[film leader]

[Distributed by: New York UniversityFilm Library, 1942]

[frantic music]

[light whimsical music]

[playful music]

["Pop! Goes the Weasel" variation]

[A Child Went Forth]

[Commentary. Written by: Munro Leaf;Spoken by: Lloyd Gough]

[Score: Hanns Eisler]

[Production: Joseph Losey, John Ferno]

[somber music]

[Narrator:] "There was achild went forth every day.

And the first object he lookedupon, that object he became.

That object became part of himfor the day or a certain part

of the day or for many yearsor stretching cycles of years,"

so spoke Walt Whitman.

Splash.

Right into themiddle of an idea,

an idea that childrenare people and the belief

that how they play andstretch those muscles

and minds of theirsis of real importance.

[music]

Here is a camp, a school,a farm all rolled into one.

And it's a brand newworld to these children.

It has flowers andpigs, sunshine and mud.

But best of all, ithas room and time

to let you find outwhat it's all about,

without being marched inlines and told what you

have to do every five minutes.

If you feel likeplaying with a kitten,

you can probablyfind a kitten that

feels the same way about it.

And if you want to picka rabbit up by his ears,

that's a problem thatrests between just the two

of you, you and the rabbit.

Seven and six-year-old, eventhrees and twos, puzzling,

wondering, questing, learning.

Now, just offhand, you might say

we're smearing paint on someold boxes and bits of wood.

And you might also thinkthat all this doesn't matter,

but that's where you'd be wrong.

Painting is a veryserious business.

Just the right tone,just the right shade,

in just the rightplace is important.

Don't ask us why, but it is.

We know.

[hammering wood]

[saw ripping wood]

There's work to be done.

We're building a wading pooland we need rocks, big rocks.

Whoops.

Not that big.

These construction jobs takea lot of thinking about.

No child's playthis engineering.

No, sir.

And there you have it,a pool of perfect bliss.

[undressed children wading]

Uh oh.

What's this?

Trouble?

Yes, I'm afraid we're human too.

Settled for one oldspare watering can.

As I was saying, apool of perfect bliss.

Did you ever find a goodclay bank or just plain mud

without somebody shouting nowdon't get your clothes dirty?

No, no, no.

Don't do that.

You can make apie that is a pie.

Sand, hands and minds at work,work that doesn't stop here,

but leads on intothe years ahead.

[children playing in a sandbox]

No grown-up interference inthe world of your own making.

There are some nicegrown-ups around, all right.

But they don't butt in.

Just give us a chance.

We can untangle ourown traffic jams

without any crumpled fendersor crumpled feelings either.

Time to refuel thesemotors of ours.

[snack break]

You've forgotten how muchenergy is popping inside

of us that has to cut loose.

And it isn't all sweetnessand light either.

Ouch.

Oh, go climb a tree.

Go climb something, anyway.

This is a real world,not Never Never Land.

[wooden jungle gym]

[see saw]

[outdoor playing]

Now, don't tell me they letthat child slide down that pole

all by himself.

Oh.

[frantic music]

The gentleman has troublewith his shoulder straps.

She likes it.

[seated for story time]

[hand bell ringing loudly]

[lunchtime]

[children taking turnsringing the hand bell]

[interposing voices]

[serene music]

[naptime]

[fade to black]

[gentle music]

A place blended of securityand independence, freedom,

but with the disciplineof common sense

and simple rulesthat never change.

Where are those feet going?

Up to imagination.

Call it a tree house, but nowit's a boat, now a castle,

anything you want to believe andfriends to share it with you.

[music, outdoor play]

This is not a substitutefor home and parents.

There is none.

But it is a greenand lovely interlude

where you meet your fellowsix and three-year-olds

on your own level, wherepeople care and watch,

but keep us free to try andfail and try again until we

learn to live together.

[children playing]

Why is a mouse?

No silly screamingand jumping up on

chairs when thesechildren grow up.

Bath time.

Soap and water.

Where's the victim?

Good old Pupsy.

He can take it.

[banjo type music]

There's a dog's life for you.

[music]

It's all in theday's work for him.

[children splashing and playing]

This is a daythey've waited for.

[children's voices]

The camp gets some new tenants.

[interposing voices]

[pigs squealing]

[pigs grunting]

[giggling]

[interposing voices]

[pigs grunting]

[ducks honking]

Farm ducks need to havetheir wings clipped.

Just like cuttingyour fingernails,

it doesn't hurt at all.

Somebody isn't quiteso sure about that.

[clucking and quacking]

Ducks, ducks, ducks.

[children floating on innertubes]

[water splashing]

[playful chatter]

[playful screams]

[Young boy:] I'm not [?].

Watch me.

I'm going to put myhead in the water.

[Adult:] Want to come up?

[water splashing]

[playful chatter]

[motor vehicle rumble]

[Narrator:] Another big day.

Off to visit a neighboring farm.

[gentle music]

No circus lions and tigers.

No camels or zebras from a zoo.

Well, here goes.

[music]

Baa baa, black sheep.

Have you any privacy?

[music continues as children play]

[tractor engine sputters]

Not so long ago, this Englishlad was watching bombs fall.

[pensive orchestration]

Should the defenseindustry call mothers away

or should we have to face thestark necessity of evacuations

of our cities?

Here is the beginningof a way to solve

the problem of ourchildren in modern warfare.

But war or peace,in city or country,

is there not food forour serious thought

in this approach to childhood?

[pensive orchestration]

[gentle music]

End of the daybrings lollipop time.

[Camp instructor:] There was Bobbythe horse and Peso the horse.

There were thechickens and the ducks

and a great big mother pigwith many little piglets.

There was a goat called Buttons.

All these animalsbecame their friends.

After they had played andlived and worked together

all summer long, theend of the summer came.

Again, they packed theirthings, put everything away,

the things they had made andthe things they had brought,

and back again they went ontrains and boats and in cars

to their own mommies anddaddies and to their own homes.

Did you like it?

[Young boy:] No, I didn't.

Pupsy, did you like it?

[Answering for the dog] Yes.

[Camp instructor:] Let's takea run with the goat,

because soon we're goingto have to go to sleep.

[Young girl:] Which goat?

[Camp instructor:] Our goat, Buttons.

[Young girl:] Really?

[Camp instructor:] Yes.

Shall we?

[Young girl:] Yeah.

Where is he?

[interposing voices]

[goat bleating]

[gentle music]

[leaves ripping]

[goat chomping]

[laughter]

[Narrator:] And thethird month lambs

and the sow's pink faintlitter and the mare's foal

and the cow's calf and thenoisy brood of the barnyard

all by the mire ofthe pond side all

became part of that childwho went forth every day

and who now goes and willalways go forth every day.

[music]

[fade to black]

[The End]

[music fades out]

[accent musical note]

[end trailer]