Il fischio a Eaton Falls

At first glance you might think this is another story of technology's double edged sword. This film has lots of twists, turns, drama and division to make it highly entertaining. Poor Lloyd Bridges is stuck in the middle. Can he find a solution to please everyone?

While "The Whistle at Eaton Falls" is neither a famous film nor one that's highly rated, I absolutely loved it and think it's a terrific lesson about basic economics. It manages to tell a very intelligently written story in such an exciting way that it left me very impressed despite its overall current score of 6.8. If you give the film a chance, I think there's a good change you'll like it.

The story is set in a New England town where the economy is based on a couple factories. After one of them closes, this makes it only one...and if that company fails, so goes the town. But the owner of the existing factory has bad news...they cannot keep up with the competition and unless there's a reorganization of the company (which means, at least temporarily, some layoffs), the company will have to close. Before he can implement this austerity plan, however, he has to consult with the head of the local union, Brad Adams (Lloyd Bridges). Adams is reluctant to go along with the plan and before he can say yea or nay, disaster strikes when the president of this plastics company is killed in a plane crash. Now here is where it gets interesting. The dead man's widow is going to pick a new president to run her company...and she picks Brad. After all, the union appears to be behind him and he is a smart and reasonable man...perhaps he can somehow manage to keep the company afloat.

I loved so much about this film. Instead of showing the union or management as being 'the enemy', it's more about give and take and basic economics. It's also interesting because it delves into human nature...and explores the motivations of some who wouldn't mind destroying the company! Overall, exquisitely written and although it might seem a bit cerebral, an excellent lesson and an excellent and exciting story. Well done by everyone...especially Bridges and Murray Hamilton, who played the local jerk trying, for his own ends, to destroy everything.

Lloyd Bridges stars as a union man at a small plastics plant in New Hampshire who is suddenly thrust into a management position when the owner is killed in a car accident. The film examines the tenuous relationship between management and labor and the effects on outside agitators.

The plant is the lifeblood of this small town, but the owner has fallen behind in bank payments and has outdated machinery. He's losing contracts. Once Bridges takes over he decides to totally shut down while they try to land some contracts. He also tries to come up with an automatic cutter so that the plastic parts can be produced faster and cleaner. But an outsider (Murray Hamilton) keeps stirring up workers against Bridges and the widowed owner (Dorothy Gish). What ensues is a race against time as the workers become more and more disgruntled.

In a rare starring role, Bridges is excellent. Despite star billing, Gish has a smallish part. Other notable actors include Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis, Arthur O'Connell, Anne Seymour, Carleton Carpenter, Parker Fennelly, Russell Hardie, Doro Merande, and James Westerfield.

This is a wonderful, absorbing story of the people of fictional Doubleday Plastics.

You'll be reminded of the Frank Capra school of storytelling with unforgettable performances by a terrific cast; and the taut plotline, prophetic in its day, will be now all too familiar to many who have since seen the problems faced by similar mom-and-pop firms in today's fiercely-competitive corporate marketplace. You'll find every scene absorbing in this underrated Siodmak masterpiece. Seek it out! Highly recommended to all.

Business is tough. The owner of the plastic manufacturing plant in town wants to put in new machines, but that will furlough half the workers. When he dies, his widow, Dorothy Gish, puts union leader Lloyd Bridges in charge. He gets a quick education in business and union relations.

Producer Louis De Rochemont had been the longtime producer of the prestigious THE MARCH OF TIME newsreel series. He brought his concern with contemporary issues to this movie. Even seventy years later, the issues seem fresh and relevant and the faces, even those of well known actors, seen real.