Unusual Occupations

Directed by Jerry Fairbanks

"Unusual Occupations exploited a booming contemporary interest in the offbeat and eccentric. Turning its eye specifically toward the surprising professions and hobbies of otherwise ordinary people, the series—produced by Fairbanks’ Scientific Films Inc., and with able narration by sportscaster Ken Carpenter—featured everything from artillery testers to underwear collectors. While the series’ two 1936 pilots were shot in Cinecolor, the production soon switched to Magnacolor, a similar two-color subtractive system that had likewise found a place in the film production market as a cheaper alternative to Technicolor. Using bipack camera film to obtain two color records, prints were struck on double emulsion-coated (“duplitized”) film with one side toned blue and the other red-orange. The resulting color image is pleasing, if not entirely natural." — Kirk McDowell