Harris Bank - Internal Promotional Film (Workprint) (Part 1, 1982)

Here's Part 1 of something pretty neat and rare - a workprint of an internal promotional film from Harris Bank of Chicago, titled Honesty and Fair Dealing: An Introduction to the Harris Bank and the People Who Make It Work, produced for the company's 100th anniversary in 1982. (although maybe it's just the slightly washed-out and dirty work print, this almost seems like it could be from about 1977 - right down to the funky music. I do know that bank culture always seems to be a bit behind the times, so maybe that accounts for it) Includes:

SMPTE Countdown Leader

Shots in and around Chicago in the morning, with an airplane flying in, a view of the lake from up above, a shot of the Chicago River, cars and trucks driving up and down the highways, and a Chicago "L" entering a station, leading into opening title sequence seen over activation of a machine that holds quarters

More shots of the city, with a view from one of the bridges (look at frame right for a Flxible "New Look" bus from the 1960s, with an ad for WCLR 102 FM displayed on the back of the bus) and another scene of traffic on the highways, followed by people raising the Harris Bank flag in front of their headquarters

Scenes inside the Harris Bank building with a worker filling up a coffee cup, a guard outside a bank vault, an employee inspecting a stash of gold, piles of $10 bills grouped in packs of $10,000 and $40,000, employees working on early computer terminals, scenes inside teller windows, and people walking the bridge to and from one of the Harris Bank branches

Inside the Harris Bank building, scenes of key employees and executives in examples of their "fair dealing" in such areas as money market (with Melody Kamp (sp?) answering a phone call from what sounds like Sarah Purcell (not The Sarah Purcell? Or maybe just a fake name made up?) investments, helping new businesses get started (a Harris banker meets with the employees of a local business, The Card Nook / Hyde Park Office Products), financing plant expansions (a look inside construction of a factory), floating barges to the nation's graineries to feed the world, making buying more convenient through credit cards (a shot of MasterCard plastic running through at one point) and personal investment advisory services, international trade and urban renewal - examples of Harris people relating "to the world outside and to each other" (including, near the end, a party where a sign reads "Lew Brown, Congratulations on Your 25th Anniversary").

Narrated by Steve King. (http://www.steveking.net/)

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