This late 1960s / early 1970s color film tries to define how to measure time. It was produced by Donald Rawlings at Halliford Studios and is sponsored by both Pan Am and Rolex. A Pan American Jet Clipper brakes in front of the camera (:35). The time is 9:25 on a 1970 Rolex GMT 1675 (:42). An animation leads from prehistoric sea creatures to dinosaurs to the Egyptians (:57-1:26). Time pieces shown are shadows against the sand and a cuckoo clock. A mother sits in a 1970s decorated living room holding a large clock to teach time to her twin daughters (1:27-1:42). Passengers board a Pan American DC-8-32 (1:45). A teacher uses a globe to explain seasons to middle-school children. Shown are paintings of Sir Isaac Newton and Immanuel Kant. A high school student reads Kant’s “Critique del la Raison Pratique” in a library. Glancing at his watch, he runs out and down a street, dodges 1960s British vehicles, and waits for his girlfriend. He drops a cigarette butt and grinds it out with his brown loafer. She runs to him, with London landmarks seen as a backdrop (1:55-3:42). A female college student with a late 1960s bobbed haircut studies Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (3:43-4:19). A wooden mechanical clock spins (4:21). Pages are turned on a 1966 calendar; calendars are shown from various years (4:28-5:12). Adjustments are made and the roof opens so that a telescope at an observatory can view the nighttime sky. The Photographic Zenith Tube moves into place. Computers in the control room record the information on punch cards. These are viewed (5:38-7:00). Time zones are explained and a short picture of a location there shown (7:01-8:00). Different clocks are shown, including one that looks like a castle tower, another with a cameo and ceramic figures on it, and another with complex mechanical components (8:01-8:15). “The Waste of Daylight” was written by William Willett and the 1916 Daily Express urges readers to move their clocks forward. A hand moves the giant hands of a clock forward an hour (8:23-8:52). Pan American employees, including a uniformed stewardess, work out flight schedules from London to San Francisco to reflect the change. The passengers wear 1970s hairstyles and clothing. A male passenger changes the time on his Rolex (8:53-9:47). A Pan American Boeing SST Supersonic Clipper is shown. Inside, a family with seats that face each other are served breakfast on large seat trays (9:48-10:02). A ticking grandfather clock is panned up. A fancy chronometer and historic merchant ship with many sails are shown (10:04-11:04). Fancy pocket watches with their winding keys are shown, ending with a 1970s Perpetual Date Rolex (11:21-11:30). The components of making a quartz crystal cesium atomic clock are shown and explained for 1965 (11:32-12:37). A rocket launches. A mock-up of a Pan American rocket to take passengers to the moon is shown (13:19-14:07). A 1970s Oyster Perpetual Day Date Rolex is shown (14:10).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
