Lights and Shadows in a City of a Million | 1920 | Documentary, Short

Title: Lights and Shadows in a City of a Million | 1920 | Documentary, Short (filmpreservation.org) Studio: Ford Motion Picture Laboratories (imdb.com) Runtime: 7 (filmpreservation.org) Format: Silent, black-and-white, 1.33:1 (imdb.com) Country: United States (imdb.com) Language: Silent (English intertitles) (imdb.com) Genres: Documentary, Short (filmpreservation.org) --- Summary: Produced as a charitable appeal for Detroit’s Community Fund, this short documentary surveys social services in the city, depicting visiting nurses on their rounds, crowded children’s clinics, and community instruction in household skills. Its portraits of everyday need and organized relief frame the “lights and shadows” of life in a burgeoning industrial metropolis. (filmpreservation.org) Rather than advertise products, the film advances Progressive Era ideals of public health, social work, and civic philanthropy, encouraging donations to sustain coordinated aid across Detroit’s neighborhoods. (filmpreservation.org) --- Background: Lights and Shadows in a City of a Million was made by Ford Motion Picture Laboratories, the Ford Motor Company’s in‑house production unit that created sponsored and educational films in the 1910s–1920s. The title was later preserved and presented in the National Film Preservation Foundation’s Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, which identifies it as a charitable plea for the Detroit Community Fund. Ford’s broader historical film holdings—over 1.5 million feet—were donated to the U.S. National Archives in 1963, situating this short within a major record of American industrial and civic life on film. (imdb.com) --- Trivia: The film promotes the Detroit Community Fund, the city’s coordinated charitable drive established in 1920 to centralize fundraising and social service support. (filmpreservation.org) Scenes include visiting nurses caring for children, classroom-style demonstrations for homemakers, and a disabled man navigating a ramp—vignettes emphasizing practical aid. (criticalpast.com) Runtime is approximately seven minutes; the film appears in the NFPF’s Treasures III anthology in the program “The City Reformed.” (filmpreservation.org) Production is credited to Ford Motion Picture Laboratories, reflecting the company’s extensive non-theatrical output alongside industrial and news subjects. (imdb.com) The Ford film collection, documenting American life from 1914 through the early 1940s, entered the National Archives in 1963 and remains a key resource for historians. (imsa.com) --- Hashtags: LightsAndShadows SilentFilm Documentary Detroit FordMotionPictureLaboratories 1920s PublicDomain FilmHistory