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S1
Earth in this place volcanic fires are burning and weird as it may seem the steam is trapped to provide the power to run machines Italy is famous for its volcanoes Vesuvius of course the most renowned smoking mountain in the world and Mount Etna too
It was a weird volcanic place like this where the ground smokes and boils that the Romans believed was the entrance to the infernal regions. But today in this devil's cauldron they're using the steam for power in factories. 600 feet into the air the steam shoots roaring and hissing.
And now let's go on to an industry that's old and famous and romantic. Marble. These are the world famous marble quarries of Carrara. For many a long century, the very name Carrara has been symbolic with the art of sculpture.
To these marble mountains, which gleam as white as snow, the great Michelangelo came to mine huge blocks for his giant masterpieces. They used to dig it out with chisels, now they do it with dynamite. They're charging these mountains with 25 tons of high explosives. Here's one of the planters of dynamite.
They're going to give us a blast worthy of the Ducey himself. The red flag waves danger. Throw the switch! Let her go! Twenty-five tons of dynamite in one grand blast. The whole side of the mountain is blown away.
You would think a blast like that would pulverize the white stone into dust without a splinter big enough to carve the statue of a peanut, but not at all. Most of the marble comes out in huge chunks and tomorrow men will go to work shaping these chunks into the beautiful statue with which Mussolini is decorating all Italy.
Accidenti! Whoa there! What's this? By the beard of Michelangelo, those chunks of marble are running uphill. Well, maybe Mussolini is a magician too. Maybe they can put mountains together after they've blown them apart. Or is the cameraman just having a little fun with us?
Marvel means sculptures, talented artists and skilled artisans and now Mussolini speaks of the artisans of Italy. He tells how the Italian skilled workers prove to the world their mastery and ingenuity, and that brings us to the human element of industry. In the drama of man and machine, the Duce is trying to maintain harmony.
He handles labor problems with a firm hand. Strikes are forbidden. Employees and workingmen are compelled to arbitrate their disputes. But the blacksmith's son prides himself on his sympathy with the masses of men who labor. He goes among the workingmen, fraternizes with them, talks matters over. There's an old familiar iron hand in the silken glove.
Living conditions are being vastly improved. In one city after another splendid apartment houses have been built. Ancient tumbledown buildings have been torn down and replaced by up-to-date structures. There are schools with the latest educational facilities. There are great hospitals. And now comes Mussolini's forum built in the manner of the ancient emperors.
It was here that a terrible tragedy occurred. A terrific landslide. The earth slid out from under a town. And all of Montevulciano went crumbling into ruins. And what had been a fine old town of pleasant homes was just a jumble of mortar and stone and dust. And this was all that remained of the pleasant town of Montevulciari.
Instantly help came from Rome. Here's how they took care of the homeless. The survivors were housed in a city of tents. Yes, and these homeless children had to be taken care of. And the Red Cross was on the job night and day, just the way the Red Cross is in all lands.
This is a time when a dictator comes in handy. Build a new town and make it fast, said Mussolini. And things began to hum. The task of building a new town gets underway in record time. Old walls are pulled down. Amid crashing and general hubbub, the men attach ropes and cables and then down they come.
The pace is mighty rapid. Armies of workmen in continuous shifts are laboring. Streets are laid out. Not the old-fashioned twisted kind. They are laid out according to a modern plan of home building. Foundations are put up. Stone and mortar are put together to make solid enduring structures. Houses are built and up they go.
All modern improvements are included in the new town. Plumbing, ventilation, electricity. Yes, as if by magic. Within 40 days of that catastrophe, mind you only 40 days, with Mussolini driving them on, a new city was built near the flattened ruins of the old. The people move in. Children are playing and working.
Bathtubs and indoor plumbing will be a good deal better than in the ancient town. And all is set for spaghetti dinners, vino, and christening. Now let's hear Mussolini tell about the most important thing of all, agriculture.
The Duce emphasizes agriculture and also the markets for the produce from the fertile Italian fields because most Italians are still on the land. In spite of the machine age, the country is mainly agricultural.
Fiduci himself comes from a country village, and in spite of his big town store closed, he still knows how to pitch in and help the hired hands. This is his own farm, and it's a model of expert wheat cultivation. In fact, Fiduci has been known to win a prize for the wheat he grows.
The crops are rich, and the farmer works hard, but he's happy. Well, I mean, the poets say he's happy. For this is the same old rural life that Virgil sang about. The life of the open country, simple, tranquil, joyous. The fields are rich with the produce of a fertile soil and the fruit hangs right from the tree.
And of course there are domestic animals everywhere in Italy. Longhorn cattle grazed placidly. and their flocks of woolly sheep among the hills. Mussolini has done much to improve the breed of horses in Italy and the ground shakes as the thundering herd goes by.
Here we see farmer Mussolini taking it easy down by the railroad tracks and when he spends the day on his farm the mighty black shirt dictator throws aside the cares of government. He chats with the farmer folks and you'd think he was a country boy once again as he waves while the train goes by.
Bright and early the next morning, the produce is loaded for the market. Fruit and vegetables. And a long line of trucks goes rumbling along the road to the neighboring town. And the trucks are ingenious. They're built to open up and serve as vegetable stands at the market. And what a handsome marketplace it is.
South of Rome is one of the most infamous plague spots in the whole world. Every school history of the Roman Empire tells of the Pontine Marshes, a great stretch of swampland south of Rome. The ancient Romans, 25 centuries ago, tried to drain them. The Popes of the Middle Ages tried to drain them. They all failed.
They couldn't do it. The Pontine Marshes, during the long procession of centuries, remained a region of deserted, pestilent, fever-breeding swamp. For 2,500 years, the Pontine Marshes were a blot on Italy. But today Mussolini has accomplished the historic task.
He has drained the Pontine marshes and the swamps have been turned into solid rich farmland ready for the hundreds of thousands of happy peasant folk. Already the first town has been built and dedicated and they call it Mussolinia. Hail Mussolinia! And now comes the feast day. It's the Grape Festival and a mighty pleasant time that is.
Because grapes mean vino, Chianti, Lacryma Christi, Astus Pomonte. In Italy they have many things, one of which is not prohibition. They also have no beer parades. This is a wine parade. And they don't sing we want beer. They sing we have wine.
These are pleasant scenes and it's no wonder that Dulci boasts about the beautiful panorama of Italy.
S2
You can't blame Mussolini for boasting about the glories of Italy. Yes, Italy is a land of beauty, a land...
Italy Under Fascism: Improvement of Economy and Living Conditions
American Newsreel propaganda
The Peoples Struggle
Politics, Philosophy, and History
Appears in episode
