Life In The Thirties DVD

From the Great Crash to the New York World's 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 disaster. There were other wars than that between labor and management which 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's Fair of 1939 started and the decade drew to a close, events in Europe would soon turn the nation's focus abroad.

USA, 1959, B&W, 60 minutes

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)