American Suburbia Building A New Life

This film advocates a better standard of living at affordable prices for all Americans regardless of their status. It maps the country's march towards a more affluent lifestyle and illustrates how this was made possible. the story of a miller and his assistant and their journey to the higher echelons of society by way of shrewd planning and investment.

An engrossing account of the pathetic living conditions that existed in the cities in the '40s, with Philadelphia the erstwhile state and national capital, as an example. It is a wonderful account of how the once beautiful city was transformed by the growth of industry. Slums sprung up binging with them dirt and misery.

This movie was made at a time when the building boom was at its peak, and is an opportunistic attempt at selling asbestos -the new rage in building materials. Though a little lengthy, the film is an exhaustive attempt at extolling the outstanding qualities of asbestos (fireproof, waterproof, weatherproof, enduring, resilient and so on). Sponsor: Asbestos Cement Products Association.

The use of animation makes this film very creative and refreshingly original despite being based on the same old themes - "we need to keep our neighborhoods neat and clean" and "there's nothing you cannot do if you come together".

This is an interesting movie about how Levittown was built and the emphasis builders placed on quantity and speed rather than style, grace and originality of design.