So what did it really look like to work in an auto plant 80 years ago? This is among the most incredible looks at that whole scene. This 1930s film shot on Chevrolet assembly lines is called “Master Hands” and it takes the whole scope of automotive production into its lens. From guys pouring molten metal to engines being loaded into frames and cars leaving the factory, we get to see the whole process. What’s truly interesting is how history changes our perspective on things. Why? Looking at this process and these conditions now it borders on a horror movie. The machinery being used, the dark, dank, look of the plants, it is something right out of a period novel written to bolster the working conditions of the guys in a plant.
There is a stark beauty to this film and that comes from the fact that there’s no cherry narrator telling us what to think. Instead we have an orchestral sound track just providing background music. No one tells us about how happy the workers are, how great and modern the plants are, none of that. The buildings are cavernous. A few shots seemed designed to illustrate that.
The machinery being used in the plant is man-eating stuff. Just look at the frame riveting equipment. The guy drops the rivets in and this monster comes in and blasts them into the frame. That would include the rivets and his hand and arm if he was not moving fast enough. There’s no stopping that thing. Be good at your job or be good with living a one handed life. That’s the reality of it.
Along with Master Hands you will see two other films which are also awesome. One is made in the same late 1930s time period and the other was made in the 1950s. Telling the same basic story about hard work, quality, and just how grand livin’ your best Chevrolet life truly is.