Comments on: Great Depression movies

Question: Great Depression movies

DirtyCreature — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:12:10 -0800

Most acclaimed or your favorite movies about life during the Great Depression or the Great Panic of 1873?

By: netbros

netbros — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:26:59 -0800

The Grapes of Wrath

By: Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:54:49 -0800

The Purple Rose of Cairo

By: jammy

jammy — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:57:44 -0800

do you just want fictional movies?

if not, the documentary Riding the Rails is an amazing, insightful & moving piece of work...

but for story-telling, even though the historical chronology is a bit mishmash, The Cradle Will Rock is a fantastic movie with powerful performances - one caveat: there's so much covered in the film, & the dialogue is so witty & quick that it definitely requires more than one viewing to appreciate it all

By: Brody's chum

Brody's chum — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:10:29 -0800

Seconding Riding the Rails. Fascinating and moving.

Adding King of the Hill by Steven Soderbergh.

By: amyms

amyms — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:46:16 -0800

Paper Moon

By: gudrun

gudrun — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:01:34 -0800

Sounder, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wild Boys of the Road, My Man Godfrey, Bound for Glory, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Dead End, Bonnie & Clyde.

By: susanvance

susanvance — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:09:13 -0800

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

By: milarepa

milarepa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:30:26 -0800

Modern Times

By: rhizome

rhizome — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:13:52 -0800

Sullivan's Travels

By: Lesser Shrew

Lesser Shrew — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:58:01 -0800

You just started this to bait me into raving about Jean Arthur, didn't you?

And if I hear Steven Soderbergh says King of the Hill was a disappointment one more time, I will punch him in the talented throat. Cast Julia Robert more than once and speak ill of King of the Hill, will you!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:18:10 -0800

Alaska Far Away: The New Deal Pioneers of the Matanuska Colony, an excellent documentary (2007).

Bonnie and Clyde.

By: Carol Anne

Carol Anne — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:06:11 -0800

Gold Diggers of 1933.

By: General Malaise

General Malaise — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:27:56 -0800

It's probably the childish idealist in me, but I do love the Capra classics, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and American Madness. (Yeah, blah blah blah It's a Wonderful Life blah blah blah.)

By: saturngirl

saturngirl — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:31:07 -0800

O Brother Where Art Thou?

The Grapes of Wrath

and, this isn't a movie, but an excellent tv show about a traveling circus during the Great Depression: Carnivale

By: Rash

Rash — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:49:27 -0800

Third "Riding the Rails" -- and I'd really like to see the 1933 movie it shows clips from, Wild Boys of the Road.

Of course The Grapes of Wrath (even though the film ends midway, at an optimistic point nowhere near the end of the book) and another Steinbeck choice might be the original Of Mice and Men.

And yeah, don't miss the 1933 Gold-Diggers, all good and then the amazing song at the end, "Remember My Forgotten Man".

A great film depicting the early 30s, but in Germany, is Little Man, What Now?

Are there any movies about the Great Panic of 1873?

By: Rash

Rash — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:52:07 -0800

Another great documentary about the Depression was America Lost and Found from 1979. Its film-makers went on to make the better-known World of Tomorrow, about the World's Fair. The latter isn't that hard to track down, but for unknown reasons, the former work is sadly unavailable.

Both use footage from the documentary (with Aaron Copeland score) called The City which should also be mentioned here.