The World of Tomorrow (television documentary)

The World of Tomorrow. Lance Bird and Tom Johnson, producers. USA: TV Lab of WNET/Thirteen, 1984. Documentary in the PBS series Non-Fiction Television. 60 minutes. Jason Robards, narrator.

Intelligent commentary on the 1939 New York World's Fair (with some references to the Fair's second year). See for the Fair grounds themselves making up "a color-coded city: bright, rational, completely planned" and for the Fair's presentation of "the world science could make for us." Archival footage includes a scene with a primitive robot by Westinghouse; narration and intercutting with newsreels from the Depression and early Second World War stress Fair's combination of "science" with "magic," and with "illusion" (all quotations from Robard's voiceover).

RDE, Title, 29Aug19