Original subtitles

Narrator: This is the story of america

Seen in color for the first time.

The dawn of the 20th century.

America is on the rise.

Now bold pioneers will lead it to even greater heights,

With inventions, technologies, and mighty industries

That transform america and the world.

But the changes also trigger division.

This is the story of america's titans of industry

As you have never seen them before.

♪

♪

In 1910, this is life in america.

It is still a mostly rural nation.

People go places on foot.

For extra muscle, nothing can beat the horse.

But all this is about to change.

May 30, 1911.

America's fastest-growing industry

Descends on indianapolis for memorial day.

This is the very first indy 500.

For 200 laps, drivers, their mechanics right beside them,

Battle through plumes of white smoke

From burning castor oil.

With the racecars going over 70 miles per hour,

The daredevils flirt with danger.

Lap 87.

Joe jagersberger breaks a steering nut

And his onboard mechanic is thrown onto the track.

Harry knight swerves to avoid him

And careens into the pit road.

No lives are lost.

But jagersberger and knight are knocked out of the race.

[whistle blows]

One driver, ray harroun, in the yellow car,

Has a tactical advantage.

He's driving solo thanks to a new invention:

The rear-view mirror.

With no passenger, harroun's car is lighter and faster.

He takes the checkered flag and shows america

That even a small innovation can provide the winning edge.

The indy 500 will become an american institution.

In the rest of the country

There are only 600,000 cars for some 93 million people.

Most american homes don't yet have electricity.

And over a third of the population still lives on farms.

But a new generation of industrial titans

Will reshape that landscape.

And three of them will help tell their own stories.

Henry ford, harvey firestone,

And thomas edison.

Not only do they transform america,

But they use a new invention, the movie camera,

To make sure that everyone knows it.

In 1908, michigan's henry ford, son of an irish immigrant,

Embarks on an audacious mission,

Creating what he calls "a motor car for the multitude."

His model t sells for $850, around $23,000 today.

Ford is a master of the publicity stunt.

These are rare images: Auto polo in new york city.

The games promote model t sales,

Which hit 10,000 cars in the first year.

To reduce costs, ford pioneers mass production

And cuts deals with other captains of industry,

Like ohio's harvey firestone.

In 1900, the one-time buggy salesman

Risks his own money, $10,000,

To set up a rubber tire factory in akron.

He starts making pneumatic tires inflated with air

That gives cars a smoother ride on the country's rough roads.

In 1906 henry ford recognizes their quality

After a 60-day test drive on the streets of detroit.

He buys 8,000 in what is the biggest tire deal to date,

Paying the equivalent of $2.8 million today.

Firestone and ford are following in the footsteps

Of the previous generation of industrialists...

The men who pioneered big business in america,

One of whom still stands on top of the financial pyramid.

John d. Rockefeller, worth $900 million.

His giant company, standard oil, began as an ohio refinery

But has grown to monopolize the market.

His gasoline fuels

Ford and firestone's booming auto industry.

He also sells the kerosene that most americans still use

To light and heat their homes.

But in the 20th century, kerosene has a serious rival.

America's homes are filling with electric light

Made possible by thomas a. Edison,

Legendary pioneer of the light bulb,

Phonograph and the movie camera.

Seen here on a tour of the company he founded,

General electric,

Edison initiates the electrification of america.

But progress is slow.

In 1910, only 1 in 10 households

Can benefit from edison's filament bulbs.

♪

A quarter of the nation's factories are on the grid

And are increasingly automated.

Edison, interviewed by fox movietone in 1929,

Sees endless possibilities for the electrification

Of american industry.

Thomas edison: I firmly believe that the machine age

Will favorably affect the lives of the workers.

It is impossible, however, to forecast

What electricity and invention will make of the world

100 years hence.

We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.

Narrator: This is henry ford's electrified factory in detroit,

Where in 1913 he introduces

The world's first moving assembly line.

Parts roll through

On electrically powered conveyor belts,

Cutting the time needed to make a model t

Down from 12 hours to 90 minutes.

But automation takes a toll.

Skilled mechanics leave in droves.

In their place, ford hires unskilled laborers;

Any man off the street will do.

The work is dull, monotonous and relentless.

Many can't stand it.

In 1913 alone, ford has to hire 52,000 people

Just to keep 14,000 positions filled.

To stabilize his workforce

He raises pay to $5 for an eight-hour day.

The move garners positive national publicity

And appears to solve the problem...

For now.

The higher wages turn blue collar workers

Into consumers.

They buy labor-saving goods

All powered by the expanding electrical grid.

Toasters, cigar lighters,

Ovens, and heaters

All built by general electric,

The company founded by thomas edison.

The nerve center of edison's operation

Is his headquarters in west orange, new jersey.

It's a campus of modern-looking buildings

Where he develops new inventions

And builds the world's first movie theater.

But on December 9, 1914,

Disaster strikes the plant.

At 5:15 in the morning, a can of highly flammable nitrate film

Catches fire and causes an explosion.

In the inferno, one man is killed.

[siren]

This never-before-seen footage, filmed by edison himself,

Shows the aftermath of the massive chemical fire.

It consumes 13 buildings

And destroys priceless prototypes and records.

Damages run to $1.5 million, and edison is underinsured;

Only a third of his losses are covered.

He's saved by a good friend, henry ford,

Who loans him $750,000 interest-free.

Ford is a former employee of edison's.

Their strong bond is captured on a filmed tour

Of the newly rebuilt edison factory.

Edison teaches ford the key role of technological research

In achieving business success.

They are now two of the most famous men in america.

♪

In 1915, they arrive together

At the pan pacific exposition in san francisco,

Where October 21st is declared edison day,

A celebration of technology and innovation.

Edison lays a plaque to honor his world-changing invention.

[cheering]

That night, the site is transformed

Into a wonderland of electric light.

Harvey firestone, the rubber tire mogul,

Joins them in san francisco

And takes edison and his wife on a chauffeured drive around town

In his open-top touring car.

Ford, firestone and edison are now national icons and buddies.

For these shrewd businessmen,

Even vacations are a marketing opportunity.

The ford motor company films their escapades

And releases mini movies to theaters across the country,

Where americans can watch these legendary titans at play.

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

Inspired by what they see,

Americans take to the road to vacation like a titan.

In 1915 the country is on the move.

Soon most americans will live in cities.

The middle class is growing,

Accelerated by the wealth industrialists have created.

The three titans, already american celebrities,

Are about to be thrust onto the world stage.

1915, new york, the financial heart of america,

Now the richest nation on earth.

[artillery fire]

It prospers while its competitors in europe

Are locked in the life-and-death struggles of world war I.

America's determination to stay out of the conflict

Is personified by henry ford.

♪

Not only is he a committed pacifist,

But flushed with his business success,

He believes he has the intelligence and power

To broker peace.

In the fall of 1915

He embarks on a self-sponsored peace mission

To stockholm, sweden.

He charters a ship

To transport a delegation of american pacifists

And tells the press, "we are going to try to get the boys

Out of their trenches and back to their homes

By christmas day."

Reporters call it the ship of fools.

[horn blares]

Ignored by the warring nations, it is a complete failure.

[artillery fire and explosions]

On April 6, 1917, america enters world war I.

Ford may not like it, but for other would-be titans,

The war is a golden opportunity.

And it jump starts a new technology: Aviation.

Young engineers like donald douglas begin building

An industry that will soon take over america.

Cameras film combat aircraft

Being assembled in connecticut and washington state.

They are powered by a revolutionary new technology--

The liberty engine, designed to be mass produced.

The government tasks engine and automobile manufacturers

To build them, including henry ford.

In a complete u-turn, ford abandons his pacifist stand,

And his state-of-the-art assembly lines

Feed the war machine.

Initially he only supplies the engines' cylinders,

But in true ford style, he streamlines the process,

Increasing production from 151 to 2,000 cylinders a day,

Then delivers nearly 4,000 completed engines.

Aviation, barely a decade old, seems very glamorous

To rich, young men like harvey firestone, jr.,

Seen here on vacation with his tire magnate father.

He wants to enlist as a naval aviator,

But fails the medical test due to bad eyesight.

The titans flex their muscles.

Letters from henry ford and thomas edison

Get the decision reversed.

Harvey junior joins

One of the most dangerous branches of the military.

During world war I

A third of american pilot deaths are in training.

Airplanes are still a relatively new invention,

And despite enthusiasm, few know how to fly to them.

To solve the problem,

The government turns to the top minds in industry.

Thomas edison heads the naval consulting board,

Seen here on the steps of the capitol.

He helps the board devise training tools,

Like the ruggles orientator.

An instructor operates the machine

As the students struggle to keep the plane level.

It's the forerunner of a modern-day flight simulator.

[artillery fire]

♪

Henry ford's biggest contribution

Is an injection of model ts.

Army green is a departure from his trademark black.

39,000 see service in europe.

Trucks, staff cars, and over 4,000 ambulances,

Many driving on firestone tires.

These 25 are heading to the front in verdun, France,

In March 1918.

Over a million allied soldiers benefit from ford's ambulances

During the war.

They move the wounded quickly and comfortably,

Ultimately saving many lives.

But while ford eventually embraces the war effort,

It actually hurts his bottom line.

His huge, ultra-efficient factories,

Converted to military production,

Are operating far below their civilian capacity.

Hoping to boost profits,

He tries his hand at building tanks.

♪

The m1918 weighs three tons

And has a top speed of eight miles per hour.

Ford and his son edsel watch tests

In highland park, michigan.

Results are mixed.

The tank never makes it to the battlefield.

And ford's business continues to suffer.

Though he makes $4 million from the conflict,

It's just half his peacetime income.

But shrewd as ever, he keeps taking orders for his model t

Throughout the war and accumulates a huge backlog.

In 1919, over 800,000 cars roll off the lines,

More than making up for lost wartime sales.

♪

With the fighting finally over, a new decade dawns.

The titans will help drive the roaring twenties

And change the landscape of america forever.

[cheering]

November 1918.

America's industrial might

Has helped bring the kaiser's germany to its knees.

Celebrations fill the streets of new york.

♪

In cities across america, like detroit and los angeles,

Life appears brighter than ever.

Electricity, pioneered by edison,

Now reaches one third of urban homes.

Nearly 7 million cars crowd the roads--

A tenfold increase over the past eight years.

And unemployment has fallen to a record low, just 1.4%.

The war has changed america.

It drew 4.7 million men and women to the military,

Leaving many jobs unfilled.

Over half a million african americans in the south,

Oppressed by jim crow laws,

Are attracted by work in the new industrial centers.

They move north in the great migration.

Henry ford's hometown, detroit,

Sees the african american community swell

From 5,000 to 40,000.

Nearly 2,000 work for ford.

The countryside they've left behind

Is still largely unchanged.

There's no electricity, horses still outnumber tractors,

And the roads, they're mostly unmapped and unpaved.

On July 7, 1919,

80 military vehicles and 280 personnel

Embark from washington, dc,

On an epic 3,000-mile road test to san francisco.

Harvey firestone senses an opportunity

And invites the convoy to stop at his ohio home.

On July 13th, the military pulls into his farm in columbiana

For a chicken dinner.

Both the army and firestone film the event.

The cameras entice some of the soldiers to show off.

But over dinner firestone devotes his time

To showing a young soldier named dwight d. Eisenhower

The benefits of firestone tires.

Two vehicles equipped with his trademark pneumatic tires

Join the convoy for the remainder of the trip.

The army trucks use traditional, cheaper solid rubber tires.

The convoy battles the unpaved roads of illinois...

And nevada.

And climbs the sierra nevada mountains...

Before reaching the west coast 62 days later.

Eisenhower reports that pneumatic tires

Are practically puncture-proof, allow more speed,

And prevent excess vibration.

As they roll into san francisco,

The titan reaps priceless publicity for his products.

America's leaders embrace the car's promise.

The government commits to improving roads...

A policy that culminates some three decades later

When eisenhower creates the interstate highway system.

1920.

With the end of the war,

Military production slows,

And so does the economy.

Veterans can't find jobs.

The nation slips into a recession.

Henry ford is now a grandfather,

Seen here at home with his first grandson and namesake.

But even titans are not immune to a national crisis.

Ambitious as ever, ford used his profits

From his post-war back orders to expand his company.

Over three years he invests $60 million

Into constructing what will be a legendary plant:

River rouge in dearborn.

It covers 1,200 acres of riverfront.

To win control of every stage of production,

Ford spends another $15 million on coal and iron mines...

And gets a $20 million bank loan to buy out his shareholders.

But when sales drop by half in the recession,

Ford is on the brink of bankruptcy.

He risks everything with a gutsy move.

He buys the key railway that delivers the supplies

He needs to build his plant:

The detroit, toledo and ironton line.

He streamlines its operations to speed up deliveries,

Enabling him to hold less inventory and cut his expenses,

Freeing up $28 million that helps put him back in the black.

Ford's gamble is a sharp reminder

That even the richest men have to scramble to stay on top.

Some of ford's detroit rivals are less nimble.

Car manufacturer lincoln is struggling.

Its owner, henry leland, has seen demand crash

In the post-war recession.

In 1922, henry ford and his son edsel,

Now the company president,

Capitalize on their competition's weakness

And snap up lincoln for a bargain price of $8 million.

Under ford, lincoln becomes a prestigious luxury brand.

Wealthy americans splurge on a car

That costs 10 times more than the model t.

And soon, many can afford it.

The 1920 recession is short-lived.

Industry takes off again, and the twenties start to roar.

Ready to take advantage of the new boom

Is a new generation of titans, drawn to a new industry.

Donald douglas is an aircraft engineer

Who served during the first world war.

In 1921, in santa monica, california,

He founds the douglas aircraft company.

His first contract:

Six of his douglas torpedo dt bombers.

The planes launch from america's first aircraft carrier,

The uss langley.

Douglas has reason to smile.

He makes his first million on the deal,

With an order for 38 more bombers to come.

Back from the brink, ford once again sets his sights high.

He famously says he put a car in every garage,

And now wants to put a plane there, too.

Ford, still a marketing master,

Unveils the prototype on his 63rd birthday in 1926.

He calls it the ford flivver

After the popular nickname for his model t.

The press loves it.

One journalist writes, "I dreamed I was an angel,

And with the angels soared.

But I was simply touring the heavens

In a ford."

Though its publicity excites people,

The plane is only a prototype, not yet available for sale.

The flivver test pilot, harry brooks,

Is a close friend of ford's.

Together they work on perfecting ford's latest venture.

During a publicity tour in 1928, brooks is killed.

Ford cancels all work on the flivver.

He turns his attention back to cars, where business is booming.

In michigan, ford finally opens his river rouge plant,

The largest coordinated factory in the world,

Able to turn raw materials into running vehicles

In a single complex.

Cars need tires,

And harvey firestone's ohio plant

Now employs 10,000 people.

Akron, ohio, sees a 200% increase in population.

Suddenly there are more people than houses.

Firestone decides to build a community for his workforce.

The tire king bankrolls firestone park.

Started in 1916, construction continues through the 1920s.

On 1,000 acres of land

He builds not just houses,

But schools, a church,

And even a ymca.

The company spends nearly $3 million

On facilities for its employees.

Firestone expects his investment will pay off

In loyalty, compliance, and hard work.

The three titans, including an aging edison,

Are filmed here at the end of the boom decade.

They're confident in the state of the nation

And the opportunities that lie ahead.

Narrator: America's economic rise during the 1920's

Appears limitless.

There are now 30,000 millionaires in the country.

But by 1931, 25,000 of them will have lost everything.

Fort myers, florida.

February 11, 1931.

It's thomas edison's 84th birthday.

A newsreel captures harvey firestone

Asking his hearing-impaired idol

About the latest technological breakthrough

In the movie industry.

Firestone: What do you think to the sound pictures of today?

Edison: What do I think of the talking picture?

Firestone: Yeah.

Edison: Uh...

Well, I don't know, I never heard one.

[laughter]

Narrator: Eight months later,

Stricken by complications from diabetes,

Edison dies in his new jersey home.

Americans mourn the genius

Who gave them light bulbs, movies and the phonograph.

On October 22, 1931,

Thousands line the streets of west orange

For his funeral procession.

Edison's dream of sending light, power and heat

To every household through a wire

Is almost fully realized.

85% of america's urban homes now have electricity.

♪

Edison's death coincides with a collapse in america's fortunes.

The country is in the grip of the great depression.

In 1932, 12 million people are unemployed,

Nearly a quarter of the workforce.

Even the newly rich have been battered.

The number of millionaires has dropped to 5,000.

The depression is the key issue in the 1932 presidential race.

Henry ford backs the incumbent, herbert hoover,

And makes a rare speech in support.

Ford: It is only common sense to let him finish his job.

I think of him as a human-hearted,

Honest-minded, hardworking hoover.

Narrator: Hoover's opponent, franklin d. Roosevelt,

Believes that only he can lead the nation back to prosperity.

Franklin roosevelt: The masses of the people of the nation

Firmly believe that there is great and actual possibility

In an orderly recovery through a well-conceived

And actively directed plan of action.

Narrator: His landslide victory marks a change

For american industry.

One titan who's weathering the great depression well

Is harvey firestone.

In columbiana, ohio, he still runs his father's farm.

Now he sees opportunity in the struggles farmers face.

Tractors are a vital piece of machinery.

But they're traditionally equipped

With solid steel wheels.

They can cut through muddy fields

But are slow and expensive to run.

In typical titan style,

Firestone puts his new rubber tractor tires on camera.

The new treads can grip mud, increase speed,

And reduce fuel consumption.

The result: Higher productivity at lower costs.

A boon to struggling farmers.

To market his new products,

Firestone conceives a brilliant publicity stunt...

To break the land speed record using a tractor.

This film from 1935 captures top racing driver ab jenkins

At the bonneville salt flats in utah.

"the ride," says jenkins,

"is like being atop of a frightened bison."

♪

He achieves a speed of 68 miles per hour,

Faster than any tractor's gone before.

A record that stands for 80 years.

Sales of firestone tires soar.

By the end of the decade

Nearly all tractors run on rubber tires.

But firestone's success is an exception.

In 1935, industrial unemployment remains in a critical state.

In ford's detroit, half the labor force is unemployed.

Over 50,000 are laid off from river rouge alone.

Those who do keep their jobs

Suffer cuts in working hours and pay.

[applause]

Roosevelt doesn't wait for the titans to solve the crisis.

Roosevelt: It is the immediate task of industry

To re-employ more people at purchasing wages

And to do it now.

Narrator: Rather than expect business to recover on its own,

He launches a great experiment

With the national recovery administration, the nra.

The government now regulates hours and wages,

Breaking with the traditions of free enterprise.

And companies are no longer permitted to compete on price.

Henry ford denounces the nra as un-american.

The 72-year-old titan is now a recluse.

Employees remember him climbing out of his office window

To avoid visitors.

The celebrity automaker is hounded by the press

At his dearborn family estate.

Man: I'm from the associated press,

I'd like to get in there to see mr. Ford.

Man: I'm from the united press, I want to get down there, too.

Man: I don't care where you're from, you can't get in here.

Narrator: In 1935,

The supreme court vindicates ford

And strikes down the nra.

Undeterred, in the same year fdr pushes through the wagner act,

Recognizing the rights of workers to organize unions.

It's the biggest labor win in u.S. History.

Despite his reputation as a friend to his workers,

Harvey firestone is one of the first

To feel the new power of the unions.

In akron, in early 1936, rubber workers strike.

This never-before-seen footage captures strikers in 1937

Gathering outside the firestone factory.

It is believed to be secret surveillance by company police.

The strike ends when firestone concedes

To allow workers freedom to join unions.

Henry ford hates unions.

He's shrewd enough to never be caught saying so on camera,

But back in 1916, he said,

"unions mean class war, and I hate war."

In 1935, the united automobile workers union

Is formed in detroit.

And a year later, the uaw flexes its muscles

When it takes on general motors.

Alfred p. Sloan runs gm.

It surpassed ford as the nation's largest car company

Back in 1931.

Sloan and ford are kindred spirits.

He believes the new deal will harm big business

And is ready to fight the unions.

On December 30, 1936,

Uaw-affiliated workers at gm's plant in flint, michigan,

Deploy a new tactic...

The sit-down strike.

♪ solidarity forever ♪

♪ for the union makes us strong ♪

Narrator: The men occupy the factory floor

And lock the doors to keep strike breakers out.

Numerous attempts by police to break through

Using tear gas and bullets fail.

The strike lasts 44 days.

And the union wins.

On February 11, 1937,

Sloan announces a 5% wage increase

And plans to introduce safety measures on the assembly line.

A titan of industry has caved to the masses.

But henry ford still holds out.

During the 1930s,

President roosevelt tries to reshape american industry,

Transferring power from titans to workers by empowering unions.

But henry ford refuses to permit unions in his factories.

On may 26, 1937,

The united automobile workers picket henry ford's

Vast river rouge plant in dearborn, michigan.

Ford unleashes his notorious security team

Against the union members.

The detroit news photographs uaw leaders

Walter reuther and richard frankensteen

After the battle.

Ford now stands alone.

His friend harvey firestone dies in February 1938.

Two months later, fdr invites ford to the white house

To settle their differences.

Cameras capture the industrialist

Leaving his meeting with the president.

Their conversation was never documented,

But the two men still don't see eye to eye

On government intervention in industry.

Ford won't recognize the unions until 1941.

[artillery fire]

The same year that america enters world war ii.

For the second time in his life, ford finds himself

On the front line of military production.

But he's no longer the boss of ford motor company.

It's his son edsel who begins construction

Of the mile-long aircraft plant willow run

Designed to be the biggest factory in the world.

But in 1943, edsel ford dies of stomach cancer.

Henry, now 80,

Returns to lead the company-- a controversial move.

A frail octogenarian is running a cornerstone of the war effort.

The company begins to lose $10 million a month,

Which fdr calls a threat to national security.

He considers a full government takeover

Of his old foe's business.

Eventually fdr pulls henry's eldest grandson, henry ford ii,

Out of the military

To ensure the ford company delivers for the nation.

♪

By 1944, willow run is one of the most vital cogs

In the war machine.

A shiny, new b-24 liberator bomber

Rolls off the production line

Every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The ford motor company is not alone

In assembling fdr's "arsenal of democracy."

By v-j day, america is a global superpower,

Drawing strength from its industrial might.

Manufacturers have constructed more than 3 million vehicles...

Nearly 7,000 warships...

And 300,000 planes.

Aviation has eclipsed automobiles

As america's largest industry.

20 years after he was filmed

Sitting on his grandfather's knee,

Henry ford ii takes over as president of the company.

He leads it to become the second largest carmaker in the world.

But the days of the great titans are over.

In April 1947, at age 83, henry ford dies.

The trailblazer doesn't live

To see his youngest grandson's marriage two months later.

Reporter: William ford the groom

Is attended by his best man and ushers.

A crowd of neighbors is on hand to admire the bride,

Miss martha firestone, and her breathtaking wedding gown

Of rare antique rose point and duchess lace over silk

And its long train.

Narrator: The industrial dynasties are joined

When in akron, william ford marries

Harvey firestone's granddaughter martha.

The crowds and news coverage are a testimony

To the titans' enduring mastery of the art of celebrity.

The three titans have helped transform the united states

Into a behemoth, the most dominant economy in history.

Like the giants of silicon valley today,

Their insatiable drive to innovate

Earned them fame and seemingly boundless success.

The industries they created fueled the rise of great cities,

Though some were fated to decline

And become the rust belt.

The titans' immense contributions

And their legendary stories live on

As emblems of the enduring american dream.