This color educational film from the Bell System is a documentary about structures that people didn’t think could be built but were (i.e. Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge, Holland Tunnel). Hosted by Lee Marvin with the 5th Dimension, made in 1970.
Animation of a flying building of the future (:08-1:53). Gutzon Borglum sculpts faces of presidents on Mount Rushmore: Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt (1:54-5:05). Aerial shots of Rushmore. Lincoln Borglum speaks (5:06-6:16). Stone Mountain, Georgia, a tribute to the Confederacy with a sculpture of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. Roy Faulkner, a sculptor speaks (6:17-7:46). Korczak Ziolkowski, is carving the Crazy Horse Memorial statue (7:47-10:49). Washington, D.C., Washington Monument (10:50-11:53). A bridge built of steel, opened in 1873, the Eads Bridge goes over the Mississippi River. It connects St. Louis, MO to East St. Louis, IL. Brooklyn Bridge in NYC. Different angles of the Brooklyn Bridge, construction (11:54-14:32). Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in NY. Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Old newspaper editorials against building the bridge. Architect Joseph Strauss. Boats go between the two towers (14:33-16:56). Steel beams. Construction footage. The cables are being hoisted, pulled, and set up (16:57-19:23). Building continues. Walter Cathey, speaks about a damaged safety net, 10 men died that one day. Construction continues (19:24-21:04). May 1937, the bridge was completed. Traffic goes over the bridge. The 5th Dimension (21:05-24:22). A person dials telephone. Kitty Hawk, NC. Beach. Wright Bros Museum. Footage of the Wright Brothers (24:23-25:23). Erie Canal construction photographs. Train on a bridge. Sierra Nevada railroad. Chinese immigrants used pick and shovel to help build. Workers celebrate. Construction of the Panama Canal in 1903. General Glen Edgerton who worked on the project speaks. Men move dirt, logs, construction is underway. Aerial shot of the locks. Congressman Maurice Thatcher speaks. Ships go through the canal (25:24-30:28). Hoover Dam construction (30:29-32:52). 90 men died. After six years, the Dam was completed(32:53-35:13). St. Louis, MO. Busch Stadium, buildings of the Gateway Arch (35:14-36:17). Ole Singstad speaks on the building of Holland Tunnel to connect NY/NJ (36:18-37:40). Empire State Building. In 1945, a plane hit the building but there was no major structural damage. The highway system of the U.S. A 1942 construction job posting for the Alaska Highway. Dr. T.Y. Lin wants to build a bridge that will connect the U.S. to Russia (37:41-40:30). Dr. Lin speaks about the project. A sketch of the bridge. The World Trade Center model. Aerial shot of what NYC will look like from WTC. Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Headquarters in Connecticut. Mackinac Bridge in Michigan (40:31-42:08). Green Bank Radio Astronomy Antenna in West Virginia. The Tanker “Manhattan” in the Northwest Passage. Chicago’s Marina Towers, Nasa Launch Complex in Florida. Watts Towers in Los Angeles, CA. John Hancock Building in Chicago, IL. Washington Monument Dworshak Dam in Washington State. Newport Bridge in Rhode Island. U.S. Steel Building in PA. Wyoming’s Mt. Glory Arch Bridge. Johnson Wax Headquarters in Wisconsin. Boeing 747 Factory Building in Washington. New Orleans Superdome. Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Dulles Int’l Airport. Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minnesota. Westinghouse Headquarters in PA. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in NM. Gulf Life Tower in Florida. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wisconsin. Ohio River Clear Streams Project. Mobile River Highway Tunnel in AL. Westinghouse Desalinization Plant in FL. Gary Master Plan in Indiana. Gulf Oil’s Big Brutus Crane. Knights of Columbus Headquarters in CT (42:09-44:17). A rotary phone is dialed. Mount Washington, NH. Bell rings, the Cog Railway (44:18-45:18). Animation of decades going forward. Men hammer, use lasers. A harbor in Alaska. Nuclear explosion in reverse. People live in caves. Floating city in Baltimore Harbor. A snowman. Prefabricated housing. Getting rid of pollution. Concorde. Ford autos. Rocket launches. Hovercraft (45:19-47:18). Buckminster Fuller, an American architect, author, designer, inventor, and futurist, speaks. Floating city designs. Hurricane image (47:19-49:04). Lindbergh’s son, Jon, speaks about living underwater. Sketches of underwater cities. Outer space (49:05-50:30). Boston, MA 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, the first telephones and operators. Pioneers. Images of people talking on the phone. Records and movies. Images of 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. A rocket is launched. The price of phone calls has gone down since 1876 until now. Different telephones through the years. Lee Marvin wraps up the show (50:31-53:00). Apollo astronauts, Neil Armstrong lands on the moon. Man on the moon. Hoover Dam. Golden Gate bridge. Lee Marvin speaks. The 5th Dimension sings (53:01-56:59). End credits (57:00-58:17).
