Servant of Mankind

Good promotional short to pump up interest in the Spencer Tracy film, "Edison, the Man." The man who had more than 1,200 patents to his name and brought the world into the era of light and power is given a fine tribute in this MGM short which manages to squeeze a lot of American history into the first six minutes.

A montage of swiftly moving events is shown: the pioneers heading west, the quest for silver and gold, the Civil War, trading posts, Wall Street, the trans-Atlantic railroad, the Chicago fire and a few other spectacular events.

It was up to Edison to give the country the power to convert our vast resources with electricity. The countless inventions that were a spin off from his original patent are mentioned, including the radio, the phonograph, the motion picture and the wireless.

Interesting tribute to the man and a short history lesson for all of us.

Servant of Mankind (1940)

*** (out of 4)

MGM promotional short for their upcoming EDISON, THE MAN with Spencer Tracy. This here was without question made just to build up an interest in Edison and there's no question that it does that just fine. The film starts off showing various parts of history that America has gone through and mentions the names of Washington and Lincoln. We then hear the story of Thomas Edison and see some of the items he created so that life would be better in this country. From here the documentary-short goes over various inventions, shows us some and repeats how these things help us. There's certainly nothing ground breaking or masterful here but I think this would be a good film to show people with little knowledge of who Edison was. I'm sure a lot of kids today don't know him so this short does a very good job at giving a quick, 9-minute history lesson. This here certainly isn't going to take the place of a history book but it's good enough to make it worth viewing (and build interest in the Tracy film).

MGM is fluffing Edison. There may be several reasons for that. I'm not going to speculate, but this is a fanboy short for the man. This is only nine minutes long. It manages to put his name beside Washington and Lincoln, and weave him into all of American history. Part of that must be patriotism during a time of danger. Like the man himself, this is selling the name. Once the list gets started, it is relentless. There is no talk of downside. Without him, the world would apparently be in the dark ages and America would be empty wilderness. The truth is a little more complicated. This is not doing complicated.

This documentary short was produced by MGM primarily as a promo for the movie Edison, the Man starring Spencer Tracy. It starts with a recap of American history, complete with amusing references to America being a "husky upstart" with "callouses on our hands and hair on our chest." It's easy to laugh at a lot of this and I admit it's a little corny but the intention is good and the history accurate. From there it gives an overview of some of Thomas Edison's bigger inventions and how they helped change the way people live. Like the two Edison biopics MGM made in 1940, this short's purpose is to highlight the positive and uplifting accomplishments of Thomas Edison. It's an enjoyable short even if it's a little dry.

Frank Whitbeck talks a lot over a series of clips, mucking up the order of things, leading to a paean about Thomas Edison, who seems to have invented everything from electricity to sewing machines, to radio. Oh, Alexander Graham Bell may have helped with the telephone, but otherwise the United States was a vast wilderness with people standing around waiting for the Wizard of Menlo Park to invent stuff.

The reason this MGM short is even further away from an accurate history is that it was intended as a promotional film for two of MGM's 1940 productions: YOUNG TOM EDISON, with Mickey Rooney as the great genius. He would grow up to be Spencer Tracy in EDISON THE MAN.