The 1930s (1990-2009)

Country: USA
Film Distributor: PBS (American Experience)

Beginning with the 1929 stock market collapse, The 1930s looks at the creation of FDR's Tree Army; construction of one of the greatest engineering projects of the modern era; the impact of the drought that transformed the plains; and an unlikely hero that gave downtrodden Americans hope. This collection of films examines America's response to the unprecedented threats facing the nation during one of history's most tumultuous decades.

Extras:
- Interview with Stephen Ives, director of Seabiscuit







Director: Stephen Ives
Writer: Michelle Ferrari
Stars: Scott Glenn, Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand

He was boxy, with stumpy legs that wouldn't completely straighten a short straggly tail and an ungainly gait; though he didn't look the part, Seabiscuit was one of the most remarkable thoroughbred racehorses in history. In the 1930s, when Americans longed to escape the grim realities of Depression-era life, four men turned Seabiscuit into a national hero. They were his fabulously wealthy owner Charles Howard, his famously silent and stubborn trainer Tom Smith and the two hard-bitten, gifted jockeys who rode him to glory. By following the paths that brought these four together and in telling the story of Seabiscuit's unlikely career, this film illuminates the precarious economic conditions that defined America in the 1930s and explores the fascinating behind-the-scenes world of thoroughbred racing. Scott Glenn narrates.






Director: Robert Stone
Writer: Robert Stone
Stars: Jonathan Alter, Robert Fechner, Leo Gorcey

American Experience celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Founded by Roosevelt during the Great Depression, the CCC put over 3 million men to work improving the countries infrastructure and national parks.






Director: Stephen Stept
Writer: Stephen Stept
Stars: Peter Coyote

Rising more than 700 feet above the raging waters of the Colorado River, it was called one of the greatest engineering works in history. The Hoover Dam, built during the Great Depression, drew men desperate for work to a remote and rugged canyon near Las Vegas. There they struggled against heat, choking dust and perilous heights to build a colossus of concrete that brought electricity and water to millions and transformed the American Southwest.






Director: Chana Gazit
Writer: Chana Gazit
Stars: Matthew Modine, Liev Schreiber

In 1931 the rains stopped and the "black blizzards" began. Powerful dust storms carrying millions of tons of stinging, blinding black dirt swept across the Southern Plains–the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the eastern portions of Colorado and New Mexico. Topsoil that had taken a thousand years per inch to build suddenly blew away in only minutes. One journalist traveling through the devastated region dubbed it the "Dust Bowl." This American Experience film presents the remarkable story of the determined people who clung to their homes and way of life, enduring drought, dust, disease–even death–for nearly a decade. Less well-known than those who sought refuge in California, typified by the Joad family in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," the Dust Bowlers who stayed overcame an almost unbelievable series of calamities and disasters.






Writer: Ronald Blumer
Stars: Philip Bosco, Reuben L. Cain, Calvin Coolidge

In 1929 there were few critics of the stock market; it seemed to rise without limits. In fact, presidents and economists alike confidently predicted that America would soon enter a "New Era" when everyone could be rich. But when reality finally struck, the consequences of such unbound optimism shocked the world.






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