Film Identifier: F.2005-01-0020

Run Time
0h 32m 34s

Format
16mm

Color
B&W

Sound
Optical

Date Produced
circa 1960

Abstract
Sponsored film by Heinz uses historical reenactments to trace the history of preserved foods. Inventors and scientists made advances in preserving food throughout history up to the first preserved Heinz product, bottled horseradish. The enterprise blossomed into the household name brand we know today. Scenes of the modern day factory are inter-cut with their history. Heinz shows how cleanliness, quality, and home cooking in small batches has always and continues to be the motto of the company.

Log
00:00 - opening credits on flipping pages of a book, page reads “France, in 1795 was emerging from Revolution. Already the lengthening shadow of a Corsican was falling across the map of Europe.” 01:01 - CU shadow of a profile on a map, PAN to Genera Napoleonl standing in a grand office with marble pillars and a balcony, we hear crowd roaring below over a victory, soldier enters MS, MCU PANNING Napoleon tells soldier they cannot eat victory, soldiers are dying of scurvy, puts a call out to anyone who can preserve fresh wholesome food over long periods to be rewarded well 03:06 - CU sign Confections M. Appert, CU ZOOM OUT cook in large kitchen pouring soup into a glass jar with a ladle, woman comes in and says its too late to be working, MS man sealing glass with cork and parchment to get the air out but his seals aren’t good enough, when air gets in food goes bad, ZOOM IN MCU places bag of sealed jars of meat and vegetables into boiling pot on stove, clock ticking represents time passing, man removes jars of food from pot, the glasses broke from being too hot, he will try again 05:15 - MS FA wife comes in to tell Appert about the reward for anyone who can preserve food for the army as he works in the kitchen 05:57 - MLS, MCU Appert brings his results to the directory, interior office, shows his proof that his preserved foods lasted travel, climate change, and a years time and still kept fresh, director looking over papers, requests a description of the process before the reward 07:05 - CU open book, title page “The Art of Preserving Animal and Vegetable Substances for Many Years by Appert” 07:15 - CU Napoleon, ZOOM OUT men dressed in military clothes surround his desk in his office, Napoleon hands Appert reward of 12,000 francs 07:45 - England 1810, MLS woman in bonnet and apron in front of stone hearth, sets table for tea, enters Peter Durand, the finest pickler preserver in Middlesex, his preserves are going bad, she offers him tea, PAN around to table, MS he finds inspiration from the metal tea kettle and the lid of a canister in the kitchen, PAN Durand excitedly runs out the door with canister 09:14 - sign “Jeremy Stroud, Timsmith,” Durand runs through doorway, ZOOM IN MS interior metals shop, Durand asks Stroud to make a tin canister, CU hands crafting metal canister with lid, MS men holding can, asks how many he can make in a day 10:38 - MS, CU Durand and wife in kitchen in front of stone fireplace soldering tin cans of food shut, they hear popping sounds in the pantry, MLS running into pantry, MS entering interior pantry, see tin cans explode on shelf, they shut the door fast, he goes back in for a face full of peas 11:41 - Paris 1857, sign “Ecole Norale” MLS, CU professor Louis Pasteur stands with other scientists around table covered with beakers and test tubes discussing yeast, believes that fermentation is caused by bacteria much like yeast, and that bacteria is present in all foods, not all are harmful, some are beneficial, says solution to keep food fresh in cans is cooking food hot enough when sealing to kill all bacteria, pressure cooker will work 14:15 - title card reads “Meanwhile... the New Art of Preserving Food comes to the New World in the person of one William Underwood” map of America 1817, ZOOM IN on Louisiana, “New Orleans 1817” 14:35 - sign “St. Charles Coffee House” tilt down well dressed man and African American in tattered clothing carries his bags into doorway, MLS PAN RIGHT walks in, interior coffee house, CU signing name Mr. Underwood from London, England 14:54 - MS, MCU Mr. Underwood pardons himself to a table of gentlemen drinking coffee, they stand to greet him as he introduces himself as representing a pickler and preserver company, tells them he wishes to set up an enterprise in the states, asks if anyone is interested, they refuse him because they not long ago fought off English soldiers in battle, they decline and sit back down, montage of MS Underwood’s offerings being rejected, men shaking their heads 16:17 - MS speaks with man from cafe, says he was right in that he would not find business in Louisiana, he decides to walk to Baltimore through unsettled savage country to find business. TILT DOWN to feet walking out of room 16:52 - MS of feet in dress clothes walking with luggage through terrain, map of land superimposed, “1818, 1819 Baltimore” 17:29 - MLS bow of ship in harbor, ships in background, montage of rejections in Baltimore, MS feet doing more walking through sand, water, and through vegetation 18:11 - “Boston, 10 Years Later,” sign “Wm. Underwood & Co. Pickles, Sauces, Lobsters,” PAN RIGHT MS two potential customers discussing the new fad of pickling 18:41 - CU jar of preserved tomatoes, ZOOM OUT man hands the jar to Underwood who is now gray, they discuss how the business is not picking up, people think its too expensive, say another company is pickling oysters in Baltimore where he was rejected 10 years ago 19:41 - “Ten Years Later” Underwood dictates at desk looking through the books as assistant transcribes, business is still scattered with low demand, the abbreviation for canister in books coins the term “tin cans” 21:09 - “Fort Sumter 1861” LS Fort Sumter surrounded by water, CU cannon firing, HA FA LS long row of men on horseback ride under camera 21:27 - SA MS Underwood looking out window, HA soldiers marching past a people wave to them, PAN as Underwood walks to desk where assistant sits talking about the perils of war, they must be fed, food preserve business started by one war, will be enlarged by another, inspired by Pastuer 22:44 - 1865, LS tree and man dark on horizon, sky with clouds, narrator explains canned foods were still too expensive and of uncertain quality, 1869 in Sharpsburg, Penna LS model of his first house surrounded by fields, MLS boy (Mr. Smithers) working in field, 12 yrs. old started tending vegetable garden then marketing surplus to neighbors, by 16 able to employ 3-4 helpers with delivery to Pittsburgh grocers 23:43 - MS Mr. Smithers in his business preparing vegetables for sale, man Henry Heinz walks in, offers to give him top grade vegetables for more pay, offers to higher quality bottled horseradish for his store, Mr. Smithers agrees 25:01 - MS FA Henry Heinz and business partner bottling horseradish, that was the first order taken from Heinz, promise best quality and uniformity with reasonable prices, MS desk where he handled first books, RA Heinz at 25 years old at desk tending books, reads his mission statement on quality and price to be sold worldwide 26:29 - MLS, MS housewife stirring pot on stove, ZOOM IN plate of fresh vegetables, cooked fresh daily, clean, in small quantities, inspiration for Heinz products 26:56 - MLS SA chefs in white hats inside Heinz factory stirring vats of Heinz products cooked in relatively small quantities, CU HA rotating displays of fruits and vegetables, chefs adding in lots of butter and fresh cream to vat, HA woman sorting buckets of produce on assembly lines 27:28 - LS Capitol Building, [sound becomes stretched and muffled], CU Pure Food Act 1906 first food law, MS man playing Theodore Roosevelt reading over act, Mr. Heinz challenges an additive Benzoate of Soda that was still allowed in act to be prohibited, they shake hands when he offers to share his secret formula of good food, clean conditions, no preservatives 28:47 - CU newspaper “Warning, U.S. Gov’t Says Benzoate of Soda in Food Produces Injury to Digestion and Health”, CU Heinz adds, benzoate free pure food product and statements about healthy eating and avoiding preservatives 29:12 - MS Heinz superimposed over HA Heinz workers experimenting in a lab 29:24 - LS Melon Institute exterior, MS female and male scientist in lab researching food 29:39 - “Quality Control Department” man testing Heinz samples for quality, MS male master chefs in Heinz experimental kitchen improving taste, MS women in home economics kitchen finding healthy ways to prepare preserved food, woman walks to camera, ZOOM IN CU plate of spaghetti and meatballs 30:21 - Montage of cans moving quickly through factory 30:42- MS SA boy walking down path through field with basket of tomatoes, older boy walks with wheel barrow, man rides vegetables in horse driven cart 30:54-32:34 - Montage of scenes from modern Heinz factory inter-cut with scenes from the history, LS FA first home of Heinz, TILT up high-rise Heinz factory, Montage shots of farmland grown across the country, rows of Heinz products float across camera, label “57” for their 57 products, book closes, the end

Main Credit

Additional Credit

Actors, Performers and Participants