Alright you bindle stiffs, it's time to hop off the rods and find a jungle with a TV because Turner Classic Movies is going for the Great Depression in a big way.
Starting October 1st and every Thursday night thereafter, for the entire month, TCM will be showcasing movies about the Great Depression in America. It's a great collection of films covering a wide variety of viewpoints. It isn't all gloom and politics either. Like the people who lived through it, Hollywood didn't know quite how to react to the massive economic calamity that fell over the U.S. (and much of the rest of the world), nor did they know how long the thing would last. The final product represents a real cross-section of American tastes, fears, and desires. Featured are serious dramas like John Ford's classic adaptation of Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," and Wellman's "Wild Boys of the Road." But some more lighthearted approaches are featured too, such as "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum."
The studios didn't want to exclusively produce films about suffering, nor did the public want to spend all its time on the subject. Still, it seamed unwise to ignore the whole thing altogether. Of course politics also played a role, studios with a Republican bias tended to stick to escapist fare, while the more Democratic leaning companies were more likely to explore the Great Depression in detail.
Perhaps the best example of escapism joined with reality was the musical "Gold Diggers of 1933," which opens with a lavish production of "We're in the Money," choreographed by Busby Berkeley, only to see the number shut down by repo-men. The movie goes on to follow a trio of chorus girls trying to keep a roof over their heads while angling to land a rich husband. The film, after the usual hijinx and a lot more singing and dancing, ends with a tribute to the Bonus Marchers called "The Forgotten Man." Much of the film's more risqué parts were cut over the years, but TCM will be showing, as always, the uncut version. If there is anything sexier than Ginger Rogers singing in pig Latin, I have not seen it. It's an all-star cast (though some of them weren't all-star just yet), featuring the fun and funny Joan Blondell, the deadpan Ned Sparks, the underrated Guy Kibbie, the ever hoofing Ruby Keeler (again teamed up with Dick Powell), a young Sterling Holloway, an even younger Billy Barty (as a roller skating baby), a cameo by Busby Berkeley, and Etta Moten singing "Forgotten Man." If you only watch one movie in the series, pick this one - or better yet, use it to chase down "The Grapes of Wrath." "Sullivan's Travels," and "My Man Godfrey" also do a great job of blending humor with the news of the day.
Some of the movies aren't all time greats, but still worth a look. "Three Faces West," for example, answers the question: How bad was the Great Depression? So bad that even John Wayne was a New Dealer, at least in this film, where he's seen hawking pamphlets from the Agricultural Adjustment Agency and then teaming up with the Resettlement Administration. John, how could you!
The series also includes some classics made long after the depression was over, including the beautifully filmed "Bound for Glory" (about Woody Guthrie), the misery inducing "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?," and the slapstick "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
That's just some of the films being shown, you can read about the rest of them here. As a person who'll be sitting through most of these movies for the second, third, or tenth time, I can tell you, it's a great lineup.
