The Days of Our Years

I love this short, it is so depressing and MST are soooo mean with it and everyone involved. Where the heck does religion play into train safety? Who cares, it's a lot of fun. Earl Warren narrates here about members of his congregation who are train people and hate safety, and how these people will go to hell since they are accident prone.

This is done by the same people who sponsored Last Clear Chance, another classic from Union Pacific, that one involved the police captain from Adam-12. I don't remember Earl Warren being in any other production except supreme court judge. He was a bit pasty which made him perfect for the role. It was law that you could not be tan in the 50's.

It's hard to imagine railroad workers watching this short film without thinking that their company is trying to blame them for all the industrial accidents that occur. It correctly argues that workers should always keep safety in mind while working, but implies that the company would willingly allow people to take time off for simple dizziness or not penalize workers for falling behind in their work. It also insists that the company "does everything in its power to prevent accidents", which in my corporate experience is exactly as likely as *individuals* doing everything possible; that is to say, not at all likely. And by casting this as a kind of sermon by a company-town minister, Union Pacific turns human error into a sin against the company and one's loved ones. Safety, of course, should be regularly emphasized in dangerous industrial environments, but this message appears to be rather one-sided and heavy-handed.

The MST3K version of this short, shown in its "Amazing Transparent Man" episode and available on its "Shorts Volume 2" DVD, is filled with well-timed jokes and entertaining silliness. It's quite funny, unless you've encountered some of the tragic accidents that occur in the short, which would make it hard to be amused by the banter. But it's possible to laugh at the goofy MST3K lines while remembering the short's message: that safety must be consciously and continuously practiced in hazardous environments.

should always adhere to the rule "Don't bore the audience!" This one violates that precept but, even worse, milks it for all the maudlin whining it can get.

This is sad, because there is a good, solid message in a film like this, which is that when we violate the rules we can involve ourselves in a serious accident and, in so doing, affect those people around us as well.

But when a film like this tries to drag-out its plot like an afternoon soap opera, people will pay less attention to it. And THAT is the real tragedy in a film like this.

This short was featured on episode 623 of Mystery Scienc Theater 3000 and boy did it ever need the treatment. To put it simply and to quote Mike Nelson, by the end we discover that accidents are caused, "by joy, sex, and old age." This is particular to accidents on the railroad. This documentary short shoots you with more irrelevant metaphors than the regular Coleman Francis feature, and it leaves you feeling depressed and empty knowing the greatest joys in life always lead to the death of you and your loved ones. I recommend this documentary only in its mst3k format, where it is excellent fodder for m&tbs. I leave you with the vision of a minister strolling his congregations neighborhood, pointing out all the accidents that were caused by the grace of god as a consequence for living the days of their years.

Let's get married by the Earl Warren clone! Mercifully short, this film may be only 20 minutes long, but it feels like several hours. Union Pacific railroad, who also gave us "Last Clear Chance" did this disaster of a film. Pretty bad acting and narrating shoot this one down.