Calling on Michigan (1949) *** (out of 4) Later-day entry in MGM's TravelTalks series is one of the best. Here we visit Michigan and start off learning that they had the first college in the country, which was for agricultural. We then head off to Grayling where we see a large fish hatchery where thousands of fish are raised and then released so that the streams will be full for the fishers. We then head over to Detroit where we learn about the automobile business and how three-fifths of all cars are built there. This short is without question one of the best I've seen from the series and I'm really not sure why I enjoyed the hatchery sequence so much. Perhaps it was the cute scene where we see how the fish are fed and the little girl that gets freaked out by it. As you'd expect, the Technicolor certainly steals the show as the water looks incredibly good and seeing the buildings of Detroit was another major plus. Oh how different the city looks today.
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