Conquer by the Clock

The film starts out by talking about December 7th, 1941, and says that every hour after that is “zero hour.”

All 48 states are at war, and every American has a job to do, the will to do it, and the tools to do it with.

“Pray God he also has the time.”

The film shows people doing a wide variety of jobs.

“Our hands must be as relentless as the hands of our clocks.”

“So much can be done in a day if Americans keep their sleeves rolled up.”

Then it goes into how much can be produced in a single day.

A factory that makes 30 caliber rifle cartridges. Notice that the workers are women.

“Jean, one of the girls that inspects the cartridges.”

“She gets tired in the afternoon and wants to take time off for a smoke.” It's obvious she's being set up as the fall person.

Because of her action, some cartridges that should have been rejected are marked okay.

The film calls her a saboteur.

An American scouting patrol in the Pacific theater encounters some Japanese.

The cartridge fails to work, and the soldier is killed.

A guy involved on taking orders for military goods.

The guy takes some time off on a Saturday, the first time in four months. He fails to notify his secretary of where he is going. There's a change of orders for shipping goods, and he's not there to receive it.

Their troopship is sunk in the Atlantic. Two guys in a lifeboat, one dies and the other is near crazy. The lifeboat did not have enough supplies, which it would have had had the guy stayed on his job.

“This [the clock] is the machine that manufactures victory.”

Some song is being sung over the scenes of men working.

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