YUSUF AND HIS PLOUGH [Main Title]

Log in to create clips, download free screeners and save clips/films in Collections. Click here to find out more.

  • Title: YUSUF AND HIS PLOUGH [Main Title]
  • Film Number: NAT 183
  • Other titles: YUSEF AND HIS PLOUGH [Altrernative Title] YUSEF AND HIS PLOW [Alternative Title] YUSUF VE SABANI (Turkish title) [Alternative Title] JUSUF I NJEGOV PLUG (Yugoslav title) [Alternative Title] TURKEY AND THE LAND - NUMBER ONE [Series Title] MARSHALL PLAN FILMS [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: The location of this film is the plains of Central Turkey, where the hills have lost their trees, where there is little shelter against the sun and the wind, and where farming is hard, especially when the old traditional methods are used. The young Turkish boy, Yusef, and his father worked on a farm with the ox and the wooden plough, in exactly the same way that their ancestors had done for hundreds of years before them - until Yusef insisted on trying out the new methods he had learnt at Agricultural School. He proposed using the metal plough on land that was allowed to lie fallow and not made to bear crop every year. The youth of Turkey, eager and swift to learn, are stimulating the older generation in the villages and throughout the land, to take advantage of new methods and new equipment, which is reaching Turkey under the European Recovery Programme.
  • Description: This film presents a narrative view of the conditions of farming in central Turkey, which by the mid-stage of the 20th century remained little changed for generations. With the assistance of Government appointed Farm Agents, Turkish farmers have increasing access to modern equipment, funded through the Marshall Plan. The film begins with a short section on education, presenting young children in lessons and indicating their possible progression to farm school, where they would be exposed to new ideas. Difficult growing conditions persist in central Turkey, where a historical reliance on ox or horse drawn carts, pulling wooden ploughs, continues. A young boy, Yusuf, attempts to convince his father to acquire a metal plough. Granted the opportunity to prove himself with a new plough on a tract of land, Yusuf seeks assistance from the local farm agent Hasan Bey in obtaining a plough. The central store of equipment in Ankara is shown, where district Farm Officer (believed to be) Javed Bey oversees dispatch of equipment to villages. Yusuf receives a plough and later makes use of a seed drill, provided by Hasan Bey, in producing a successful crop. Both Hasan and Javed Bey visit his plot and remark upon the size of his yield. On another visit to Yusuf's village, where the other villagers and his father are impressed with the young farmer's efforts, Javed provides a simple explanation of crop rotation while Hasan explains how to obtain further equipment, such as Marshall Plan tractors. N.B. A shorter version is also held. Largely the same, the shorter film uses the brief section on education at the beginning differently, and presents the story, shorn of some establishing information, at a swifter pace. The footage and story of the film is also included in another title, Turkish Harvest.
  • Alternative Title: YUSEF AND HIS PLOUGH [Altrernative Title] YUSEF AND HIS PLOW [Alternative Title] YUSUF VE SABANI (Turkish title) [Alternative Title] JUSUF I NJEGOV PLUG (Yugoslav title) [Alternative Title] TURKEY AND THE LAND - NUMBER ONE [Series Title] MARSHALL PLAN FILMS [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour:
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: NAT 183
  • Sound:
  • Access Conditions: IWM NATO © NATO (IWM, NAT 183)
  • Featured Period: 1945-1989
  • Production Date: 1951-1951
  • Production Country:GB
  • Production Details:Economic Cooperation Administration, Mission to Turkey (Sponsor) Clark Hornsby Productions, London (Production company) Film Centre Ltd, London (Production company) Hornby, Cliff (Production individual) Seligman, Michael (Production individual) Road, Sinclair (Production individual) Hrkalovic (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics:Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English
  • Technical Details:16mm - Footage: 640 ft; Running time: c. 17 mins 50 secs 35mm - Footage: 1200 ft; Running time: c. 13 mins 20 secs
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:
  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
Register