The Granite Lady: San Francisco Mint 1874-1937

Seems like there ought to be a law about re-releasing old films under new packaging with a current copyright date and no mention of the fact--in the case of The Granite Lady--that the original film is around 25 years old. Made in preparation for the U.S. Bicentennial, the video gives a quick overview of the history of San Francisco's federal mint, located in the Federal building that was preserved under a new law (back in 1973) encouraging adaptive reuse rather than demolition. That said, there isn't much that would attract a national audience into purchasing this title today. Views of "modern" San Francisco and the "modern" office with "modern" easy listening music just won't do in the new millennium world. Plus there's that nauseating "granite lady" business, anthropomorphizing the structure into "she" and "her" at every opportunity. Even the costumed re-enactment sections look dated--where the heck did they get those awful fake sideburns, from the Astroturf warehouse? The bottom line is that the only likely audience for this tape consists of the 300 mint employees who were in the film and their children and grandchildren. Not recommended. Aud: P. (R. Reagan)