Our Mr. Sun (1956)

Since this is an educational film dramatizing facts about the sun it would be difficult to write a summary without spoilers. This summary is meant to excite and encourage viewing. I saw this educational movie in elementary school in the mid-1950s. The idea was to introduce the sun and its role as center of the solar system. There are close-ups of the sun showing sunspots on the sun's violent surface. It was explained that the Earth rotates on its axis so we see the sun in daytime on our side of the Earth and our side of the earth is turned away from the sun at night. The Earth revolves around the sun in one year causing the seasons. Facts about the sun include the distance from Earth to sun, that the sun is a star, how hot the sun is no one can live there), and how the sun provides light plants need to grow and warms land and water. Without "Our Mr. Sun" Earth would be a frozen, lifeless lump and we would not be here. (I believe another film long these lines is "Hemo the Magnificent" about blood. These films sparked my life-long passion for science and always asking questions and wanting to find answers. It's really amazing how much these films stick in a child's mind. They were certainly doing something right. Frank Capra--wow!)