Frontiers of the Future, 1937

Narrated by Lowell Thomas in this 1937 NAM screen editorial, the film blends stock footage of 1930s industry—oil refineries, research labs, and manufacturing—with a forward-looking vision. From a dramatized 1844 Patent Commissioner claiming innovation’s end to shots of clipper ships, railroads, and modern gas stations, it counters with science’s promise: synthetic goods, autos, and TV. Wheat fields, cotton pickers, and NYC’s West Side Highway frame a montage of progress, asking, “What’s ahead for America?”