This black & white educational/promotional film is about post-WWII Paris, what it offers to you, and how it is coming back after the second World War. It was made in 1946 from A.F. Films.

Opening titles: A. F. Films presents “Letter From Paris 1946” (:08-:36). Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, at night. Paris is the city of lights. Neon signs. Cars drive at night. People on bikes during the day. A woman drives a bicycle. A man hangs a bicycle. A woman walks, a horse walks, close on the hooves. A horse and buggy. A car, a military jeep. A military policeman halts the car so others can cross, children and goats. Cows cross a street. Women gather. A storefront. A woman knits while waiting in line. A long, long line for railroad tickets (:37-3:01). People descend underground for the Metro. Lots of people head for a subway. Posters on the walls. A woman sells a roll. Policemen patrol. When the police come by, anyone selling anything leaves. Men rush for a subway. People pack themselves into a subway, packed like sardines. A GI chats up a woman. Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, just beyond the outskirts of early medieval Paris. World famous sidewalk cafes. Poet Paul Éluard, a French poet and one of the founders of the surrealist movement at a table in Les Deux Magots, a famous café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris, France. Cafe Lipp, Cafe Flore, a long-running coffeehouse & celebrity haunt serving familiar French fare. Statue de Diderot, an Encyclopedist, at his feet sits Jean-Louis Barrault, a French actor discussing with another man. Auguste Perret, a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. François Charles Mauriac, a French novelist shakes hands with physicist, Louis de Broglie. A woman looks at novels and paintings. A map of the old Paris (3:01-7:03). Winding banks of the River Seine, people sunbath and swim. People kayak on the river. Buses bring the last Frenchmen back from the warfront. They wave at people. People toast the soldiers. Soldiers clap on the bus. A boat with crewmen wave at them. A tank. A cannon. The Coat of Arms of Paris. Damaged buildings in suburban Paris after the war. Renault Works, the largest car factory in Paris. Exterior of the factory. Flea Market in a Paris suburb. People make french fries. Tables with goods. Rubber tires, a pot. a lamp. People look at various items. A man picks up a toy car (7:04-10:51). The Shoppes at rue de la Paix. An American GI looks around. A woman, from the The Women’s Army Corps (WAC), the women’s branch of the United States Army, hands him a gift. The GI smokes and watches the WAC try on new shoes. The WAC tries a new Parisian hat, she tries on many hats. The GI waits and waits for her to be done shopping. The WAC watches a fashion show, a parade of models shows off different clothing and dresses. The WAC exits the store. People walk around Paris (10:52-13:23). French Gin Rummy is played along the banks of the Seine. A baker must ready his bread stamps. A boy looks at regular stamps. The Opera opens as the factories close. The giant gates of the Luxembourg Gardens close. Inside the Observatory near the gardens. Evening on the roofs of Paris. Young students and workers in Paris in an apartment. A couple has a visitor who brings wine. They all drink wine. Inside a wine cellar. Lights are on in Paris, no more curfew after the war, Paris is alive again. Pigalle, an area in Paris around the Place Pigalle, on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements, Place Pigalle is devoted to the retail of musical instruments and equipment, especially for popular music, The neighborhood’s reputation led to its Second World War nickname of “Pig Alley” by Allied soldiers. People show up by foot and in jeeps. A woman is given a flower by a hostess at the door. A saxophone is played for a couple as a couple does the dance: the jitterbug. Couples dance, eat, and have a good time (13:24-17:33). A man prints a newspaper. Others make the newspaper. Night workers stop in for a morning coffee at a bar. Men sip drinks and coffee while they read the newspaper and discuss. He exits a place , the au fortin de la huchette. People walk during the morning sunrise (17:34-19:15). End credits (19:16-19:17).

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

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