Consumers Want to Know (Part I) (1960)

★★★★★ · Consumers Union Reports on itself · cjxn · 2003-10-29

CU is still going strong, and pretty much everything said about CU in this film is still true today. The film highlights CU's independent testing activities in 1960. The objectivity for which CU is famous comes through loud and clear in this film. Lots of self-serious cliches here, like the team of old white guys marching into the FTC building, women contributing to the effort by testing lipstick, and the constant presence of bespectacled men wearing white lab coats and carrying clipboards. Footage of CU testing the Chevy Corvair and the underplayed reference to CU's crusade for automobile…

★★★★★ · New Deal Activisim at it's best · 2muchtv · 2003-05-19

Most American's today are so fatalistic and self centered that the notion of an activist consumer organization is likely difficult to fathom. Government and corporate mind control efforts of the 1990s have successfully convinced most of us that the idea of working together for a better life is passeÃÂ, and that we should simply buy what we are told to buy. Here we have a fascinating reminder that American activism was once as constructive and productive as American Industry. A thorough discussion of the structure and goals of an institution most Americans have forgotten about. It is terribly…

★★★ · A Report on Consumer Reports · Christine Hennig · 2005-09-17

This early 60s film gives a detailed and complete profile of Consumers Union, the non-profit organization that publishes Consumer Reports. The profile is very straightforward, reflecting the dedication to facts of the organization, an organization that does very good work. Unfortunately, this means it gets rather dull after awhile, because it goes into such detail. Still, the scenes of the various laboratory tests are pretty interestingI want the cigarette smoking machine for the Film Ephemera Museum of Quirky Devices (Smoking Section). Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical…