Look to the Land (1953)

★★★★ · This Is a 50s EB Film? · Christine Hennig · 2006-06-18

This very unusual Encyclopedia Britannica film from the 50s deals with the widespread environmental problems that were starting to emerge in the US mid-century. This is unusual both for its time and for Encyclopedia Britannica, which usually steered clear of political issues. Itâs narrated by a folksinger, who breaks into song during transitions. He tells us about how the land has changed in many ways since the country got started, and shows us examples of farmland that has deteriorated into unusable wasteland, due to erosion, poor farming practices, and cut-and-run logging. Then it starts to…

★★★ · Was this made by the Quakers? · Spuzz · 2003-10-30

Another candidate in the VERY small subsection called "Important Films with a narrator that breaks into Folk Music every couple of lines or so" ("It Takes Everybody to Build This Land" wins the prize for this singlehandedly still) Look To The Land tells of how beautiful this land was, but NOW look at it! This is a perfect opposite of a lot of "Let's exploit the land!" a lot of big business films have on this site, and takes a very harshly negative anti-business approach, as if foresting, mining and mechanization is the evil of everything. Although I only got to see a 10 minute segment, the…

★★ · Missing The 2nd Half Of The Film · OTRTim · 2011-08-25

Only the first half of the film is here.