1936 GM sit down strike) the same year this film was made and joined the UAW.

[knotenough2]

@jayhall3

the "safety "was people knew what they were doing and didn't just look for a "payday" when they messed up hence the reason it cost so much for america to build anything anymore, gone are the day's of accountabilaty. OSHA walks  into a shop and fines them because a two year old's finger "could " fit in there... just one example

[ChargerRT440]

@rustydog0329 Not trying to pick a fight, but ask just about anyone to do this kind of work & they'll bitch no end. Living in the Post-Industrial Information Age has created a society that scoffs at any blue collar profession & looks down on manual labor in general.

[rustydog0329]

can you imagine a UAW worker today being asked to work like this? They would revolt

The guys in this video probably worked 10 hours a day doing this kind of work at that pace.

[zeotide]

That's hot forging. They are making crank shafts for engines. It won't let me put in the link, even though its on youtube. Search for "Forging Press Robot Transferring Crankshafts from Trim Press to Twister Press" to see part of the more modern way of doing it.