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Alcohol and the Human Body

194912 min 53 sec51 shots

This 1949 educational film uses laboratory demonstrations and diagrams to identify ethyl alcohol and explain how fermentation and distillation produce beverages with different alcohol concentrations. Animated drawings then trace alcohol from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream, through the liver, and throughout the body.

Brain diagrams and scenes of an intoxicated man connect increasing blood-alcohol levels with reduced judgment, muscular control, and vision, followed at higher levels by unconsciousness and a prolonged recovery. The film emphasizes that these effects make driving or walking in traffic dangerous.

Alcohol supplies calories but not proteins or vitamins, and the film says that chronic heavy drinking can lead to nutritional deficiencies and poor health. A dramatized problem drinker receives a medical examination, hospital care, and a balanced diet, then is told to avoid alcohol entirely. The closing message warns that alcohol can threaten both personal health and community safety.

Provenance and rights

Original producer: Encyclopaedia Britannica Films
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Original title: Alcohol and the Human Body
Date: 1949
Original link: Open on Internet Archive
Rights: public_domain