Spirit of America Bookstore
The Great Depression
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short history
books about The Great Depression timeline of The Great Depression movies & TV about The Great Depression |
“How'd it get like this? It's like the Depression all over again.”
— mystery author K.C. Constantine
s h o r t h i s t o r y
t e x t
h e r e
When stock prices began falling, nothing could stop them. By the time stock values hit bottom on 13 November investors had lost enough money to finance World War I once, or pay off the national debt twice!
'The Great Depression' entry at Wikipedia
Books About The Great Depression
 | "Caught Short! A Saga of Wailing Wall Street" [1929] by Eddie Cantor Entertainer Cantor lost multi-millions in the 1929 crash, then built up his net worth by writing several books of humorous stories and cartoons of his financial struggles, ghost written by David Freedman. H.L. Mencken asserted that Cantor's books did more to pull America out of the Great Depression than all government measures combined. Kessinger Publng 11x8¼ pb [5/2003] out of print/scarce Simon & Schuster hardcover [1929] out of print/used |
 | "The Great American Land Bubble: The Amazing Story of Land-Grabbing, Speculations & Booms From Colonial Days To The Present Time" [1932 classic] by Aaron M. Sakolski Martino Fine Books 9x6 facsimile edition pb [7/2011] for $19.95 Harper & Brothers hardcover [1932] out of print/scarce |
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"The Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions" [1933] by Irving Fisher Kindle Edition from ThaiSunset Publns [8/2010] for $6.95 Martino Fine Books 8¼x5¾ pb [3/2011] for $5.95 CreateSpace 8½x5½ pb [6/2010] for $8.85 |
 | "The Pecora Report: The Report On The Practices of Stock Exchanges From The 'Pecora Commission'" [1934] by U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency CreateSpace / Aquitaine Media 10x7 pb [9/2009] for $25.95 |
 | "Depression Island" [self-publd 1935] by Upton Sinclair 'Published by the author' in Pasadena, California; cover price $1.00 T.W. Laurie hardcover [1935] out of print/scarce |
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"The Age of The Great Depression, 1929-1941" [1948] by Dixon Wecter Franklin Watts 8x5½ pb [9/71] out of print/used Prentice Hall College hardcover [9/48] out of print/used |
 | "The Great Crash: 1929" [1954 classic] by John Kenneth Galbraith [1908-2006] Mariner Books 8¼x5½ pb [4/97] for $11.20 Houghton Mifflin mass pb [1/61] out of print/many used book entry at Wikipedia |
 | "The American Earthquake: A Documentary of The Twenties and Thirties" [1958] by Edmund Wilson Part 1: The Follies, 1923-28; Part 2: The Earthquake, Oct. 1930-Oct. 1931; Part 3: Dawn of The New Deal, 1932-1934 Anchor/Doubleday mass pb [1964] out of print/used Doubleday hardcover [1958] out of print/used |
 | "Herbert Hoover & The Great Depression" [1959] by Harris Gaylord Warren W.W. Norton & Co. 8x5 pb [3/1967] for $24.95 Oxford Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [1959] out of print/used |
 | "Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960" [1963 classic] by Milton Friedman & Anna Jacobson Schwartz In chapter 7 'The Great Contraction', they address the central economic event of the century, The Great Depression; Princeton published that chapter as a separate paperback in 1965 Princeton Univ Press 9¼x6½ pb [11/71] for $51.75 Princeton Univ Press hardcover [6/63] out of print/used expanded version of Chapter 7: "The Great Contraction" [1964] Princeton Univ Press 8½x5½ pb [8/2008] for $20.65 Princeton Univ Press pb [6/64] out of print/used |
 | "The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941" [1968] by Robert S. McElvaine Times Books 25th Anniv Edition 9½x5¾ pb [12/93] for $11.09 Crown 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/84] out of print/used |
 | "The Great Depression (Researching American History)" [1970] Edited by JoAnne Weisman Deitch History Compass pb [1970] for $8.95 |
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"Did Monetary Forces Cause The Great Depression?" [1975] by Peter Temin W.W. Norton & Co. 8¼x5½ pb [12/75] for $21.02 |
 | "The Day The Bubble Burst: A Social History of The Wall Street Crash of 1929" [1979 bestseller] by Gordon Thomas & Max Morgan-Witts Penguin 7¾x5 pb [10/80] out of print/used Doubleday & Co. 9x6¼ hardcover [1979] out of print/many used |
 | "Crisis Investing: Opportunities and Profits In The Coming Great Depression" [Stratford Press 1979] by Douglas R. Casey the best-selling financial book in history, remaining #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for a then-record 29 weeks Pocket pb [2/83] out of print/many, many used HarperCollins 8½x5½ hardcover [7/80] out of print/used |
 | "Regular Cycles of Money, Inflation, Regulation, and Depressions" [1984 bestseller] by Dr. Ravi Batra Liberty Press hardcover [9/85] out of print/used was published later as "The Great Depression of 1990" [1987 bestseller] Foreword by Lester Thurow Venus Books 8½x5½ pb [1988] out of print/used Dell mass pb [5/88] out of print/dozens used Simon & Schuster 8¼x5¾ hardcover [5/87] out of print/hundreds used |
 | "The Great Depression, 1929-1939" [1990] by Pierre Berton Anchor Canada 8¾x6½ pb [10/2001] for $18.95 Penguin Books Canada mass pb [1991] out of print/used McClelland & Stewart 9¾x6¼ hardcover [9/90] out of print/many used |
 | "The Great Depression and A Teenager's Fight To Survive: A Runaway Youth's Adventures" [March 1992] by Duval A. Edwards
Red Apple Publng 8½x5½ pb [3/92] out of print/used |
 | "Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and The Great Depression, 1919-1939" [1992] by Barry Eichengreen Oxford Univ Press 8¾x6 pb [2/96] for $22.00 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/92] out of print/used |
 | "Since Yesterday: The Nineteen-Thirties In America; September 3, 1929 - September 3, 1939" [1994] by Frederick Lewis Allen Benediction Books 9x5¾ pb [3/2009] for $22.49 Borgo Press 9¼x6 hardcover [1994] out of print/used |
 | "Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression In California" [1996] by Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus Oxford Univ Press 9x6 pb [11/97] for $22.45 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [1/96] for $60.00 |
 | "The Great Depression: A Nation In Distress" [YA 1996] by Janet Beyer & JoAnne Weisman Deitch Tandem Library 7¼x5¼ econoclad [10/2001] for $15.25 Discovery Enterprises 7½x5¼ pb [4/96] out of print/used |
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"The New Deal: Hope For The Nation" [1997] by Cheryl Edwards Tandem Library 7½x5¼ econoclad [10/2001] for $15.25 Discovery Enterprises 7½x5¾ pb [3/97] out of print/used |
 | "The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and The American Economy In The Twentieth Century (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report)" [1997] Edited by Michael D. Bordo, Claudia Goldin & Eugene N. White Univ Chicago Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/1997] for $87.50 |
 | "The Crucial Era: The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945" [1992, rev 1998] by Gerald D. Nash Waveland Press 2nd Edition 9x6 pb [7/98] for $17.50 |
 | "The Return of Depression Economics" [1999] by {future Nobel Laureate} Paul Krugman W.W. Norton & Co. 8x5½ pb [5/2000] out of print/many used W.W. Norton & Co. 8½x6 hardcover [4/99] out of print/many used see also greatly-updated edition issued in 2008 {below} |
 | "The Hungry Years: America In An Age of Crisis, 1929-1939" [1999] by T.H. Watkins "Maybe the best book ever written about the worst of times in America." — Smithsonian Magazine Owl Books 8¼x5½ pb [9/2000] for $13.26 Henry Holt 9¾x6 hardcover [10/99] out of print/many used |
"The World In Depression" [1973 classic] by Kindleberger
"The Great Depression (Turning Points in World History)" [Jan 2000] by Don Nardo
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Turning-Points-History/dp/0737702303/
"The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression" [4/2000] by Ronald Edsforth
http://www.amazon.com/New-Deal-Americas-Response-Depression/dp/1577181433/
"The Great Depression and the New Deal" (Nov 2000?) by Robert F. Himmelberg
http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Greenwood-Historic-Twentieth-Century/dp/0313299072/
"Hard Times: An Oral History of The Great Depression" (Nov 2000) by Studs Terkel
http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Times-History-Great-Depression/dp/1565846567/
 | "Essays On The Great Depression" [2000] by Ben S. Bernanke Princeton Univ Press 9x6 pb [1/2004] for $21.56 Princeton Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [4/2000] out of print/used |
"Great Depression" (May 2001) by D. Downing
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-D-Downing/dp/0613582187/
"The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) To The Great Depression" [12/2001] by H. Paul Jeffers
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Great-Depression/dp/0028642899/
"Voices of The Great Depression: The 1930's" (2002) by Cinda Anderson
http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Great-Depression-Cinda-Anderson/dp/0759668787/
"Rethinking The Great Depression" [2002] by Gene Smiley /1566634717/
MORE WARPED RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA, blaming F.D.R. for events before he was President
"The New Deal (The American History Series)" [1/2002] by Paul K. Conkin
http://www.amazon.com/New-Deal-American-History/dp/0882958895/
"Historic Events For Students: The Great Depression, Volumes 1-3" (Jul 2002) by Richard Clay Hanes
http://www.amazon.com/Historic-Events-Students-Great-Depression/dp/0787657018/
"Riding The Rails: Teenagers On The Move During The Great Depression" (Feb 2003) by Errol Lincoln Uys
http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Rails-Teenagers-During-Depression/dp/0415945755/
"Encyclopedia of The Great Depression" 2-volume set (Nov 2003) by Robert S. McElvaine
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Great-Depression-Vol-Set/dp/0028656865/
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Great-Depression-Robert-McElvaine/dp/0028656873/
 | "Financial Reckoning Day: Surviving The Soft Depression of The 21st Century" [2003] by William Bonner & Addison Wiggin Wiley 8¾x5¾ pb [12/2004] for $11.53 Wiley 9&fracx6¼ hardcover [9/2003] for $18.45 |
 | "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl" [2005] by Timothy Egan Mariner Books 8¼x5½ pb [9/2006] for $10.17 Houghton Mifflin 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2005] for $18.48 |
 | ”The Forgotten Man: A New History of The Great Depression” [2007] by Amity Shlaes "a skeptical critique of the New Deal", but a thorough history nonetheless HarperCollins 9x6 hardcover [6/2007] for $16.17 |
 | "American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of The W.P.A. - When F.D.R. Put The Nation To Work" [2008] by Nick Taylor Bantam 9¾x6 hardcover [2/2008] for $17.92 Random House official booksite |
 | "The Return of Depression Economics and The Crisis of 2008" [2008 New York Times bestseller] by {Nobel Laureate} Paul Krugman W.W. Norton & Co. 8¼x5½ pb [9/2009] for $11.32 W.W. Norton & Co. hardcover [12/2008] for $14.99 |
 | "Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke The World" [2009] by Liaquat Ahamed listed Best of 2009 by Time Magazine & won the Pulitzer Prize for History Penguin 8½x5½ pb [12/2009] for $9.79 Penguin Press 9½x6½ hardcover [1/2009] for $21.75 |
 | "The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of The XXIst Century" [2010] Edited by Michel Chossudovsky & Andrew Gavin Marshall contributors include Ellen Brown, Tom Burghardt, editor Chossudovsky, Richard C. Cook, Shamus Cooke, John Bellamy Foster, Michael Hudson, Tanya Carina Hsu, Fred Magdoff, editor Marshall, James Petras, Peter Phillips, Peter Dale Scott, Bill Van Auken, Claudia von Werlhof & Mike Whitney Global Research Publrs 8¼x5½ pb [5/2010] for $17.13 |
 | "Peak Oil and The Second Great Depression (2010-2030): A Survival Guide For Investors and Savers After Peak Oil" [2010] by Kenneth D. Worth
Outskirts Press 9x6 pb [6/2010] for $12.95 |
 | "The Hellhound of Wall Street: How Ferdinand Pecora's Investigation of The Great Crash Forever Changed American Finance" [2010] by Michael Perino Penguin 8¼x5½ pb [9/2011] for $12.75 
Penguin Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/2010] for $12.99 |
"Music of The Great Depression" [2/2005] by William H. & Nancy K. Young 0313332304
"The Great Depression (Eyewitness History)" [May 2005] by David F. Burg
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Eyewitness-History/dp/0816057095/
"How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From The Pilgrims To The Present"
[8/2005] by Thomas DiLorenzo /1400083311/
"Don't be misled by this book's title: rather than a work of history, it is a work of ideology cross-dressing as history."
"How The Republicans Caused The Stock Market Crash of 1929: GPT's, Failed Transitions, and Commercial Policy"
[12/2005] by Bernard C. Beaudreau
http://www.amazon.com/Republicans-Caused-Stock-Market-Crash/dp/0595379087/
"The National Industrial Recovery Act Redux: Technology and Transitions" [12/2005] by Bernard C. Beaudreau
http://www.amazon.com/National-Industrial-Recovery-Act-Redux/dp/0595379028/
"The Defining Moment: F.D.R.'s Hundred Days and The Triumph of Hope" (5/2006)
by Jonathan Alter and Grover Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/Defining-Moment-FDRs-Hundred-Triumph/dp/0743246004/
"The Economics of The Great Depression: A Twenty-First Century Look Back At The Economics
of The Interwar Era" [5/2007] by Randall E. Parker
http://www.amazon.com/Economics-Great-Depression-Twenty-First-Interwar/dp/1845421272/
"The Great Depression In America: A Cultural Encyclopedia" in two volumes [7/2007]
by William H. & Nancy K. Young 0313335206
"The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction" (Mar 2008) by Eric Rauchway
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-New-Deal-Introductions/dp/0195326342/
"This Side of Despair: How the Movies and American Life Intersected During
the Great Depression" (May 2008) by Philip Hanson
http://www.amazon.com/This-Side-Despair-Intersected-Depression/dp/0838641296/
"The Great Depression and the New Deal" (Sep 2008) by Kevin Hillstrom
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Defining-Moments-Omnigraphics/dp/078081049X/
"America's Great Depression" (Jan 2009) by Murray N. Rothbard
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Great-Depression-Murray-Rothbard/dp/1607960656/
"The Politically Incorrect Guide To The Great Depression and The New Deal" [3/2009]
Robert Murphy INEXCUSABLE RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA /1596980966/
"The Great Depression" (Mar 2009) by Lionel Robbins & Murray Weidenbaum
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Lionel-Robbins/dp/1412810086/
"Lessons From The Great Depression For Dummies" [7/2009] by Steve Wiegand
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Great-Depression-Dummies-Wiegand/dp/0470487488/
"Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and The Roots of The American Environmental Movement"
(Aug 2009) by Neil M. Maher
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-New-Deal-Conservation-Environmental/dp/0195392418/
"The Great Depression: America In The 1930s" (Oct 2009) by T.H. Watkins
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-America-1930s/dp/0316080438/
"Epic Recession: Prelude To Global Depression" [5/2010] by Jack Rasmus
http://www.amazon.com/Epic-Recession-Prelude-Global-Depression/dp/0745329985/
"California On The Breadlines: Dorothea Lange, Paul Taylor, and The Making of A New Deal Narrative"
(July 2010) by Jan Goggans
http://www.amazon.com/California-Breadlines-Dorothea-Taylor-Narrative/dp/0520266218/
"Dancing In The Dark: A Cultural History of The Great Depression" (Sep 2010) by Morris Dickstein
http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Dark-Cultural-History-Depression/dp/0393338762/
"The Great Depression - Is It Back?" (Oct 2010) by Joseph Newburg
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Back-ebook/dp/B0049B2CHA/
"The Great Depression Put To Music, Song and Dance" (Aug 2011) by June Bear Ritchie
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Music-Song-Dance/dp/1426971095/
"Defining Moments: The Great Depression and The New Deal" (Sep 2011) by Kevin Hillstrom
http://www.amazon.com/Defining-Moments-Great-Depression-Deal/dp/0780812492/
"Global Capitalist Crisis and The Second Great Depression: Egalitarian Systemic
Models For Change" (Nov 2011) by Armando Navarro
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Capitalist-Crisis-Second-Depression/dp/0739170163/
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Capitalist-Crisis-Second-Depression/dp/0739173758/
"Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945" [] by David M. Kennedy http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Fear-American-Depression-1929-1945/dp/0195144031/
"The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1920s" [] by Robert Sobel
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Bull-Market-American-History/dp/0393098176/
Timeline of The Great Depression
1837 May 10: Bank Panic of 1837, which caused an economic depression that lasted five years.
1873 Sept 20: The financial 'Panic of 1873' swept the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures, triggering the worldwide Long Depression that lasted 65 months (until March 1879).
1879 March: End of the worldwide Long Depression that lasted 65 months (triggered by the New York Stock Exchange Panic of September 1873).
1926 Sept: The severe hurricane that devastated Miami, Florida was the final blow that burst the Florida land bubble and led to the economic Great Depression of 1929.
1929 Oct 24: Beginning of the stock market crash – referred to since as 'Black Thursday'.
1929 Oct 28: Stock market crashes! #3 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 12.82%, closing at 260.64.
1929 Oct 29: Stock market crashes! #4 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 11.73%, closing at 230.07; the infamous 'Black Tuesday' collapse of the New York stock market began America's 'Great Depression'.
1929 Nov 6: Stock market crashes! #5 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 9.92%.
1932 March 4: Start of hearings by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency on the causes of the stock market crash. Generally led by committee counsel Ferdinand Pecora [1882-1971], the hearings became known as the 'Pecora Commission'. The hearings were instrumental in passage of the Glass-Steagal Acts, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; the commission ended hearings on 4 May 1934 and issued their final report. 1932 July 8: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average hit bottom at 41.22 points, a loss of 89.19 percent since September 1929. 1932 Aug 12: #7 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 8.40% 1933 March-April: President Roosevelt initiated a series of programs called 'The New Deal' to reform the financial system and to restore the American economy. Further laws passed in 1935-36 are referred to as 'The Second New Deal'. 1933 March 6: Nationwide bank holiday declared by President Roosevelt went into effect; Congress affirmed F.D.R.'s orders in the Emergency Banking Act passed on March 9; the holiday ended on March 13. 1933 March 13: End of the 'bank holiday' declared by President Roosevelt one week prior. 1933 March 31: President Roosevelt signed the bill authorizing the Civilian Conservation Corps; operations were gradually ended after Pearl Harbor. 1933 April 5: President Roosevelt made 'hoarding' of gold illegal, effectively taking the U.S. off the gold standard. 1933 May 27: In response to the economic crisis, Congress passed the First Glass-Steagall Act. 1933 June 5: The United States officially went off the gold standard. 1933 June 16: Congress passed the Second Glass-Steagall Act, which founded the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, and separated commercial (consumer) banking from investment (speculative) banking. 1934 May 4: End of hearings by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency on the causes of the stock market crash, and publcation of the 'Pecora Commission' final report. 1934 June 6: Founding of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 1935 April: President Roosevelt created the Works Projects Administration (shortly renamed Works Progress Administration) to hire the unemployed to construct and repair local public buildings, roads & other infrastructure, and to operate large arts, drama, media & literacy projects. 1935 Aug 14: The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt.
Movies & TV About The Great Depression
 | "We're In The Money: Depression America and Its Films" [1971] by Andrew Bergman Ivan R. Dee 8½x5¾ pb [11/2007] for $14.95 HarperCollins College 7¾x5¼ pb [6/75] out of print/used New York Univ Press hardcover [10/71] out of print/used |
 | "Our Daily Bread & Other Films of The Great Depression" DVD Box Set [1999]
Image Ent. b&w DVD [8/99] for $26.99 contains King Vidor's "Our Daily Bread" [1934; 78 minutes, with prologue]; "California Election News #1 and #2" [13 minutes]; "The Plow That Broke The Plains" [1936; 25-minute classic] by Pare Lorentz; "The River" [1938, 31-minute classic] by Pare Lorentz; "Power and The Land" [1940; 37 minutes] by Joris Ivens & Stephen Vincent Benet; and "The New Frontier" [1934; 10 minutes] |
 | "Popular Movies From The Great Depression Era: 1930s Life and Culture" Box Set [2008]
Quality Information Publrs DVD-R set [2008] 22 disks for $99.99 The manufacturer named the set 'From The Great Depression Era' because the only direct value here is just that: these films reflect a range of issues and tastes of that time. The fact that they are public domain points to the high failure rate of shoe-string ('Gower Gulch') production companies in the late 1930s. Contains 21 public domain feature films (four Westerns) and one short film: "Crashing Through Danger" [Excelsior Pictures 1938]: hard-working utility workers in Los Angeles of 70 years ago; "Danger Lights" [R.K.O. 1930] railroad work in the 1930s disguised as a romance, starring Jean Arthur; "The Devil Diamond" [Conn/Ambassador 1937] starring Frankie Darro; "Disorder In The Court" [Columbia Pictures 1936] Three Stooges comedy short; "The Fighting Deputy" Western [Spectrum Pictures 1937]; "Gang Bullets" [Monogram Pictures 1938]; "The Girl From Calgary" [Monogram Pictures 1932] starring Fifi D'Orsay; "Go-Get-'Em Haines" [Republic Pictures 1936] starring William Boyd on a cruise ship; "Gunsmoke Ranch" Western [Republic Pictures 1937] starring The Three Mesquiteers; "The Hard Hombre" Western [1931] starring Hoot Gibson; "Here's Flash Casey" [Grand National 1938] based on a story by George Harmon Coxe; "Honor of The Range" Western [Universal Pictures 1934] starring Ken Maynard; "Manhattan Tower" [Remington Pictures 1932]; "New Adventures of Tarzan" [Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises 1935] starring Bruce Bennett as Tarzan; "Night Alarm" [Majestic Pictures 1934] starring Bruce Cabot; "The President's Mystery" [Republic Pictures 1936] 'story concept' by Franklin D. Roosevelt; "Revolt of The Zombies" [Academy Pictures 1936]; "Roaring Roads" [Ajax/Commodore 1935]; "Shadows Over Shanghai" [Grand National 1938]; "Slander House" [Progressive Pictures 1938]; "Telephone Operator" [Monogram Pictures 1937]; and "Under The Big Top" [Monogram Pictures 1938] |
"Wild Boys of The Road" [1933]
kids hopping freights during the Depression; dir by Wm. Wellman /tt0024772/
"Our Daily Bread" [1934]
Directed by King Vidor; starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Daily-Bread-Karen-Morley/dp/B000VSOZMU/
"My Man Godfrey" [1936]
"The Plow That Broke The Plains" [1936; 25-minute classic] by Pare Lorentz /tt0122662/
"The River" [1938, 31-minute classic] by Pare Lorentz
"Power and The Land" [1940; 37 minutes] by Joris Ivens & Stephen Vincent Benet
"Sullivan's Travels" [Paramount Dec 1941]
 | A successful director of lightweight popular films decides that he wants to make a serious movie about people affected by the Great Depression. When his producers counter that he knows nothing about such lives, the director goes on the road as a hobo. Co-produced, written & directed by Preston Sturges [1898-1959]; starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, Byron Foulger, Margaret Hayes, Robert Greig, Roscoe Ates & Eric Blore; listed on National Film Registry (1990)
Criterion b&w DVD [8/2001] for $35.99 Universal b&w VHS [3/92] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb |
"Boxcar Bertha" [1972] /tt0068309/
Produced by Roger Corman, directed by Martin Scorsese; starring Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus
http://www.amazon.com/Boxcar-Bertha-Barbara-Hershey/dp/B00005UM2Y/
"Radio Days" [Orion Pictures Jan 1987]
 | A nostalgic look at life in Far Rockaway, New York before World War II, when entertainment and outside news came from the radio. Written & directed by Woody Allen; starring Michael Tucker, Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Seth Green, Julie Kavner, Dianne Wiest, Josh Mostel, Danny Aiello & Jeff Daniels; Oscar & WGA nominations for Best Screenplay; 7 BAFTA noms, won 2
M.G.M. widescreen color DVD [11/2001] for $12.99 H.B.O. color VHS [undated] out of prodn/used R.C.A. soundtrack CD [5/92] for $11.98 full credits from IMDb • M.G.M. official movie site |
"Riding The Rails" episode of "American Experience" [P.B.S. April 1998]
 | The Great Depression forced four million Americans away from their homes and onto the railroads in search of food & lodging; of this number, a disturbing 250,000 were children. Filmmakers interview now-aged survivors of that time and of that transient lifestyle. Co-produced, co-written & co-directed by Lexy Lovell & Michael Uys; narrated by Richard Thomas; won Peabody Award, won DGA Outstanding Director-Documentary Award; won 3 awards at Canyonlands Film Festival & Silver Hugo at Chicago; won award at Great Plains Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, WorldFest Houston
P.B.S. color DVD [2/2003] for $12.99 WGBH-TV Boston color VHS [3/2000] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"The Great Depression" TV mini-series [1998] Starring Mario Cuomo /tt0244905/
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Mario-Cuomo/dp/B001NNTGFS/
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" [2000] /tt0190590/
by Joel & Ethan Coen; starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Where-Thou-Faber-Screenplays/dp/0571205186/
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Where-Art-Thou/dp/B00003CXRM/
"Just The Facts: Emergence of Modern America - The Great Depression" (8/2007)
http://www.amazon.com/Just-Facts-Emergence-America-Depression/dp/B000VD5HV8
"The 1930s: Dancing Away The Great Depression" [2009 150 min.]
video credits at IMDb
http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Singing-Dancing-Musical-History/dp/B001NH4CGM/
"1933 Chicago Worlds Fair Culture, Science and Industry from the Great Depression" [2009] DVD-R
http://www.amazon.com/1933-Chicago-Worlds-Fair-Depression/dp/B003AG6OBA/
"The Panic Is On: The Great American Depression As Seen By The Common Man" (7/2009)
http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Great-American-Depression-Common/dp/B0026BD2KQ/
Other Works About The Great Depression
"A Memory of Two Mondays" [Broadway Theatre Archive 1974]
Dramatizing a compacted group of memories passing over several years, Arthur Miller's vivid comedy-drama portrays the nature of life during America's Great Depression. The emphasis is on mood and characterization as Miller draws on his own personal experience to evoke what the 1930s were like for workers to whom a job--any job--was everything. "...a beautiful play superbly performed." --The New York Daily News. With Jack Warden, Harvey Keitel, Dick Van Patten, Estelle Parsons, and Jerry Stiller.
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Mondays-Broadway-Theatre-Archive/dp/B00006G8HM/
"Awake and Sing" (TV 1972) /tt0270843/
Directors: Robert Hopkins, Norman Lloyd
Writer: Clifford Odets (play)
"Great Performances: Paradise Lost" /tt0212415/
Director: Glenn Jordan, Writer: Clifford Odets (play)
Links About The Two Depressions
WM Essay #76: "How To Survive The Coming Depression"
http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay76.htm
Spirit of America's 'G.O.P. Economic Meltdown' Page
http://whenwasthegreatdepression.info/
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