THE LIGHTHOUSE

Year Published: 1952

Creator: Encyclopedia Britannica Films

Format: 16mm

Description: "The Lighthouse" is a color educational film from 1952, made by New Horizon Films and released by Encyclopedia Britannica Films. Produced by Cynthia Chapman, Hal Albert, and Wilbur T. Blume, this film’s story is told from the perspective of a young boy who lives on the property of a U.S. Coast Guard operated lighthouse. The boy’s father is the lighthouses’ headlight housekeeper and the film follows as the young boy helps his father fulfill his duties from cleaning the light at dawn and watching as the light gets turned on to guide ships at dusk. The film takes place at the Point Sur Lighthouse which was established in 1889 and is located just south of Monterey, California at the peak of a 361-foot rock. At the time of filming, the lighthouse was operated by the United States Coast Guard however today it is part of Point Sur State Historic Park and is open to the public. Opening credits (0:10). Voice of young boy narrates as camera pans rocky cliffs and blue water of Pacific Ocean (0:20). Lighthouse sits on top of rocky cliff, waves crash at bottom of the cliff (0:58). Man and young son exit front door of home, white picket fence (1:08). Father and son in sailor hats go out on walk with dog (1:16). The pair walk along carved out path holding onto white handrails as they walk down cliff-side towards lighthouse building (1:33). The pair look down at white foaming water (1:52). Close-up of father and son’s faces looking down at the water below (1:58). Camera pans lighthouse exterior, constructed of timber and stone (2:16). Light tower (2:30). Aerial view of pair making their way up the interior winding stairs of lighthouse tower (2:31). Camera close-up of iron stairs detailing (2:41). Big light (1000 watt bulb) within the light tower (3:14). Father kneels down and uses white brush to dust off glass prisms that encircle the light (3:22). Little boy uses special rag to clean the exterior glass (3:29). Father and son stare back at each other from either side of the glass (3:42). The pair enter the radio room and stand in front of Seth Thomas Grandfather Clocks that control the radio code signal (4:17). Close-up of Seth Thomas Clock face as father’s hand winds the clock hands (4:26). Father uses ship-to-shore telephone (4:42). Young boy listens to radio signal through earphones the size of his head (4:59). The pair enter the engine room - Jack, a Coast Guardsman, kneels besides silver-colored machinery and uses rag to clean engine that generates electricity for the big light (5:41). The father records dial readings in his logbook (6:06). The father, son, and Jack stand outside with stopwatch to test foghorn (6:33). Close-up of black lighthouse foghorn (6:39). The boys mother appears on the cliffs and beckons for the boy (7:06). Father and son get into pick-up truck and the mother hands them a grocery list through the car window (7:40). Mother looks over white-picket fence at white foaming water pooling around jagged rocks below and the pick-up truck as it winds around the road (7:45). Perhaps 1949 Ford F-3 parks on the road (8:10). Shot of entrance gate to lighthouse road (8:15). Pick-up truck parks on busy commercial town road in front of grocery store (8:51). Young boy stands in front of crates of fresh produce and talks to the vegetable man (9:01). Close-up of Coast Guard emblem painted on the door of the pick-up truck (9:49). Young boy runs down steep sand dune towards the beach (9:55). Boy stands on beach collecting driftwood, framed by jagged rocks and large piece of driftwood (10:06). Young boy sits and investigates a piece of collected driftwood (10:20). Young boy and mother feed chickens overlooking the sea (10:30). Waves seen from the beach at dusk (10:48). Young boy and mother watch as the big light goes on (11:05).PeriscopeFilm 702K subscribers Videos About Support Us on Patreon NASA SPACE MAINTENANCE FEASIBILITY STUDIES 1961-62 SPACESUIT PROTOTYPES XD47534 by PeriscopeFilm

Complete Record:

Transcription

[Music] my home overlooks the blue pacific ocean this heading place to him big rocks and high cliffs protect our home from the ocean ways these same big rocks and high cliffs are dangerous for ships to keep the ships from crashing the united states government has built a warning station here [Music] this is our house i live here with my father and mother and our dog blackie my father is the headlight housekeeper his job is important he has been well trained by the united states coast guard every morning after breakfast we go down to the lighthouse buildings we really need these handrails when a big wind comes to keep from being blown off the path this is the top of the lighthouse today is a clear day we can see white foaming water dash on the rocks our lighthouse stands 270 feet above the water it was built 60 years ago of stone and heavy timber to make it strong against winds and storms when we get inside you'll see all the machinery that makes our warning signals work the light tower itself is 50 feet high we go up up up the winding stairs the stairs are made of heavy iron and are bolted to the concrete walls of the tower our first job is to clean the lens we take a soft rag especially prepared for cleaning glass here is our big light it is a 1000 watt bulb the round layers of glass are called prisms the prisms form a complete circle around the light globe they make the light brighter so it can be seen by ships 23 miles at sea while father cleans the inside of the prisms i clean the outside our light is not the only signal we have a powerful radio transmitter worn ships that have radio our next job is in the radio room these clocks control the radio code signal our station sends out once a week my father winds the clock this is a ship to shore telephone my father talks to a radio operator on a ship at sea i like to listen to the radio signal through the earphones i am waiting for the clock to start the radio signal when the big hand comes to the red marks the signal goes out [Music] ah [Music] this is the engine room jack lee a coarse guardsman is working on the engine that generates electricity for the big light in clear weather the light is a warning to ships that do not have radios the engine i am cleaning furnishes air pressure for the foghorn in foggy weather our light cannot be seen and the horn must sound its warning to ships father records the dial readings in his logbook the dial showed the exact time the foghorn was blowing and the light was shining each day we test the foghorn by timing it with a stopwatch all this information in the logbook is sent to a coast guard base where a permanent record is kept of our lighthouse mother has a grocery disk ready it is fun to go to the village to help buy supplies jack lee stands watch while we are away the light station is never left unattended mother watches from the picket fence from here she can see the steep winding road that has been cut out of the rock it is one mile from the light station to where the coast guard road meets the highway from the gate our light station can be seen on the top of the rock the vegetable man mr jones is a good friend of mine he often lets me sample the fruit our pickup truck belongs to the united states government the coast guard emblem is painted on the door of the truck in the afternoon i play on the beach in the sand dunes pieces of wood are tossed up on the beach by waves at high tide collecting driftwood is my hobby i find such interesting shapes and often wonder what lands they come from the sun is going down and it is time to go home to help mother feed the chickens i like this because the chickens eat out of my hand as the sun sets mother and i walk down together to watch our big light go on our big light which helps all ships safely on their way you

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