Marshall Plan Cold War Documentary "Victory at Thermopylae" Greece Walter Packard 53114 (1950)

Synopsis

Victory at Thermopylae is a 1950 film produced and directed by David Kurland that was part of a number of films produced in Europe during the Marshall Plan and shown throughout Europe to “tell the story” of U.S. participation in Europe’s post-war recovery. The film begins with two men walking four oxen pulling a plow through a field. A tractor pulls a plow down a field. Footage shows some of the mountains of Greece, including snow-capped peaks and rocky mountainsides. Farmers use hoes to till the soil (02:22). The film then shows the small town of Anthili with its church (02:55); the village is located between the sea and the famed site of Thermopylae. Footage shows the barren plain around the village—it is left fallow because of its alkali salt levels. Two U.S. jeeps drive through a field, and four Greek farmers watch the American contingent pull up. The Americans, led by Walter Packard, take a sample of the alkali soil (04:15). At a University of Athens laboratory (04:42), Packard tests the soil. The Americans sit with the president of Anthili and talk with the townspeople about how to use rice to remove the alkali salt (05:19). The Americans and a few Greek men survey the surrounding fields (06:28). Heavy equipment from the Greek Ministry of Agriculture dig earth, as do men from the village, creating irrigation canals and ditches. A dragline excavator helps dig an irrigation canal. Irrigation water is pumped out of the fields’ irrigation system and down to the sea…

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Details

Running time

9 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage