https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/37e9ecbd-148a-407f-aee4-bc89f5921354 Produced by Wilding Picture Productions for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., “A Letter from America” (1948) is a black-and-white scripted promotional film celebrating Goodyear’s Golden Anniversary. Nonetheless, the real goal of the film was to promote the company's anti-union agenda and American Cold War ideals of capitalism and economic opportunity. Directed by Lewis D. Collins and written by Leo Rosencrans, the story begins with a letter, written by an immigrant worker named Karl to his younger sister living behind the Iron Curtain, that describes the American way of life and the opportunities provided by his employer, Goodyear. Flashbacks show Karl’s arrival in America, his experience with American democracy, and his success at Goodyear. He explains that because many workers are also corporate shareholders, there is no longer a gap between capital and labor. The film features a cast of well known American actors like George N. Neise, Lyle Latell, Jennifer Holt, George Cisar, and Stephen Chase among others and in 1950 received a Freedom Foundation award. Film opens, instrumental version of ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee’ (0:09). Good Year Research Laboratory Akron, Ohio (0:57). Karl sits in office, types letter on typewriter, narrates what he is writing (1:19). Flashback to night Karl left home for America, little Freda gives Karl a memento (2:46). Ship at sea; Karl on journey to America - looks out window and sees Statue of Liberty (3:08). Karl walks through New York City streets, marvels at architecture (3:31). Niagara Falls (4:06). Denali (4:09). Flashback Karl after long day’s work in fields in home country (4:12). Karl arrives in Akron, starts job through cousin, Rudy, at Goodyear compounding factory “hard, dirty work;” Overhears fellow worker complaining about workers’ rights (5:07). Another day at factory, Karl’s coworker complains about machine “that will put them all out of work” (7:22). Machine arrives at Banbury Cement Mixer factory (7:59). Karl’s old job replaced by machine, moves to better work in tire department (8:58). Montage various industries improved by automated machines: Mining, electrical, freight ships, mechanics (9:30). Present day Freda reads letter to husband, two children (10:17). School lessons of Freda’s son contradict Karl’s description of USA, teacher warns school children dangers of democracy (10:59). Cartoon comparing working conditions in factories under Soviet Union vs. in the United States (11:32). Benefits of making things cheaper, improving quality of life - montage of department stores, grocery stories, cars driving on highway, family picnicking (12:42). Animation recounting human history of empires that have fallen due to starvation, hunger, corruption and resulted in revolution… Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, French Revolution vs. America land of “abundance” (14:06). Karl understanding individual initiative, freedom of choice while working in tire building department of factory; Karl supervisor tells him various work opportunities at Goodyear and pay transparency - shots of tires on conveyor belts, different assembly lines as Karl experiences different departments (16:15). Karl does part-time study at Goodyear Industrial University (17:51). Sign for University of Akron (est. 1913) (17:56). Karl drives home with Rudy in what resembles early Horch Automobile, Rudy has car, housing provided by Goodyear and lives in Goodyear Heights (18:09). Karl, Rudy, and his wife have discussion in kitchen, Karl learns about being a corporate shareholder; Footage switches to “owners” of Goodyear i.e. employees in their roles at factory, lab, reception and other citizens that are “owners” i.e. professor, bar owner, dressmaker (19:41). “Seeing capital,” Rudy defines all “capital” found in factory to Karl (21:52). Karl gets promotion to test for synthetic rubbers, walks around chem lab full of chemicals, samples, beakers (24:28). Goodyear tires contributing to American prosperity: Mack diesel tractors with tandem axle trailers drive on road, Northwest Airlines Douglas DC-4 , Chrysler T-23 military truck (27:30). Closing sequence, Karl finishes letter, Freda finishes reading it to family (28:20). Film ends (30:36). Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. 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 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV9BWhieORE Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:25:02 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/37e9ecbd-148a-407f-aee4-bc89f5921354 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.