Once film emerged as a major medium around the 1920s, it didn't take long for companies to recognize its power and begin producing promotional pieces. Many are in the “March of Progress” genre, depicting hordes of workers happily toiling and creating the future with their bare hands. To be honest, many of them are difficult to watch, but Master Hands, which depicts car manufacturing in the 1930s, is somehow more palatable, mainly because the Because the flowery narration that usually accompanies the production of is mercifully absent. Flick.
“Master Hands” was created in 1936 and focuses on the incredibly labor-intensive process of producing cars. This car is likely his 1937 model Chevrolet Master Deluxe because it has independent front suspension. The film is set at General Motors' Flint Assembly Plant in Flint, Michigan, and shows the entire manufacturing process from start to finish. And by start, I mean start. The film begins with the meticulous work of a master toolsmith creating the molds needed to forge and cast every part of a car. Then the mold makers and foundry workers arrive, lighting the huge furnaces and filling them with the countless sand molds needed to cast the parts. Giant presses punch out everything from wheels to frame rails to body panels, before everything comes together at the end of the line in a delicate ballet of steel and people.
This whole process is interesting, especially because it shows how little cars have changed in 88 years. Of course, health and safety standards have changed. It's amazing how close workers were allowed to be to machines that could easily be turned into pulp, especially on frame assembly lines. A worker standing just a few inches off the ground is going to have a hell of a day when a giant riveting machine swings in to attach the crossmember to the frame rail. It also appears to be very dark inside the factory, in contrast to the bright assembly floors of today's car factories. It's also notable how vertically integrated the process is, as literally every part of the car appears to be made as needed at the Flint plant.
The film is ostensibly about car building, but as the name suggests, it's a celebration of the craftsmanship that made the entire process work. The hands of the workers, who have probably long since passed away, are shown in close-up, engaged in delicate and cruel work. There's also a lot to be said for the engineering that went into the assembly line itself. Coordinating a process spread over such a vast area and ensuring that all the people and parts are in the right place at the right time without the help of modern control systems can be a daunting task indeed. is.
