CANAL ZONE (TV)
Summary
This documentary by filmmaker Frederick Wiseman focuses on the lifestyles of U.S. citizens in the Canal Zone community during the 1976 negotiations to sign a new treaty with Panama. Footage of the Panama Canal and a tour guide's explanation of how the Canal functions is followed by footage of the day-to-day activities of people in the Zone. Without narration, interviews, or commentary, the documentary includes a montage of such North American activities as tennis, bingo, fashion shows, and horse racing, juxtaposed with images of native Panamanians speaking Spanish and living very different lifestyles from the transplanted U.S. citizens. The scenes suggest a culture conflict between North Americans and Panamanians, some of whom work for the U.S. military or the Panama Canal Company. In one scene, the governor of the Canal Zone government, who is also the president of the Panama Canal Company, addresses a group of older U.S. citizens about revenues that the Canal provides and about the change in status of the 1903 Panama treaty. Other highlights include the following: a ham radio operator talks to a man in the U.S., who wants to know what the operator is doing in Panama; a woman from the Zone Youth Unit provides sobering statistics on child abuse in the Zone; and a woman at a meeting expresses Panama Canal Company workers' concerns about their future role in the new treaty, the wage freezes, and how the mini-exodus of people returning to North America may harm the community. In vignettes about marriage, a psychiatrist treats a woman who is concerned about the state of her marriage; a counselor leads a seminar on marriage enrichment; and a minister preaches against marrying outside of one's faith. The importance of maintaining strict U.S. traditions and ceremonies is evidenced in a celebration of Law Day; a somber ceremony of U.S. flags being retired for disposal by the Women's Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and an award ceremony for the Canal Zone Council for the Boy Scouts of America, during which a man delivering a speech makes a sarcastic remark about the women's liberation movement. In another scene, Panamanian mental health patients watch Abbott and Costello dubbed in Spanish, with a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial. The only instance of U.S. citizens interacting with the Panamanian locals is at a boxing match. The program also captures excerpts from American Forces Radio in the Canal Zone, and from the local television station SCN, which features a brief Spanish lesson and a drug-detecting, military patrol dog.
Scenes of North American lifestyles are juxtaposed with scenes that illustrate the lifestyles of native Panamanians: Panamanian families visit a zoo with animals indiginous to Central America; one group of Panamanians have a picnic; and another group plays a game of softball. The U.S. citizens in the Canal Zone, meanwhile, are engaged in such leisure activities as soccer, water volleyball, and motorcycle racing. Highlights of this portion include a preacher is shown denouncing the women's liberation movement; the graduation ceremony of the class of 1976 on the football field of Balboa High school, with speeches by two graduates, and a military maneuver in which U.S. soldiers parachute into a field and pursue an unidentified enemy. The program concludes with several different ceremonies commemorating U.S. veterans on Memorial Day, with bands playing traditional music with patriotic themes: one boat carries a band playing music, the women from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, and one of the high school graduates reading Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; another boat carries the head of the Canal Zone government, who is also director of the Panama Canal Company, delivering a patriotic speech honoring veterans and denouncing skeptics who are unloyal to U.S. traditions. The camera also captures a group of Boy and Girl Scouts placing small U.S. flags on veterans' graves, and families tending to family members' gravesites.
Preservation of the Post–World War II American Television Documentary Collection is supported in part by a Federal Save America’s Treasures grant administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
- DATE: October 7, 1977 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:55:11
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:12155
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries; Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Boy Scouts of America; Child abuse; Christianity; Civilization - Central America - American influences; Panama - Social life and customs; Panama Canal (Panama); Treaties; U S - Foreign relations - Central America; U S - Foreign relations - Panama; U S - Religion - 1960-; U S - Social life and customs - 1971-; United States - Armed Forces; Women's Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 1977
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frederick Wiseman … Producer, Director