A documentary reviews the beginning of the Marshall Plan in response to the post war (World War II) needs of Europeans. It depicts its effect on the lives of people during the first year of its implementation. People on a street. A map of Europe. Animation depicts the production of textile, output of coal, requirement of manufacturing industries, and declined food production. U.S. Secretary of State George Catlett Marshall, Jr., tells the people of Europe that if they work together the U.S. will supply money for food and raw material. Wide and close views of newsstand in England, United Kingdom. British man buys a newspaper to read about Marshall's appeal in the newspapers. Traffic on the streets in Paris, France. Foreign Minsters of Great Britain, France and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov arrive in Paris and ascend steps of building for a meeting to discuss the Marshall Plan. The delegates and representatives at the meeting. Molotov comes out from the meeting. Animated map depicts 16 European nations which get together to work for economic development. The delegates seated in a hall in Paris. The Organization for Economic Co-operation is formed. Delegates of European nations signing a document. Wide view of a port area in Norway. A book on a table reads 'First Annual Requirements Program Submitted to O.E.E.C.' Wide view of Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy with Flaminio Obelisk in the center and traffic on roads Traffic and people on roads of Ulus Square (Ulus Meydanı) in Ankara, Turkey, with the equestrian statue Monument of Victory, depicting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on horseback. Busy street and pedestrian traffic along O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, with Gresham Hotel visible. Traffic passing over the O’Connell Bridge spanning the River Liffey. The U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. A meeting of the Congress for the Marshall Plan. View of Paul G. Hoffman who was appointed the administrator of the Marshall Plan. Man smoking cigarette and tuning radio to listen to broadcast. Families and people in living rooms listen on radios to news about the European Recover Program (ERP). Men unload food supplies sent by the U.S. from ships at a dock. People listen to a dignitary. Men unload machines from the ship. Workers in the Netherlands ride bicycles. A man unloads cotton from a freight car. A sign for ERP on the freight car. Men at work in a textile mill in the Netherlands. A coal hoist is delivered in Britain and British miners dig out coal and use the hoist. The coal is loaded aboard a ship for trade. Fiat automobile assembly line seen in operation in Turin, Italy, with workers building new 1948 Fiat Topolino cars.
A dramatized documentary film on how Marshall plan helped Barty O'Brien become an electrical engineer. Barty (protagonist) arrives at Shannon airport, Ireland with an American friend and tell him the story. Scenes of Irish bogs and construction of a new electric power plant near O'Brien's farm. Barty's family is introduced. A conflict between modern ideas of Barty and his old fashioned father is shown. Barty can be seen working.
Views of an electrical power plant in Ireland, people can be seen working. Barty O'Brien (protagonist) earns extra money by loading turf to fuel the power plant. He steals aboard the turf to the plant and is offered a job. An accident prompts Barty to attend a night school. Barty attends the night school and plans to surprise his father with electric lights for their home. Barty and his father quarrel.