Our Daily Bread & Other Films of The Great Depression (1934-1940)
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 | Total: 03:16:14 | 8,06 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: None
Genre: Drama, Romance | USA
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 | Total: 03:16:14 | 8,06 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: None
Genre: Drama, Romance | USA
Film portraits of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt's 1933 inauguration marked a rebirth of hope among Americans and began an unprecedented era of government activity and social experiment. The non-fiction films included on this DVD mirror the 1930s new social consciousness that was helping to pull America out it's economic and societal depression.
Image Entertainment
Contents:
• King Vidor's Our Daily Bread with prologue (1934, 78 mins) - IMDB
• California Election News #1 and #2 (13 mins)
• The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936, 25 mins) - IMDB
• The River (1937, 31 mins) - IMDB
• Power and the Land (1940, 37 mins) - IMDB
• The New Frontier (1934, 10 mins) - IMDB
If you're interested in getting this excellent compilation of films about the Great Depression, then please note that Image Entertainment re-released this DVD in late 2005. The cover is slightly different, featuring a still photo of two children from "The River." For some reason, Image hasn't been on the ball lately, and many e-tailers (including Amazon) continue to list this title – as well as the silent documentaries "Grass" and "Chang" – as out of print. It isn't. You can still find it here occasionally and with e-tailers who specialize in rare and hard-to-find DVDs (like Facets). There's no reason to pay more than $30 for this title unless you want the OOP 1st issue.
The movies themselves: As John Marr points out in his review below, "Our Daily Bread" is a little dated and corny in its story and acting, but it's still a fine movie made by a superb American director, King Vidor. Vidor made this movie independently – hence some of the non-professional actors. But it's well-crafted and features an astonishing and now-classic irrigation sequence at the climax. The other films vary in quality, but all of them are historically important. "The New Frontier" is a short piece of fluff news about the kind of cooperative community that inspired "Our Daily Bread." The two California newsreels are infamous for having used professional actors and not "average joes"; historians think that these propoganda pieces helped defeat the left-wing Upton Sinclair during his gubernatorial bid in 1934. (The first newsreel is actually quite subtle, but the second is pretty transparent.) More artistically interesting are the three documentaries: Pare Lorentz's "Plow that Broke the Plains" and "The River" and Joris Ivens' "Power and the Land." These docus used to be part of the standard curriculum in film classes, and they're excellent examples of montage (juxtaposing different images to create a sense of connection between two seemingly distinct events/ideas). "The Plow that Broke the Plains" famously connects the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to WWI, when farmers were encouraged to cultivate all their land for the war effort rather than leave any portions fallow. Personally, I prefer Ivens' "Power and the Land" – he humanizes/personalizes his story by focusing on one (very photogenic) Ohio family.
As for the DVD: Quality varies quite a bit here, too. The centerpiece, "Our Daily Bread," is superb. Film preservationist David Shepard bought Vidor's private copy of this film – even though the movie had fallen into public domain – just to conduct a high-quality restoration. In my opinion, Shepard's work on "Our Daily Bread" ranks as one of his finest achievements. It's clearly superior to all other (and cheaper) editions of this movie. The shorter pieces are OK. Fortunately, all but "The New Frontier" were transferred progressively, so even though they aren't in the best of shape, they look quite good on high resolution monitors.
Overall, this DVD is a real gem for movie buffs and especially for fans of King Vidor or historic documentaries. Although it may be hard to find the 2005 re-release, it's well worth your while. (And shame on Image Entertainment for not marketing this title more aggressively.)Customer Review, amazon.com
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