Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini is seen in a room of his house, Wave Hill, in the Hudson Hill section of Riverdale in the Bronx, New York City. Toscanini is handed a record by teenage boy (possibly his grandson) and Toscanini plays the record on a console phonograph player. He walks up and down in the room as he listens to the music. Narrator discusses Toscanini's rejection of fascism. and then names various other Italians living in the U.S. who similarly reject fascism: Next shot shows Italian historian Gaetano Salvemini delivering a lecture to a class at Harvard University. Italian writer Giuseppe Antonio Borgese leads a small workshop class at the University of Chicago. Italian American press publishers of newspaper Il Nuovo Mondo (Giuseppe Lupus, Aurelio Natoli, and Carlo Emanuele Prato) are seen gathered at a desk in New York City. An Italian editor, Colonel Randolfo Pacciardi, works at a newspaper establishment. An Italian priest and patriot, Don Luigi Sturzo, reads a book. Another close-up view of Arturo Toscanini.
Opening scene shows group of men reenacting role of Native American Indians dancing around a ceremonial fire, at night. Native Americans on horseback rounding up horses, in area of Western U.S. containing dramatic outcroppings of rock. Native Americans, on horseback, herding sheep. A dwelling and fences of wood and other local materials are seen. Narrator speaks of tuberculosis disease being an "enemy" of these people. Two men on a buckboard pulled by a team of horses. Native Americans assembled in an auditorium.
Actors portray Native American father, mother, and their boy, riding on a buckboard wagon pulled by two horses. White clouds low on horizon behind them. The parents speak to the boy about his grandfather's death, and talk about beginning anew. Brief view of of a burning funeral pyre, in the desert, with dramatic outcroppings of rock in background. Slate appears telling about the family in ensuing years.
Large group of Native Americans chant and dance as they reenact old tribal ceremonial activities. Several discuss deaths of their parents from disease (tuberculosis) and ponder competing views for combating it. One thinks old ways are better but another thinks more modern methods might be called for. A young Native American man sitting alone with with a young Native American woman, speaks about his decision to attend a White man's boarding school.
Native American actors portraying boys at a boarding school. They play volley ball on a school field. A school supervisor calls them together and introduces a physician, who tells them they look strong but could harbor germs. Doctor examines one of the boys, by tapping on parts of his upper body, as he explains what he is doing. He uses a stethoscope. He takes a chest Xray of the boy. The doctor removes the film and tells the boy he'll show it to him after it is developed.
Native American Indian youth recovering from TB at a sanitorium, is seated on a bench outdoors, when his doctor joins him. In hope that the Native American youth can be helpful to members of his tribe, who are suffering from epidemic of tuberculosis, the doctor explains the disease to the boy. He shows sketch of the lungs and describes them and the progression of TB and its accompanying symptoms. The boy asks about medicine for TB. The doctor says none exists, but nature can heal a lung if it rests, just as a broken leg can heal if rested. The boy asks about his operation. The doctor tells him it is pneumothorax, and explains it with help of illustrations how a lung is collapsed so it can rest and heal and then reflated. Asked about the cause of TB, the doctor tells the boy it is caused by a living organism, and invites to see it in the laboratory. In the lab, the doctor show the boy two test tubes, one of which contains cultured organisms from a TB patient. The boy sits in bed with hands behind his head pondering the role of social hygiene in the spread of TB.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.