Days of Our Years (1955)

★★★★★ · Here's Some Sad Stuff That Happens · mjwise · 2004-07-10

I assume this is some sort of safety film that Union Pacific once sponsored for its employees. It tells the tale of three accidents, a truck wreck, a trainyard accident, and a factory accident, all due to carelessness. Its told through an unbelievably cold narrator, ostensibly the pastor of the local church. This pastor-narrator seems more a documentarian than anything else, as the most reaching out he ever does is to touch a girl on the head, once. The rest of the time, you can't even tell he cares about anyone involved in these accidents outside from a purely voyeuristic point of view. In…

★★★★★ · Incidental Victims · Film Fan · 2004-05-27

The moral of the story: Don't act stupid on the job because your carelessness not only damages your life, but the lives of those closest to you. All this is told from the perspective of a local minister who is intimately involved in the lives of those caught in the aftermath (officiating marriages and funerals, visiting the injured). A well-made, low budget film. If you're a Baby Boomer interested in trains (my father was a conductor) and can look past the maudlin tone of the minister's narration, then this is your film.

★★★★★ · comparative risks · magaphoto · 2011-09-13

An appropriate film for the era made, before respecting/acknowledging other cultures/religions, etc. were required or at least depicted, I am surprised at the quality of the production. The safety department must have had a respectable budget. This brings me to the point of the film. Other reviewers should consider the risks involved in working among 200+ ton trains and their associated rolling stock, compared to risks involved in using a computer keyboard. I also notice the departure from reality as generally everyone considers airliners "buses with wings"- even with the publicized reasons…

★★★★★ · The Days of Our Years · Christine Hennig · 2002-10-20

One of the most maudlin safety films ever made. A pastor in a railroad town tells us the tragic stories of three of his parishioners, all of whom were victims of the safety film's ubiquitous bugaboo: carelessness. A truck driver speeds on the way to meet his fiancee, gets in an accident, and ends up with a permanent spinal cord injury; an engineer approaching retirement has a heart attack while working and accidentally runs over and kills his best friend and across-the-street neighbor; and a new father is blinded by a welding torch when he startles a welder while handing out cigars. Of…

★★★★★ · Accident-Hater Lenny won't go to college · coffeebot · 2004-06-13

Joe literally travels at 'break-neck' speed and DREAMY, dreaming Helen plans to burden him with "Little Joe" who was meant to keep her from being lonely. If anyone deserves to have an accident, it's Helen who hardly works when she's dreaming. How did the pastor know he was part of Helen's dream? Spooky. Careless George inflicts his heart-attack on everyone around him. So much for work-ethic vs. calling in sick. Ineffectual train-town Pastor refuses to help anyone, least of all, George who believes Lenny hates him. The creepy, Aryan pastor just stares at people. Thank goodness for modern…

★★★★ · Interesting film · lostnyc · 2005-09-18

In contrast to another review, I thought the film was pretty good and I didn't see the pastor being "cold" etc., he was not interacting with the victims directly but telling their narrated story. The story was safety on the job- only, not an autobiographical sketch of accident victims. What was amazing however, was how the fellow who had a sudden heart attack which caused a train accident was blamed for being "careless!" I sure would love to know what the choir MUSIC is at the beginning, part of it seems to be cut off at the very start but whatever it is I sure enjoy it and would like to find…