The short film I watched was titled "Machine: Master or Slave." The film was about the emergence of automation in America during WWII, and the many effects it had on both the work force and the factory owners. The film references a specific factory throughout the video, yet we never learn exactly what it is that they produce. It begins with two of the factory workers discussing the rumors circulating about possible layoffs to come, but they aren't all that concerned because they have been working at the company for several years.
Next we see what is assumed to be the head of the company discussing business with his sales manager. They have decided to put in new labor saving machines in place of their men. The benefits of this implementation of automation are lower costs and greater production of goods, but the downfall is that they must terminate the employment of 64 of their men. As the film puts it, "machines come in and men go out, everywhere the same story."
The film shows one of the factory's laid off workers come home to his wife and complain of no jobs to be had anywhere. He explains how these new machines and the implementation of high speed production are taking over, and that there are 10 men for every job that can be had. He then informs his wife that they will be moving to a farm owned by his cousin where there is work available for them both.
Later on in the film we see that the workers are not the only ones who end up suffering from the mass production that has resulted from the new factory machines. The new machinery has succeeded in increasing output by over 50%, yet inventories are piling up as a result. The company is failing to sell this additional inventory because the consumers are unable to afford it. The factory must in turn reduce the prices of their product in order to relieve inventories and get the goods back into the hands of the consumers.
Overall, I thought this film had an interesting take on automation in America, as it showed that it sometimes resulted in consequences for not only the workers but the factory owners as well. As we learned in class, the implementation of high tech machinery replaced many factory workers, and as a result they were left jobless or had to find work in more rural areas. On the other hand, the factory owners sometimes suffered also, and they were forced to deal with excess inventory and unwilling consumers. Overall, it was interesting to learn more about the downsides of automation rather than that it solely led to low costs and increased production of goods.
https://archive.org/details/machine-master_or_slave
This video sounds like exactly what we've been talking about in class-great find! I also think what you pointed out about there being such high inventories is really interesting. Readings from this class have lead us to believe that there was no real downside for the factories, so it's refreshing to learn something about their loss as well.
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