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The NATO Film Library, which has been transferred to the Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive for preservation, includes a large collection of films generated by the European Co-operation Administration (ECA) in the post-Second World War period. These films were aimed at promoting the 'Marshall plan' for the economic reconstruction of Europe, and the accompanying ideologies of unity in Europe, transatlantic solidarity and anti-communism at a time of growing Cold War tension. 'The Smiths and the Robinsons', which dates from this period, uses the amusing dramatised story of two neighbouring suburban families to present a number of issues. The film was made to put the continuation of austerity in Britain in the context of post-war re-armament, the export drive, and an increasingly complex international situation, and to demonstrate to audiences in the rest of the world the sacrifices the British were making to enable their country to continue to meet its commitments. The clip comes from one of the more serious inserts in the film, showing the departure of British National Servicemen for overseas duty in Korea or one of the world’s other flashpoints. The NATO Library contains material dating from 1948 to 1989, and is one of several collections in the Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive which extend its coverage well beyond the end of the Second World War. |
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