Ford River Rouge Plant Film (ca. 1937-38)

[togor]

The stuff that ends up on YouTube! I date this one to the '37-'38 period, probably right after the UAW had unionized GM and Chrysler. Ford of course held out until 1941. Indeed the cars coming of the line at the end look like '38 coupes from what I can tell. Of the US industrialists, Ford was the one who aspired to be the most like the Krupps of Germany, in both his obsession for vertical integration and in taking a patriarchal view of the employees. That comes through in the narration, and some of the clips. (The section at @15:00 about workers in community gardens could have been lifted straight from a German pamphlet of the time!) Indeed, even the use of symphonic music as a soundtrack to accompany industrial activity is very Germanic. This also at a time when German foreign policy of the 1930's was in transition from a the more subdued period around the Olympics to the more aggressive postures of 1938. So this film was likely made in a time when Leni Reifenstahl's cinematographic techniques could be copied without backlash.

The opening paeans to the working man in the first 2 minutes seem odd, until one realizes that the message coming out of Ford at the time (with respect to unionization) was: we've got a good thing here, let's not blow it. Truly a history lesson here.



PS: not saying Ford was a Nazi plant or anything like it. And when the war came Ford was a war producer. But for a time there, when plausible deniability regarding the Third Reich was still possible, there was some feelings of mutual admiration between Henry Ford himself and the German Government.

[JohnPeeff]

Togor, Ford's patriarchal view of his employees played a major part in the disaster that was the city called Fordlandia he tried to create in the Amazon jungle. He tried to impose his morals on them and they revolted and destroyed the place. The Brazilian army had to intervene and he abandoned the venture. He was clearly anti-Semitic ,"he hated unions and Jews and not necessarily in that order" He received a high award from Hitler, along with Lindberg. There is a book written on Fordlandia that is a great read.

[kj47]

Great film, thanks for posting.