The American Look (1958)
Category: Designers
Posted by: James on 10/18/2006 2:11:00 PM | Digg | Stumble It! | del.icio.us
In Appreciation of the Stylists of America


"A Tribute to the Men and Women, Who Design" from 1958. Awesome.

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wow.
Posted by a35mmlife on 10/19/2006 12:27:00 AM

this is amazing...thank you x10.
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Yep
Posted by Michael on 10/19/2006 5:07:00 AM

Cool video! (Though I already saw it several days ago on the "Malls of America" blog)

Can you get this on DVD? Anyone know if it's available? Love to be able to watch it on my TV.
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Fantastic.
Posted by Yule Heibel on 10/21/2006 5:52:00 PM

Thanks for posting this, it's a great find. Amazing to see this low-rise, low-density, elegantly sprawling conception of design and style, brought forward with what amounts to religious fervour (with the car as holy grail!). Makes me appreciate even more what Jane Jacobs did when she championed density and cities. In 1958 *that* must have been truly weird!
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"American Look", and others on Archive.org
Posted by Robert on 11/1/2006 9:53:00 AM

Free and high-quality downloads of "American Look" (parts 1-3), "The definitive Populuxe film on 1950s automotive, industrial, interior and architectural design."

http://www.archive.org/details/American1958

Also there, is the equally interesting "American Engineer" (again parts 1-3)...

http://www.archive.org/details/American1956
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A Mashed version of this film
Posted by Austin on 12/16/2006 5:17:00 PM

A shortened version of this original film was subtly overlaid with graphical elements to give a quite sinister American 'alternative' by Edouard Salier in an award-winning short film 'Empire'. There's a quicktime version on www.edouardsalier.com, if you rummage around you'll find it under 'shorts'.

Fascinating to see the original though! Interesting to see that the film itself belongs as much to that era in terms of editing, pacing and narration as does the objects it portrays - likewise Salier's version is as firmly rooted in the early 21st centaury.

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Impressed!
Posted by Philie on 12/17/2006 10:24:00 AM

It's a such fascinating movie! and quite interessting, it's the debut of "the aesthetism"
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American Look
Posted by Mitchell Dakelman on 5/23/2007 11:17:00 AM

I first saw the film in 1973. I have a 16mm Technicolor print. Anyone who would like a DVD contact me at dakelmanm.com. There were actually several films in this series made by Jam Handy Company for Chevrolet. They were loaned to schools on 16mm film free of charge until 1972 when they were withdrawn. Then, they gave the film copies away. I still have mine.

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correction email address
Posted by Mitchell Dakelman on 5/23/2007 11:19:00 AM

My email is dakelmanm@aol.com for the American Look
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DVDs of American Look
Posted by David Titus on 7/10/2007 6:08:00 AM

http://www.filmsatthesedgwick.com/AmericanLook.html

I originally posted American Look on Google Video and have seen tremendous interest in it being on DVD. I hope this helps!
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