Modern France, the land and the people (1950)

Director	Unknown
Producer	David A. Smart
Contributors	Coronet Instructional FilmsEducational Collaborator: Clyde F. Kohn, Ph.D.
Length	11 minutes
B&W/Color	B&W
UO Library Catalog description:	Depicts the France of this day, from the wheat fields of Normandy to the steel mills of Nancy. Pictures steel workers, grape growers, fishermen, and truck gardeners.
Call #	Ma74
Genre	documentary
Rare	No
Online	Yes
Copyright status	Public Domain
Physical condition	Fair
Oregon-related	No

Notes:

David A. Smart  was the co-founer of Esquire Magazine and co-publisher of Coronet alongside his brother Alfred Smart. The two created Coronet Films, a successful production and distribution company which made educational films from 1946 to the early 1970s.

Some of Coronet’s films became kitschy the older they got. Some films, after entering the public domain, became fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show that takes place on a spaceship and follows three characters, Joel (later Mike), Tom Servo, and Crow who are trapped in the spaceship by a mad scientist and forced to watch terrible movies. They turn to heckling for the duration of the film for entertainment, offering commentary and jokes. The Coronet films that were featured on this cult show are Are You Ready for Marriage?, What to Do on a Date, and Shy Guy.