This 1943 black and white propaganda film about “one government’s plan to provide better homes”, was produced by the U.S. Office of Interamerican Affairs to depict improvements in housing in Chile during World War II. Julien Bryan contributed to the photography. Santiago is shown. Several old government buildings have elaborate architecture in contrast to new ones. A policeman directs cars, busses, and pedestrians (:26-1:13). The Firestone building is shown (1:14), followed by a new hospital (1:23), and multi-story concrete housing units (1:27-1:45). Two women stand and talk outside a one-story house; one holds a baby, and two children play on the sidewalk (1:47). The slums are shown. Children stand in a doorway of an adobe tenement house. A woman wipes a child’s face, another uses a makeshift stove, and another carries buckets of water. A man stirs a pot (2:05-2:51). A tuberculosis patient lies in a hospital bed. The doctors look at his x-rays. A clinic has a long line (2:52-3:28). A bustling street is shown. A barber is at work. His customer flips through a magazine; the face of General Eisenhower fills a page. The barber is paid and leaves (3:29-4:14). The barber takes a bus to the slum tenement house he and his family live in. His wife, wearing a full apron, cooks over a fire, the smoke rising through a narrow hole in the ceiling. His two twin girls, holding dolls, leave their bedroom to greet him. He sits on the edge of a bed with his son (4:15-5:45). They fill out a new housing application at the caja de la habitacion. A social worker arrives. She interviews the family and is shown the moldy walls and loose floorboards (5:47-7:13). Board members discuss the applications. The wife claps because they are approved (7:14-7:38). They walk past government housing under construction by workers. They see the building plans for their new two-story home (7:40-8:46). The wife hangs a picture. New neighbors come and dance the cueca, waving handkerchiefs. A round alarm clock says 10:10. The wife serves drinks (8:47-10:11). The girls share a bed in their new decorated room. They go downstairs and brush their teeth in a bathroom with a sink. The wife pours a large jug of milk into a pot on a stove. One daughter hugs her dad as he reads his newspaper at the table. The family happily eats breakfast. The wife makes the beds. A door-to-door salesman sells her a broom. She take her two daughters shopping. She buys fresh vegetables, which are put into a cloth carrying bag (10:13-13:00). The son blows up balloons outside as they prepare to host a birthday party. The children arrive, bringing gifts. They eat (13:02-14:58). The son’s friends call up to him to come swimming at a nearby pool. The men pitch coins at a line. The group has a picnic dinner (15:00-16:33). A tenement family is shown. Workers build new housing projects; some one-story and some multi-story with outdoor winding stairs (16:41-17:35).

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