Film, Motion Picture

Michigan USA

Color 16mm film reel containing the English-language version of the film "Michigan USA," produced by the Michigan Tourist Council, intended to attract international tourists. The film shares some footage in common with "Detroit: City on the Move" (2015.007.036). The first half of the film focuses on the Detroit area, while the second half highlights the state as a whole.

The film opens with an animated sequence in which a well-traveled family is enticed by the narrator to visit Michigan, "a one state package of the whole United States."

The film begins its profile of the state with a segment focusing on Detroit and its metropolitan area. This section opens with aerial shots of downtown and the intersection of the Edsel Ford Freeway and the John C. Lodge Freeway. Several shots then follow of cars in heavy expressway traffic. A rapid montage then shows one of the Detroit Institute of Arts' galleries, the Detroit Zoo, members of an orchestra, someone sketching on the grounds of the Cranbrook Art Museum, Metropolitan Beach, the statue Spirit of Transportation by Carl Milles outside of Cobo Hall, a view of National Bank of Detroit Building from the silhouetted lobby of the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building, and the side of the 1001 Woodward, a Mitsui Line package freighter, and a Bethlehem Steel Company or Ford Motor Company bulk freighter with the Detroit skyline behind it. As the narrator stresses the proximity to Canada, several shots of the Ambassador Bridge--both aerial, and from the bridge itself--are shown, as is a scene of a car passing through customs. Following several more shots of downtown, the montage continues, showcasing all of the activities that Detroit offers. First are scenes of cultural institutions and theatres; shot follow of both inside and outside of the Detroit Institute of Arts, a 1961 Detroit Symphony Orchestra program, women clad in gowns and fur coats, and the sign for the Masonic Temple. Next the montage focuses on dining and restaurants; this portion features diners inside of the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building's Top of the Flame restaurant, and an unidentified restaurant with red wallpaper, as well as shots of the illuminated signs for Cliff Bell's, Victor Lim, and Topinkas Country House. Scenes of recreation follow, including crowds at Metropolitan Beach, a model yacht race on Belle Isle's model yacht basin, hydroplane racing on the Detroit River, and horse racing. The narrator notes the diversity of the city's population, and the opportunity for taking part in the Americans at Home program over shots of people walking downtown, and events at the International Institute. Following several more shots of people, downtown, and of freeways, are a series of shots of the Detroit Zoo. These feature the Detroit Zoological Park Railroad, a hippopotamus, the lion habitat, zebras, baboons, and the polar bear habitat. This montage then continues with a series of shots of the Boblo boat STE. CLAIRE, followed by Cobo Center, Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center, the interior of the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building's lobby, the City-County Building, and the Veterans Memorial Building. The film then moves to the city's suburbs for a series of shots of Northland Center.

Next, the film focuses on Detroit's industry. Shots follow of the sign for the Chrysler Jefferson Assembly Plant over Jefferson Avenue, the Ford Research and Engineering Center, West Grand Boulevard at Third Street with the General Motors Building in the background, Ex-Cell-O Corporation, Marathon Petroleum Corporation's Detroit Refinery, the U.S. Royal tire factory, a Plymouth assembly line, a line and tour group in a Kellogg's factory. From contemporary industry the narrator pivots toward the history of industry to cover Greenfield Village. Several scenes follow of the attraction.

The film then transitions away from Detroit, to cover the entirety of Michigan. Footage of cars on rural expressways, and a family at a visitor's center are used during the transition. This state-wide portion of the film covers the Mackinac Bridge, Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks, waterfalls in the Upper Peninsula including the Tahquamenon Falls, camping at Michigan's State Parks, and the state's hotels and motels (over night-time footage of neon signs for lodging along Traverse City's Shore Drive). A montage follows themed around site-seeing and activities includes scenes of a family walking through the woods, a rodeo, a harness racing track, antique automobile racing, the Michigan State Capitol building, canoers presumably on the Pine River, a Detroit Tigers game at Tiger Stadium, a Red Wings game at Olympia Stadium, a man parachuting, a Native American event, an aerial shot of the Round Lake Channel in Charlevoix, motor boating, waterskiing, horse-back riding, fox hunting, sailing, a pair of people in a small pedal-powered boat, fishing, a group canoeing past Bond Falls, a group riding in a dune buggy, and beaches (including Grand Haven State Park and Holland State Park).

The narrator then highlights Michigan's seasonal changes and events. This portion features footage of fall leaves, the Michigan State University/University of Michigan football game, the mother goose float in Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade, and a snow covered park.

The concluding montage features scenes from earlier in the film, including several of downtown Detroit.

The film is housed in an olive mailing box with a Ross Roy Incorporated Advertising mailing label affixed it, along with a note which reads, "To: Station Manager (DTW) A.J. Moreau, District Director Traffic and Sales, DTW, From: Regional Manager of Stations - ATL."