American History Now


Home


Photostory


Feature Article: America in Crisis


Book Reviews


Movie Reviews


Meet the Editors


Sources


 

Movie Reviews
by Lindsey Purcell, Editor

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.  What you have caught on film is captured forever...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything."
Aaron Siskind

Below are some excellent movie selections that allow the reader to discover life during The Great Depression.
Note
: Please be aware of the MPAA Ratings before viewing these films.


Title                The Grapes of Wrath

Rating             Not Rated

Summary        The Grapes of Wrath is an excellent to show the hardships farmers and families faced during The Great Depression in the 1930s.  The film tells the story of a family in Oklahoma that is forced to move because of the dust bowl.


Title                Something the Lord Made

Rating             R

Summary        Set in 1944, a film about Alfred Blalock, a white surgeon and Vivien Thomas, his black lab assistant and designing the cure for blue baby operations.  The film shows us how African American began careers outside of factory work.


Title                Cinderella Man

Rating             PG-13 

Summary        James Braddock is a “washed up boxer” who struggles to keep his family together during the 1930s.  The film depicts the hardships families faced by trying to stay together and survive.


Title                Modern Times

Rating             Not Rated

Summary        A classic film about an industrial worker, played by Charlie Chaplin, who is having a difficult time living in the new industrial world.  This film shows the importance of industrial work during the Great Depression.


Sources

http://www.teachwithmovies.org/us-history-2.html

http://thinkexist.com

 

Updated by Jenna Sieverts on: Wednesday, December 05, 2007