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Something More Than Beer (1943)

1943 · Short film · 22 min

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Synopsis

This 1943 Jam Handy Productions film takes viewers on a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, MO where Budweiser is brewed and bottled. The film’s stated purpose is to “give you an iron-clad answer to any questioner who asks why he should pay more for Budweiser.” The film opens with a father and his adult daughter climbing out of a car and heading into a restaurant for dinner—a black tie affair. They sit down at their table and order food. The man orders a Budweiser then explains to his daughter why he chooses to drink that specific beer. A band sings a song about Anheuser-Busch (03:28), then there is a close-up shot of the glass of Budweiser. Viewers get a good panoramic shot of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis (04:57), which encompasses a number of city blocks. The film shows fields of barley (05:45), a horticulturist examining barley in the field, and men in a laboratory studying the content of the barley. The grain is unloaded at the barley house (06:40) and is moved on elevators and conveyer belts to the malting process building. There is a good shot of the brewery’s silos. Barley is screened as it moves on a conveyer belt to weed out other grains and impurities (07:30), and it ends up in giant steeping tanks. Men work at the steeping tanks (08:44). Stop-motion photography is used to show the malting process of the barley (09:08). A man checks barley in a malting tank. Another man opens a door on the malting tank and allows some of the barley to fall…

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Details

Running time
22 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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