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Post by politicidal on Jun 12, 2017 19:49:25 GMT
O, Brother Where Art Thou? immediately comes to mind. Easily one of my all-time favorites.
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Post by london777 on Jun 13, 2017 1:58:58 GMT
Bound for Glory (1976) dir: Hal Ashby. David Carradine as Woody Guthrie.
and from England:
Love on the Dole (1941) dir: John Baxter. Deborah Kerr's second movie and first as lead.
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Post by london777 on Jun 13, 2017 2:02:10 GMT
Matewan. It's criminal that the DVD we have of this film is in such bad shape and there isn't a proper blu ray release of it. I still have the old laserdisc due to the terrible reviews the old DVD received (pan/scan and very dark). The coal miners of West Virginia deserve better treatment! I think this would be a perfect film for Criterion treatment in my own humble opinion. I have never seen this movie. Said to be John Sayles' best. |
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Post by vegalyra on Jun 13, 2017 13:48:42 GMT
London:
It's a great film, it really gives you a great feel of the hardships the miners and the company towns went through during the era (although the events in this film pre-dates the actual Depression, the conditions were Depression like as there was a recession going on right after WW1). It also gives you an idea about the mortal peril the unionizers dealt with and the threat of the Pinkertons that were willing to kill anyone that stood up to them. Chris Cooper gives an Oscar worthy performance as well as David Strathairn as the town law. James Earl Jones is part of the "scabs" that decide to band with the miners and the other scabs (the Italians) to stand up to the mining company. It's a small part of what actually went down during the coal mining strike in the region but a very important one. When Danny, the narrator of the film, and the local minister of the community, gives a sermon about the Biblical Joseph from Genesis that ended up being Pharaoh's right hand man, it sends chills up my spine everytime I watch the film. He purposely distorts the actual Biblical text to send a message to the community as the Pinkerton's are in attendance and don't know the Bible at all.
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Post by marshamae on Jun 13, 2017 13:49:35 GMT
I'm fond of Purple Rose of Cairo. It's a Woody Allen with the star being his spectacular eye for period detail. It's a film within a film, Tge frame being a film obsessed waitress married to a free loading abuser played by Mia Farrow and Danny Aiello. She drowns her misery at the movies . The film playing that week is the Purple Rose of Cairo an exotic adventure with Art Deco NYC apartments Egyptian tombs, nightclubs and a rich adventurer character who climbs off the screen to meet Farrow. This opens the story to include Hollywood film society, a tour of breadlines and plenty of slices of Depression- era life. Critics have called this film cold but its cleverness is what attracts me, that and the flawless execution.
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Post by divtal on Jun 13, 2017 18:55:07 GMT
Auntie Mame ... While the story doesn't focus on poverty, need and want, it does include the stock market crash and wide-spread unemployment.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Jun 13, 2017 20:57:23 GMT
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Post by outrider127 on Jun 13, 2017 20:58:24 GMT
It Happened One Night(1934)--hobos on the train scene
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wanton87
Sophomore
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Post by wanton87 on Jun 13, 2017 21:29:12 GMT
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Post by marshamae on Jun 13, 2017 21:30:42 GMT
I like all the films on your list spidey, but my favorite film about the Great Depression is Steven Soderbergh's haunting and heartbreaking KING OF THE HILL (1993). This unforgettable movie stars Jesse Bradford, Jeroen Krabbé, Elizabeth McGovern, Adrien Brody, Lisa Eichhorn, Spalding Gray and Karen Allen. It's one of Soderbergh's best and highly recommended.
Read more: imdb2.freeforums.net/thread/34773/films-great-depression#Jeffersoncody another great film recommendation I have never heard of! I love the cast. Can't wait to see this.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Jun 14, 2017 0:50:05 GMT
KING KONG 1933
Carl Denham searches for a girl for his picture at soup kitchens and finds Ann Darrow when she tries to steal an apple.
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Post by london777 on Jun 14, 2017 14:53:57 GMT
and from England: Love on the Dole (1941) dir: John Baxter. Deborah Kerr's second movie and first as lead.
As for Love on the Dole, this is a Deborah Kerr film I haven't seen! I can't believe it. And it sounds like I would love it. I'll keep a look out for it on TCM.
No need to wait. It is in the Public Domain and available for free streaming or download here: Love on the Dole (1941) |
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wanton87
Sophomore
@wanton87
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Post by wanton87 on Jun 14, 2017 14:56:55 GMT
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Post by london777 on Jun 14, 2017 15:02:10 GMT
Cradle Will Rock (1999) dir: Tim Robbins
The arts during the Depression and especially the Federal Theater Program. This was a scheme to provide work for starving actors and other personnel. The makers of this movie must have been inspired by that because there are 104 actors named in the credits list plus another 30 odd identified by IMDb but uncredited.
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wanton87
Sophomore
@wanton87
Posts: 224
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Post by wanton87 on Jun 14, 2017 16:57:02 GMT
Of Mice and Men, 1939. I always forget about this one, wanton, even though I love it and Steinbeck is my second favorite author. I think it gets overshadowed in my mind by The Grapes of Wrath. And I love this Lewis Milestone version the best - I think the immediacy of the Depression is hard to dismiss, given that it was made in that time. And Lon Chaney and Burgess Meredith are so great - heartbreaking, but great. I was actually surprised that everyone seemed to miss this one spiderwort  |
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Post by london777 on Jun 14, 2017 17:01:29 GMT
Although that is the main theme it does cover other stories of the period like Diego Rivera's mural for Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack).
I imagine all the usual "leftie" suspects volunteered their work free or on the cheap. The cast list includes many favorites, though most in little more than cameos. There is even a Scottish Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen).
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