This 1967 color educational film produced by Coronet, which credits educational collaborator Dr. John E. Kempf, professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois Medical Center of Chicago, takes a look at the subject of viruses (TRT: 13:38).
A biological scientist in a laboratory pours a liquid from one beaker to another. “A Coronet Film” (0:09). The doctor reviews a chart in the lab, next to a microscope, and beakers of colorful liquid (0:35). An electron micrograph of a virus shows scattered spherical shapes on a dark background. The leaf of a plant, partially eaten away by a virus (0:59). An array of petri dishes. Closeup on a culture of disease bacteria being destroyed by viruses (1:20). Young men and women working in a biology lab (1:41). A glass slide is placed under an optical microscope (1:55). A microscopic view, with a white arrow indicating a smallpox virus. A tobacco leaf infected by tobacco mosaic virus is clipped and moved to a walk-in freezer (2:12). A grinder breaks down tobacco leaves. The resulting juices are filtered into a glass beaker. Vials are placed into a black ultra-centrifuge (2:42). A closeup of the beaker afterwards reveals a sediment. A suspension is prepared by adding water. The suspension is placed into another, slower centrifuge. After another centrifuge spin, a sediment of concentrated virus is displayed (3:12). The sediment is examined under an electron microscope. The picture shows the crystalline structure of a virus (3:54). Geometric illustrations of various viruses are produced (4:10). A simple, coil-shaped virus made of proteins and genes. A more complex virus adds fats, carbohydrates, toxins, and enzymes (4:50). An electron micrograph of a reproducing virus (5:26). A scientist handles the leaves of several maize plants (5:54). A ferret is fed a red liquid from a syringe. A live culture is placed in a refrigerator (6:07). A sleeping puppy (6:45). A flower with a plant virus (6:52). A bacteriophage virus. A petri dish. A glass model of a cell and a virus attached to it. The “cell” bursts, destroyed by the multiplying virus (6:57). Microscopic film footage of bursting cells in the process of lysis (8:06). Beets with curly top virus. A cow with hoof and mouth disease. A young man with a thermometer in his mouth. A woman in a wheelchair at a typewriter (8:37). A slide is placed under a microscope. A virus that causes growth. A chicken with tumors under its wing (8:54). A small mouse is produced and placed in a beaker. A razor blade is used to cut the mouse’s tail for a blood sample. The blood sample reveals no sign of abnormality (9:19). Squirming lab mice are exposed to x-ray radiation on a rotating disc. Zoom out on one of the white mice (10:02). Swirling a bacterial liquid culture in a beaker. A virus is added which destroys the bacteria (10:30). An electron micrograph of another virus. An illustration lists possible characteristics: “No Maturation, DNA Arrested, No DNA, DNA Delayed.” Zoom out on a detailed gene map (11:45). A beaker is produced, representing a man-made virus. Film of a living cell. Footage of an x-ray (12:29). “The End” (13:27).
Coronet films, frequently satirized for their often dry approach to educational content, operated from 1934 to 1984, producing hundreds of 16mm classroom shorts. They are best remembered for their contributions to the “social hygiene” movement of the mid-20th century.
