WWII ERA DODGE BROTHERS AMERICAN PATRIOTIC FILM “LAND OF THE FREE“ 26574a

Presented by the Chrysler Corporation’s Dodge Division, and produced by Wilding Picture Productions, Land Of The Free is a 1940 film that gives a look at the people and natural resources that helped make America one of the most prosperous countries. The film shows montage after montage of quickly edited shots of U.S. industries, people, and the role the automobile industry plays in the larger American economy. The film opens with footage of a plane flying in the sky, rolling ocean waves, cattle, and fields of wheat. Quick shots of different cultures throughout the world are followed by a look at the Statue of Liberty and an aerial view of the statue and New York Harbor (02:45). As the film talks about the rise of industrialization in the U.S., it shows viewers an oil well, a steel factory, cotton bales, and a corn field. Cars drive on a coastal road (03:44). Women sit and work at a telephone switch board. Men shuffle by on their way to or from work (04:32). There is a shot of New York City’s skyline. Covered wagon trains move across the country. Chinese workers lay railroad tracks. There is a short montage of inventions, including lightbulbs and film rolls. A man plows a field with a horse-drawn plow (07:28). An aerial view of Niagara Falls (07:43) is followed by shot of Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam). The film then shows an aerial view of Manhattan Island (08:33) and footage of Chicago and the National Capitol Building. A montage of shots show men working various jobs: viewers quickly see a baker, a painter, a police officer, and a man using a jackhammer. Kids walk to their school (10:05). Viewers see, from a distance, a small rural town set in a rolling-hill landscape (10:58). People play on a beach. Spectators watch a baseball game. Several people ski down a slope. Men, presumably cowboys, sit around a campfire and sing a song (12:22). A man and a woman drive an early automobile model down a country road (14:02). Men assemble a car in a production plant (15:15). Cars drive down a four-lane highway (15:54). The film then talks about how the automobile industry supports so many other industries, and as it does, it shows very short clips of related industries: a weaving machine fabricates cloth (17:17), sheep graze on a hillside, and a miner breaks rock in a mine. An aerial view shows the production plant for Dodge automobiles (19:44; 22:57). The film shows a building that may be Meadow Brook Hall or the assembly plant in Hamtrack. There is another montage of shots of individuals working in a Dodge production plant. At the Dodge Division of Chrysler Engineering (22:10), men test various parts. There is an aerial shot of farmlands; a covered wagon train moves along an old wagon trail; a train moves down a railroad; and cars drive on highways and streets. The film concludes similarly to how it opened, with shots of the great resources of America: the land and the people. Dodge is an American brand of automobile manufactured by FCA US LLC(formerly known as Chrysler Group LLC), based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles currently include performance cars, though for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler’s mid-priced brand above Plymouth. Founded as the Dodge Brothers Company machine shop by brothers Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge in the early 1900s, Dodge was originally a supplier of parts and assemblies for Detroit-based automakers and began building complete automobiles under the “Dodge Brothers“ brand in 1914, predating the founding of Chrysler Corporation. The factory was located in Hamtramck, Michigan, and was called the Dodge Main factory from 1910 until its closing in January 1980. The Dodge brothers both died in 1920, and the company was sold by their families to Dillon, Read & Co. in 1925 before being sold to Chrysler in 1928. Dodge vehicles mainly consisted of trucks and full-sized passenger cars through the 1970s, though it made memorable compact cars (such as the 1963–76 Dart) and midsize cars (such as the “B-Body“ Coronet and Charger from 1962–79). 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: “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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit