Rockefeller Center (1945, sound)

from 12 acres in mid-manhattan from Rockefeller Center come the voices the opinions the news of a Nation America speaking by least wires cables wireless to hundreds of millions of readers blanketing a continent through the 146 stations of NBC condensing elaborating illustrating a war world's crises cables from Chung King edited here at time America speaking in books from Simon and Schuster through magazines with teeming circulations [Music] from Rockefeller Center greatest news and entertainment disseminating Capital Oasis Of Steel and Limestone Grandeur that sprang from a near slum it was July 31 painful decade Depression era when the first steam shovel bit into three forlorn deteriorated shabby blocks when five thousand men began to blast and hack and cart away a million tons of Earth and Rubble foreign all we needed Heaven Knows the employment that the Architects presaged it was time for a bold stroke but as the project began to sing and soar depression Panic cynics wailed whatever in a world gone broke will come of it well when 75 000 workers were through this came of it this Titan of the skyline the RCA building this home of radio architect's dream of functional power this and 13 other great structures designed as a unit as a balanced Hall with Gardens Vistas space and light harmoniously utilized foreign [Music] goes right into business among other great industrialists interrogate any given bee and he'll vow he's living in the country obviously he is foreign [Music] flight from this great upper Concourse where successive flower crops tell the time of year here Atlas wise with the international building British and French buildings friendly neighbors are joined by the channel looking across at them the 67 year old Saint Patrick's Cathedral of Gothic Grandeur sees What 20th century man has wrought from sweat and steel and storm here centers a cinema Empire here the most palatial movie house on earth capacity 140 000 patrons a week its sister the center an equally lavish home of operas and dazzling Ice shows and the show House of world drama on Rockefeller Plaza many a center right recognizes the man responsible for all this John D Rockefeller Jr [Music] Thirty thousands work in this 12 acre 14 building domain every day visiting throngs equal to the population of Grand Rapids come gliding up the escalators from the Subways without creating the slightest congestion the building directories could be pages from a who's who of Commerce great Airlines favor the super modernity of the center Here Eddie Rickenbacker deals with traffic problems of the skyways that he has watched encircle the world since his Ace days of 1918. foreign yes the center is a magnet for great transportation companies of all categories and the magnet for such ceaseless droves of sightseers and tourists and students from all over this hemisphere that a large staff of guides expounds the message and meaning of its scores of symbolic murals allegories of world history this artist's vision of New Frontiers dramatizes man's progress towards civilization foreign to Sciences at the center you go to the world of tomorrow's aircraft [Music] now you can buy anything from an airplane to English pipe mixtures here for gift shopping can include a Swedish item or something unbottled from Scotland some exotic bouquets from the Orient or say a yellow-throated warbler whose ancestors migrated from the canaries [Music] 24 restaurants and these dozen Acres a gastronomic gamut runs from buttermilk to artichokes hollandaise from the Netherlands to the nether regions 20 feet below the street opposite of characteristic London Grill is a cafe typical of a free Paris here too is New York's loftiest cocktail lounge 65 stories up adjoining it is the Glamorous Rainbow Room unused now except for formal functions official dinners and for a dizzying Heavenly View of the world's most jam-packed Island [Music] who presents to the world but what are the hidden facilities serving behind its bright facade a special atmosphere here eight huge air conditioning plants like this compose the greatest system of its kind in the world an engineer at this control can tell the climatic score in an office or a studio a quarter of a mile away and dispatch a Mountain's effort to attack the city's human swelter foreign deep down in modern catacombs machinists keep vigil against any mechanical breakdown carpentry shops saw and Hammer incessantly of repairs and improvements of tens of thousands of offices three locksmiths give their full time to keeping the center keyed up a whole Brigade of vacuum cleaners Breeze up the dust each night for the center Air Force well there are fifteen thousand windows down an arterial ramp go all supplies all Freight for all 14 buildings and this unique Branch Post Office greater than many are sizeable cities [Music] Vaders which climb the RCA building travel at 1400 feet a minute can cover the zooming run in 37 seconds going up foreign the man-made Peak these lightning conveyances take you to is the three deck Promenade 70 stories high where you can see 50 miles on a clear day look down on the nation's most influential shopping street Fifth Avenue and the emerald patch of Central Park foreign Hudson's Majestic River climbing toward West Point in Albany and if you're very lucky salute the Queen Mary and pay your respects to Al Smith's Empire State world's tallest structure 102 stories on the other hand you may be interested in a smattering of Rockettes perfecting their Farm on the roof of the most magnificent Motion Picture theater on earth a music hall yes these are the Pampered princesses of precision worlds Champs at subtle timing Supreme at assorted Sports internationally toasted for terrific taps [Music] hahaha the off-stage life of this celebrated troop is unprecedented in the show world Rockettes have comfortable rest quarters may stay here overnight if they like their backstage realm is more like a college Club than a show shop [Music] among these girls there exists a genuine core spirit that has kept them on the crest for more than a decade with thousands of enthusiasts who queue up and block long lines this foyer by the way is 60 feet five stories in height office of managing director isil a future production is planned Leon leonidoff and Russell Market go over sketches of the forthcoming spectacle to be performed on a block wide stage Usama circular proscenium simulates the sunrise a Scenic rehearsal in miniature by designer Bruno Maine in an extravaganza that will spread over more than half an acre every item is placed and measured in advance in conjunction with Florence rogie director of ballet [Music] meanwhile the most extensive theater costume Department in the world is concerned with the goods of Glamor these two are artists who never take a curtain call who only hear Applause echoing from the wings so the show draws near Premiere each ballerina's delicately sculptured stance studied and styled by the choreographer and director the show interview is as fascinating as the footlighted product what a contrast this Monumental hydraulic apparatus and the Airy likeness of the graceful whimsies it silently serves [Music] thank you foreign s get mixed up call Rockefeller Center Radio City this isn't strange because the greatest radio establishment on Earth sends news drama jokes music into almost every American home almost every day they show you a master control board and say this is radio but it's more an inconceivable skein of wires and circuits 140 stations in concert takes all these generators to supply the juice measure and modulate the current and for every technician there are dozens of radio robots that duplicate manual control radio it's a throng of actors shaping new techniques it's the music of Bach 200 years old or Boogie Woogie it's an endless chain of patient rehearsals for ten thousand dollar shows lasting one night only it's measuring a composer's temple against an immutable allotment of time it's hitting the second on the nose it's timing a long concerto to end six seconds before a scheduled broadcast from Normandy [Music] turntables recording every speech every bulletin every hour [Music] it's a squeaking door or a galloping Bronco a scream in the night [Music] [Music] Henry Henry Aldridge coming mother hi Henry that's radio today as everyone knows day after tomorrow this is everybody's radio radio with eyes television limited by the war now to simple demonstrations [Music] television waiting impatiently to fling its Visions around the world its first International show might most appropriately emanate as a matter of fact from Rockefeller Center which wears on the brow of its proudest Plaza the flags of all the Allied Nations where's and honors them each sundown thank you yes the centers International the Consular officials of all our allies have headquarters here witness these ceremonies each evening all nations of Goodwill may claim a spot in these precincts but most of all this is a typical segment of a country that transforms the obsolete into progress and Splendor if anything ever was this is America foreign