Consumers Want to Know
"Know before you buy"
Keys: Space play/pause · ←/→ 10s · F fullscreen · M mute · </> speed
About this film
Consumer reporters examine everyday products and pricing practices in a public-affairs segment aimed at shoppers. The 1960 broadcast explains what buyers should look for before spending money at the store.
More about this film
About the production
Themes
Themes & topics
Historical background
Made in its country of production around 1960, Consumers Want to Know belongs to the 1960s. Its story of consumer reporters examine everyday products and pricing practices in a public-affairs segment aimed at shoppers spoke to audiences of the day through familiar genres and topical settings.
Why this film matters
Archivists and historians still cite Consumers Want to Know when tracing how the 1960s filmmakers staged consumer and reporters on screen.
Making of
Production details for Consumers Want to Know are sparse in surviving records. Credit lists remain incomplete.
What critics said
Reviews from 1960 weighed Consumers Want to Know on pacing, performance, and novelty. Later criticism reads its emphasis on consumer, reporters, examine through modern standards of craft and representation.
Did you know?
- Production country: United States.
- Release year commonly listed as 1960.
Visual style
Photography follows the 1960s conventions for documentary film staging.
Innovations
Surviving prints help researchers study editing and camera placement typical of the 1960s.
Music
As a sound production, music was supplied by the production team.
What audiences thought
Patrons who saw Consumers Want to Know during initial runs judged it alongside other documentary film releases of the day.
Film restoration
Preservation status varies; consult major film archives for surviving materials.
Where to watch
- Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Consumer1960
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Consumer%20Reports%20-%20Consumers%20Want%20to%20Know.ogv