Great film, though it's almost an episode of Mr. Wizard rather than a promotional film. Mr Wizard shows two just absolutely raptured kids on how electromagnetism works. The two kids are just so cute and attentive that it's hard to believe "Willy" and "Betsy" are actors credited at the end. Great little piece, and comes highly reccomended from me!

This is a real gem from the golden age of television. Don Herbert guides his local house guests through a series of experiments in magnetism. Rather than dominate every moment of his lessons, Mr. Wizard asks the children to make assumptions about the outcome of the experiments he is about to present.

I remember Nickelodeon's Mr. Wizard's World from the 1980s and really enjoyed how he offered a series of short-form experiments in a half an hour demonstrating various scientific principles. The really cool thing about this episode is that he does the entire 30 minutes presenting experiments about magnetism. It is a little bit more interesting in my humble opinion.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, watching young Willy (Not his real name, by the way) unprotected by goggles or a face mask enjoying a magnet just a mere meter away from a dish of unprotected mercury is rather shocking in this modern day.

I found it interesting that the production found value in showing young Willy and Betty helping Mr. Wizard put his various electromagnets away during the show. I wonder if this was purely seen as a way to pad the 30-minute presentation or a way to model polite behavior in children. Kind of a cool moment.

A rare color film of Mr. Wizard from the 1950s. Mr. Wizard was a staple of kids television from the 1950s into the 1980s, and his genial and accessible explanations of scientific phenomena are on full display here.

Watching the film, you can see where the Moody Institute films got their ideas; two kids named Willy and Betty come in and learn about science, in this case electromagnetism. First, is an explanation of what is a magnet, and then how to build an electromagnet. There are a number of applications, such as a telegraph key and door buzzer. A demonstration involving a vertical coil moving in mercury made me cringe a little in terms of safety.

During the telegraph demonstration, it transfers to a soft sell spot, promoting the benefits of a breakfast made up of "fruits, cereal, milk, bread and butter". The transition, however, is pretty obvious, because the kids are normally not scripted throughout suddenly deliver clearly scripted responses. On the other hand, I did like the fact that Betty was as much of a participant in the experiments as Willy.

Finally, the film is pretty beat up, with chunks missing from the start, and periodic jumps throughout the film. But to see Don Herbert in his prime is worth it.