From the Great Crash to the New York Worlds Fair of 1939, the decade of the Great Depression was also a period of great variety. Life In The Thirties blends haunting images of poverty and desperation with footage of escapist crazes, such as bank night at the movies, Benny Goodman and the birth of Swing, pinball machines and bingo. The period's major dramatic stories are recounted through unforgettable newsreel coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Hindenburg captured the attention of the masses. The radio feud of Jack Benny vs Fred Allen and the battle between Joe Lewis and Max Schmeling both offered the nation needed diversion. Brilliantly orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett utilizing hit tunes of the period, and narrated by the greatest voice of the documentary, Alexander Scourby, a compelling portrait of Depression life in America emerges. As the World Fair of 1939 started and the decade drew to a close, events in Europe would soon turn the nation's focus abroad.
10 Programs
1: Humorist Robert Benchley explains the Depression
6: The crime of the century
2: A nation turns against Hoover
7: Hindenburg disaster
3: The New Deal takes shape
8: Fascists on parade
4: Prohibition bites the dust
9: Swing and café society
5: Voice of the demagogue
10: New York World's Fair
Life in the Thirties
Sioux Falls Free Thinkers endorse Life in the Thirties for showing us daily life and important events during the Great Depression.
