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Railroads were big film sponsors: AT&SF, B&O, Chesapeake & Ohio, many others
including Southern Pacific (whose Salt Lake branch line had been extensively used by
J.P. McGowan for rail action locations). New York Central System offered ‘The Freight
Yard’, surely an exciting topic for buffs even now. Swiss Federal Railroads swishly
were located at 475 Fifth Avenue. Greyhound were bussing films from ten offices.

The Tennessee Valley Authority offered technical films from Knoxville TN and also
agricultural and social development. TVA had sponsored Pare Lorentz’s majestic ‘The
River’, which later figured in many Australian documentary libraries. Another film
well known to older Australian screeners, ‘North Sea’, produced in 1938 by
Cavalcanti of ‘Dead of Night’ fame and directed by Harry Watt (‘The Overlanders’)
came from the YMCA, who noted dramatic use of wireless in the sea rescue. The
YMCA gamely informed the public about unemployment among “the Negroes” with
‘We Work Again’.

Nutrition and health were major concerns then. You could find out how Sago was
made by “the savages of primitive New Guinea”. The Illinois Dept of Health told you
about ‘The Alimentary Tract’ (actually I have a print, lots of squoogee going on). The
Union Pharmaceutical Co. with ‘Inbad the Ailer’ promoted their laxative in 100ft of
Technicolor. The Division of Sanitary Reports offered films from Washington as did
the Division of Venereal Diseases, although ‘Diagnosis and Treatment of Syphilis’ in
one and a half hours was Restricted to Physicians.

The DeVry 35mm portable projector c1930