The Third River

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  • Release Date: 1st January 1955
  • Asset ID: 802044
  • Synopsis: Follows the building of a pipeline from the Iraqi oil fields in Kirkuk to the Mediterranean coast completed in 1954 (the other two rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates).
  • Shotlist: 10:00:00 Opening titles, zoom in to fertile crescent. 10:00:21 Several Grecian or Roman ruins in Mesopotamia, including the Arch of the Palace of Ctesiphon, and several Assyrian figures, cuneiform inscription, ruined city of Babylon, particularly Ishtar Gate. 10:01:01 Striking mosque on Rashid Street, Baghdad, and Zumurrud Khaton tomb. Low angle oil rig. City and traffic GVs of Iraq. Factory and industry GVs. Children walking down the street. 10:01:46 Mud houses women and children by a small river. Farming with hoes and donkeys, men sitting around in different locations montage. 10:02:11 Hills of Kurdish area, waterfall and flowing rivers. Wide shot of Baghdad from across a river, river delta and irrigation montage. Pumps and water wheels. Large dam, wide shot oil rig in desert, rig tower GVS. 10:03:03 CU driller, drilling, rig, small pipe montage. Map graphic illustrates locations of oil and rivers, pipeline routes and pumping stations, ending at Tripoli. 10:04:34 Aerial of pipeline in desert, pan from the ground. Pumping station GVs, village and int. station - many MS of dials. 10:05:23 Man at typewriter, log sheet. Anther pipeline aerial. Brief very high aerial, back to dials and pumps. Different very high aerials, CA different dials. Storage tanks by and tanker in Tripoli harbour. Fade. 10:06:07 Very wide pan of Kirkuk landscape to refinery. Refinery GVs. Pulley descending from rig tower. Geologists charting montage. Map graphic showing proposed pipeline to Banias, supplies to Kirkuk. 10:07:44 Ships carrying pipe passing through, at anchor. The Daybeam being moored and unloaded, then stacked. 10:08:57 Train facing camera starts slowly, lots of steam. Pipes on flatbeds moving past. Truck moving on dusty road. Truck on paved road carrying house. Very wide shot of vehicles parked in rows, different angle. Cranes and bulldozers. Workers building structures. 10:10:06 Large crowd of men, pan across stacked pipes, pulling pipes from the stack. Maneuverings by hand and crane, arc welding. MS man in white coat and automatic welding machine. 10:11:39 Running tracks and inspecting inside pipes, welding inside the tunnel. Fade. 10:11:59 Pipes loaded by crane onto special Antar trucks, trucks rolling out. Driver shots, dusty roads. Ditching machine in action, montage of CUs. Trucks with pipes, drilling rock with hand drills, explosives and blasting. WS blast. 10:13:50 Truck with pipes arriving, unloading, laying one by one next to ditches. 10:14:50 Construction camp wide shot, guards and materials. GVs of camp life and materials. Smith fixing hammer, car mechanic. Pipes in the desert, maneuverings, cleaning etc. Crane tread CU. Pushing pipes into place. Hammering. 10:16:17 Three successive welding stages. Checking the welds with x-rays. 10:17:23 Cranes by ditch with pipes, workers resting. Distributing meals, noisy cleaning machines. Montage of pipe cleaning. Feather dusters. 10:18:20 Pipe coating process begins. Wrapping and coating. 10:18:48 Film ends
  • Production Company: None
  • Licensing Restrictions: None
  • Viewing Restrictions: Public
  • Format: Digibeta_Small
  • Alternative Language Notes: None