Dating to the immediate post-WWII period, this black & white educational film is about Poland and was produced by Julien Bryan. The film is told from the perspective of a schoolgirl named Mary, who tells her class about her trip to Poland in 1939. Copyright is 1946, but all of the footage shown dates from before WWII.
Opening titles: Mary Visits Poland (:06-:31). At school, students are learning about Poland. Mary gets up and tells the class about what she learned when, in 1939, she visited her grandmother on a Polish farm. The class listens to her (:32-1:16). Her grandmother and uncle live in a wood home in rural Poland. Ducks in a pond. The grandfather guides the horse as the horse goes round and round to assist with wheat making. Polish peasants dig potatoes and plow. Women dump baskets of potatoes. Mary’s cousin’s dress up, other children walk – all head towards Church on Sunday. Most use horse drawn wagons or bikes (1:17-3:23). Women and children wear dresses and blankets. A wedding at the church. Bride and groom. Dance in open air with boys and girls. The dance begins with couples (3:24-4:31). Children in school. Children sit and draw. Children throw a ball at one another and play. Not everyone has shoes. A map of Poland shows certain cities. Children head to school in Krakow. Cathedral of Krakow. The river Vistula runs through Krakow. Children and boys dance as people play instruments (4:32-6:41). Map of Poland. Southernmost part of Poland in the Mountains. Cable car into the mountains. Snow on the ground. Aerial shot of the tops pf pine trees and snow capped mountains. Mountaineers live in the valleys between the mountains. Children dump potatoes. Children tend the sheep. Children with trousers (6:42-8:20). Men of the valley in Poland. A woman makes her own blankets, she also makes paintings. A boy carves artwork. Men carve wood statues. Boys learn wood carving girls make laces (8:21-9:43). Folk music is played for the the men and women who dance amongst the trees. Men dance around a woman. Hard working Polish people. Map of Poland. Gdynia is a port city on the Baltic coast of Poland. It’s known for its modernist buildings, including the Museum of the City of Gdynia, which has exhibits about local history. A ship with an American flag. The ship leaves Poland (9:44-10:57). End credits (10:58-11:02).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
