FRONTLINE: THE HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA {TWELFTH SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. In this program, correspondent Robert Krulwich surveys the glorious past and troubled present of the General Motors Corporation, and examines efforts to revitalize this "onetime symbol of American industrial power." In an opening segment, members of the Clinton administration, the United Auto Workers Union, and the auto company's management celebrate the revival of the American car industry at a Washington, D.C., party, while Krulwich talks with an auto worker who expresses doubts about his job security. Next, a survey of GM's history covers the following topics: the vision of founder Billy Durant; the four-decade-long reign of company head Alfred P. Sloan; the impact of car designer Harley J. Earl; the importance of styling during GM's postwar salad days; GM's relationship with the UAW; the dangerous effects of budget cuts and compromises on the on the Corvair, GM's belated move into the small car market in the 1960s; GM's response to the energy crisis and Japanese imports of the 1970s -- to sit on its financial reserves and churn out cheap "import fighters"; the era of CEO Roger Smith, who spent heavily on automation in the 1980s in an attempt to surpass the Japanese; the arrogance and complacency of management during the 1980s, as recalled by former board member H. Ross Perot; and the 1992 ouster of Robert C. Stempel, Smith's successor. Returning to the present, the following segments examine GM in 1993: a discussion of the approach of the new CEO, Jack Smith; a look at the effects of Smith's hiring of European cost-cutter Jose Ignacio Lopez; a visit to a UAW bargaining convention; an interview with a worker forced to relocate from Michigan to a Texas plant; a look at GM's booming Mexican operations; footage of the 1993 New York Auto Show, where GM presents its new products; discussion of the safety of GMC Trucks and the company's refusal to issue the voluntary recall suggested by the government; a consideration of the gaps in GM's product line; and an overview of GM's Saturn operations, which offer quality small cars, sold in a low-pressure manner with an emphasis on customer service. Next, the following topics are examined: Bill Clinton's interest in the car industry; Clinton's and Vice President Al Gore's initiative, challenging U.S. manufacturers to build a fuel-efficient, emission-free car within ten years; the electric GM Impact, the mass-production of which was put on hold by Jack Smith as a cost-cutting measure; an ultimatum issued by the California Air Resources Board in response to the state's air quality crisis, requiring a percentage of emission-free vehicles on the road by 1998 or the big three will not be allowed to sell cars there; why the developer of the Impact's power system left GM in frustration to start his own company; and the lasting damage done by GM's efforts, earlier in the century, to dismantle Los Angeles's electric streetcar system. The final segment includes a visit to a GM shareholders meeting where attendees test drive GM's latest models, and closing comments by Krulwich. Includes interviews with and/or footage of the following individuals: President Bill Clinton; Vice President Al Gore; Ford chairman, Red Poling; Chrysler chairman Bob Eaton; Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown; Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen; UAW president Owen Bieber; Secretary of Labor Robert Reich; writer and historian Brad Snell; singer Dinah Shore (in a Chevrolet commercial); NPR "Car Talk" hosts Ray and Tom Magliozzi; David Cole of the University of Michigan; Prof. Harley Shaiken, of the University of California; former GM president Ed Cole; consumer advocate Ralph Nader; former GM executive vice president Elmer Johnson; Dale Hanson, California pension fund head; financial analyst Maryann Keller; GM executive vice president Bill Hoglund; Rick Wagoner of GM; associate producer Eve Pells; Jose Ignacio Lopez; Saturn dealer Mark Pagan; Saturn vice president Jim Farmer; and Jananne Sharpless, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. Includes footage and discussion of the following GM automobiles: the 1955 Chevrolet; the Corvair; the Vega; the 1991 Caprice Classic; the 1993 Lumina sedan and mini-van; the Saturn; the 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora sedan; and the Impact. This program is closed-captioned.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: October 12, 1993 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:25:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:44782
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Automobile industry; Automobiles; Public affairs/Documentaries; U S - Industries; U S - Social life and customs
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1983-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Promos - "Frontline: Prisoners of Silence"
CREDITS
- For "Frontline":
- David Fanning … Executive Producer
- Martin Smith … Senior Producer
- Michael Sullivan … Senior Producer
- June Cross … Staff Producer
- Jim Gilmore … Staff Producer
- Hesh Shorey … Production (Misc.), Production Manager
- Kathleen Boisvert … Production (Misc.), Production Assistant
- Courtney Hayes … Production (Misc.), Production Assistant, Researcher
- Miri Navasky … Production (Misc.), Production Assistant, Researcher
- Mason Daring … Theme Music by
- Martin Brody … Theme Music by
- Joe Rosenbloom III … Staff Reporter
- For "The Heartbeat of America":
- Sharon Tiller … Executive Producer, For CIR
- Stephen Talbot … Producer, Director
- Eve Pell … Associate Producer, Reporter
- Rachel Raney … Production (Misc.), Production Manager
- Adam Ballachey … Research Assistant
- Stephen Levine … Research Assistant
- Mary Nelson … Research Assistant
- Steve Rhodes … Research Assistant
- Michael Sharon … Research Assistant
- Kurt Streeter … Research Assistant
- Robert Krulwich … Reporter, Correspondent
- Andreas Eckardt … Additional reporting by
- Dan Lund … Additional reporting by
- Lloyd Bentsen
- Owen Bieber
- Ron Brown
- Bill Clinton
- David Cole
- Ed Cole
- Durant, William C. (Billy)
- Harley J. Earl
- Eaton, Robert J. (Bob)
- Farmer, James (Jim)
- Al Gore
- Dale Hanson
- Bill Hoglund
- Elmer Johnson
- Maryann Keller
- Jose Ignacio Lopez
- Ray Magliozzi
- Tom Magliozzi
- Ralph Nader
- Mark Pagan
- H. Ross Perot
- Red Poling
- Robert Reich
- Harley Shaiken
- Jananne Sharpless
- Dinah Shore
- Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
- Smith, John F., Jr. (Jack)
- Roger Smith
- Brad Snell
- Robert C. Stempel
- Rick Wagoner