Give Us the Earth! is a 1947 short film (21 minutes) directed by Gunther von Fritsch.
It's a documentary short about Dr. Spencer Hatch
, a specialist in rural reconstruction. Dr. Hatch is seen in Mexico, in areas where poor farming techniques have (supposedly) left the land mostly barren. Dr. Hatch has come to teach the local farmers how to farm in a manner that preserves the land and leaves it healthy and productive. He leads by example at first, simply maintaing his own farm, but as the locals notice his success, Hatch teaches them all sorts of sustainable farming methods. Eventually he branches out into teaching them how to keep goats, build huts, and weave cloth.
Tropes:
- Documentary: An American expert teaches Mexican peasants some sustainable farming techniques.
- Down on the Farm: A documentary about farming in rural Mexico.
- Hard-Work Montage: A montage has Dr. Hatch and a local family building a whole house out of adobe, starting with the clay poured into molds, then putting the bricks together with mortar, then weaving furniture out of straw.
- Hong Kong Dub: The dialogue in the opening scene between Hatch and his wife is obviously and very poorly dubbed.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: A guy at the YMCA headquarters in New York sends a message by pigeon to Spencer Hatch, who reads it and sends one back. (Seems like a lot of trouble, sending pigeons to rural Mexico and New York respectively.)
- Literal Metaphor: In his narration Hatch notes that "an adobe house can be literally cheap as dirt!"
- Mighty Whitey: Hoo boy. Spencer Hatch is "known for his successful rehabilitation work among backward people in Mexico." The gringo teaches Mexicans how to plow in contour on hillsides to prevent erosion...how to use compost for fertilizer...how to rotate crops...how to build adobe huts...how to weave blankets...how to, uh, brush their teeth...
- Narrator: A first narrator introduces Spencer Hatch, and then Hatch narrates the rest of the short, explaining what he's taught the locals.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Ends with Spencer Hatch riding away on a mule.
