Power and Wheels: The Automobile in Modern Life

Year Published: 1972

Creator: ?Encyclopedia Britannica ebec

Copyright: Registered 22May72 · MP22868 (Jan-Jun 1972) Copyright holder: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp

Complete Record: Surveys the social and cultural impact of the automobile on American life in the past 50 years, focusing on its significance as a means of transportation and as an expression of its owner’s personality. Shows how the car has increased geographical and social mobility, but also considers problems created in the process, including deaths in accidents, air pollution, and a new population distribution in which small towns are dying and cities are choked with traffic. Discusses the relationship between the automobile and the economy, and examines the advantages and disadvantages of widespread individual car ownership. Arial shots of freeways and cars. Animation of creatures watching human life on a television. Shots of someone filling up their gas tank. Stills of cars as they progressed from carriages to modern vehicles. Animation of cars. Cars being made in an assembly line. Various shots of the automotive industry in our everyday life. Footage of a junk yard full of old cars. Shots of heavy traffic.