This 1960 black and white promotional film for Remington Rand’s UNIVAC computer features a dramatized a U.S. Census taker interviewing some vagrants for the Census. Census history, goals, and recent technological advancements including the use of the UNIVAC 1105 computer system are discussed (TRT 14:38). The film was directed by George F. Johnston, written by Peter Ries Norman, and stars Joseph Riviere as the Census taker and Philip Bosco and Robert Conforti as the homeless men.

1950s cars on a freeway. A 1956 Ford Customline Victoria coupe with headlights on pulls to the roadside. A railroad crossing sign flashes (0:09). A Census taker — a man with a hat and briefcase — exits the car as a train chugs by in the background (0:28). Opening credits (0:48). Two “forgotten man” hobo types in threadbare clothing sit around a campfire. One smokes (1:07). The man in a suit and tie approaches and identifies himself as a Census taker (1:15). The smoking man doffs his hat and welcomes his guest in a posh British accent (2:05). Fade to an excerpt from the U.S. Constitution establishing a census every ten years. An illustration of the founding fathers including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (2:28). Misty mountains and the hills of Virginia. Tracks through the Carolinas. Georgia pines (2:52). Illustration of the crowd pulling down the equestrian statue of King George III in Bowling Green, Manhattan, New York (3:08). A form from the first census in 1970 (3:19). Cartoons of the House of Congress and a man reading a newspaper (3:35). Rural men pose with a shotgun (3:50). Back to the campfire. The smoking man ponders a proposition (4:00). A Basset Hound dog cocks his head (4:59). The second hobo sleeps (5:50). Aerial view of the Bureau of Census in Washington, DC (6:25). A hand fills out a census form. Crossfade to milling crowds in a city crosswalk. (6:37). A female census taker knocks on a front door. Suburban streets and 1950s automobiles (7:00). A television aerial antenna atop a chimney. An in-window air conditioning unit (7:15). A woman opens her door to a male census taker with a 1960 census briefcase (7:22). A Japanese-American woman in a kimono bows to a census taker (7:42). Cars drive through a roundabout (7:50). The erudite hobo sits and gives a performance. He wakes his companion briefly (8:00). Closeup of a panel of buttons. A clock counting down. A man hands out coffee to two coworkers seated at a Remington Rand UNIVAC 1105 computer, one of two purchased by the Census Bureau for the 1960 count (9:04). A ticker tape of data rushes out (9:30). A man flips pages as they are photographed by a microfilm camera (9:42). A stack of forms, “1960 Census of the United States.” Pan to a small reel of 16mm microfilm (9:53). A man hunches over a large FOSDICK optical scanner for converting data on microfilm to computer-readable magnetic tape (10:07). The FOSDICK reads a tape. A man removes a magnetic tape reel (10:21). Three men review schematics. A man in a suit joins them (10:36). The UNIVAC 1105 and auxiliary storage drives fill a room, dwarfing its operator. Zoom into the console (11:24). Montage of spinning magnetic drum memory storage drives, blinking lights, buttons (11:37). A UNIVAC high-speed printer (12:12). Our hero returns and lights a long cigarette. The hobos rise and pack up their supplies (12:31). End credits (14:09).

This film was directed by George F. Johnston and produced by Washington Video Productions for Remington Rand in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Census.

Remington Rand was an early manufacturer of typewriters, computers, and punched card accounting machines. The UNIVAC shown in the film was not the first computer system to be deployed by the Census Bureau. The Bureau began exploring the use of the pioneering ENIAC system in 1946 through the Bureau of Standards, creating specifications for what became known as the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) which would be an updated version of ENIAC. Data could be input using magnetic computer tape (and, by the early 1950’s, punch cards). It was tabulated using vacuum tubes and state-of-the-art circuits then either printed out or stored on more magnetic tape. The UNIVAC I entered service in June of 1951 and tabulated part of the 1950 census and all of the 1954 economic census. The Bureau purchased a second UNIVAC I machine in the mid-1950’s, and the two UNIVAC 1105 computers shown in the film for the 1960 census.

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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com