Streamlined

Andre Baruch can't stop talking for an instant in this RKO short subject about the modern passenger train. The exterior looks great -- as it should since Raymond Loewy had begun designing them for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1940. The interiors look good, with lots of attractive people getting drunk, playing cards, and jitterbugging to accordion music.

If it seems more like a commercial than theatrical entertainment, that's because it is. People object to the advertisements that precede theatrical shows these days, but it's not a new invention. The Lumieres were advertising soap in the 19th Century, and product placement was well established in the silent era.