I was a little under the weather last weekend (literally--I got caught in the rain at Piedmont Park). As I settled my feverish, snot-filled head onto my pillow to get some sleep, I had a sudden, vivid memory of this:
Anybody else know what I'm talking about? This was a science film my classmates and I were shown pretty much every year in elementary school. I hadn't thought of it in a long time, but it decided to bubble up to the surface of my consciousness for some reason.
Doing some quick internet research, I've learned that this movie was made by Bell Telephone as "one of a series of programs on science to understand nature's laws" (direct, poorly worded quote from the film's dramatic intro). It was produced in 1956, which begs the question, why were they still showing it to us in the late 70s? Was our school system just that out of date? Or was it because this movie was so timeless and awesome?
Our Mr. Sun was directed by none other than Frank Capra. It starred Eddie Albert, and featured the cartoon voice of Lionel Barrymore. This was no small-budget school science flick! It's pretty impressive, actually, and I remember loving it the first few times I saw it (by sixth grade we were all like, "Our Mr. Sun AGAIN? {groan}"). I also recall another Bell Systems movie called Hemo the Magnificent, which was all about the circulatory system. I don't remember that one as clearly, although I know I saw it mutliple times also.
In case you had a deprived elementary education and never had the chance to see Our Mr. Sun yourself (over and over again), I have good news: you can watch the whole thing on YouTube!
* I've titled this post "RSFMB (#1)" because this seems like a good idea for a series. Arbitrary mental detritus pops into my head out of nowhere all the time, so look for more of this kind of crap in the future. When? How often? I don't know. It's random, folks.
