CHAPTER 13 SECTION 4 CULTURE OF THE 1930’S

MASS ENTERTAINMENT FLOURISHED DURING THE NEW DEAL YEARS AS AMERICANS SOUGHT TO ESCAPE FROM THE WORRIES OF THE DEPRESSION IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE FOR ENTERNAINMENT – THE MOVIES, MUSIC AND LITERATURE PRODUCED DURING THIS ERA HOLD A UNIQUE PLACE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

Movies & Radio ENTERTAINMENT BECAME BIG BUSINESS DURING THE 1930’S – NBC AND CBS BROADCASTING GIANTS – MGM, WARNER BROTHERS, 20TH CENTURYFOX AND PARAMOUNT – HUGE MOVIE STUDIOS

Movies & Radio BY 1935 TWO IN THREE HOMES OWNED A RADIO – BY END OF 1930’S 9 OF 10 HOMES DID BY 1939 NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF ALL AMERICANS ATTENDED AT LEAST ONE MOVIE A WEEK

Movies & Radio FAN MAGAZINES TRACKED STARS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES

Movies & Radio WHEN AMERICANS WENT TO THE MOVIES DURING THE DEPRESSION THEY DID SO AS A MEANS OF ESCAPISM THE WIZARD OF OZ WAS ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE DEPRESSION-ERA FILMS – IT PROMISED AUDIENCES THAT THEIR DREAMS REALLY COULD COME TRUE

Movies & Radio STUDIOS RELEASED MUSICALS, ROMANTIC COMEDIES, GANGSTER FILMS AND CARTOONS WALT DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE – CARTOON, FRANKENSTEIN, MUSICAL TOP HAT – STARRING FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS ( PAGE 427), GONE WITH THE WIND – STARRING CLARK GABLE AND VIVIEN LEIGH

Movies & Radio IN THE EARLY 1930S MANY FILMS REFLECTED THE PUBLIC’S DISTRUST OF BIG BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT GANSTER MOVIES, SUCH AS PUBLIC ENEMY STARRING JAMES CAGNEY WERE VERY POPULAR – SHOWED A DECLINING FAITH IN GOVERNMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Movies & Radio WHEN THE NEW DEAL RESTORED CONFIDENCE MOVIES BEGAN PORTRAYING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AS HEROES – JAMES CAGNEY – IN G-MEN

Movies & Radio OTHER FILMS FOCUSED ON THE STRENGTH OF AVERAGE AMERICANS – FRANK CAPRA – WAS A LEADER IN THIS GENRE – HIS CHARACTERS WERE EVERYDAY PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH THE HARDSHIPS OF THE TIME: 1. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON – STARRING JAMES STEWART – ABOUT A SENATOR WHO FIGHTS AGAINST THE GREED AND CORRUPTION HE FINDS IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL 2. MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN – STARRING GARY COOPER 3. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE – STARRING JAMES STEWART AS GEORGE BAILEY

Movies & Radio CAPRA’S FILMS CELEBRATED AMERICAN IDEALISM AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE COMMON MAN OVER THE FORCES OF ADVERSITY

Movies & Radio NATIONAL RADIO NETWORKS BROADCAST POPULAR SHOWS STARRING COMEDIANS SUCH AS BOB HOPE AND JACK BENNY AMERICANS FOLLOWED SOAP OPERAS, VARIETY SHOWS AND DRAMAS SUCH AS THE LONE RANGER AND THE SHADOW

Movies & Radio IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING ENTERTAINMENT THE RADIO DELIVERED NEWS AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY ON ONE OCCASION RADIO LISTENERS HAD A HARD TIME RECOGNIZING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT – OCTOBER 30, 1938 – WAR OF THE WORLDS – DIRECTED BY ORSEN WELLES – WAS SO REALISTIC SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED THE WORLD WAS BEING ATTACKED BY MARTIANS

Movies & Radio SWING MUSIC POPULAR BY BIG BANDS – POPULAR MUSICIANS: 1. DUKE ELLINGTON 2. BENNY GOODMAN 3. ARTIE SHAW 4. GLENN MILLER 5. JIMMY AND TOMMY DORSEY

Movies & Radio THE MOST POPULAR VOCALIST OF THE ERA WAS BING CROSBY WOODY GUTHRIE – FOLK SINGER – WROTE SONGS ABOUT THE OKIES – ALSO WROTE “THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND”

The New Deal and the Arts THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDED FUNDING FOR THE ARTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY WPA ADMINISTRATOR HARRY HOPKINS ESTABLISHED A SPECIAL BRANCH OF THE WPA TO PROVIDE ARTISTS WITH WORK

The New Deal and the Arts PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE FEDERAL ART PROJECT, FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT AND FEDERAL THEATER PROJECT OFFERED A VARIETY OF JOB OPPORTUNITIES TO ARTISTS IN FEDERALLY FUNDED THEATERS MUSICIANS AND ACTORS STAGED PERFORMANCES THAT WERE OFTEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC WPA WRITERS RECORDED THE HISTORY AND FOLKLORE OF THE NATION IN A SERIES OF NEW STATE GUIDEBOOKS

The New Deal and the Arts ARTISTS PAINTED HUGE MURALS ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS THAT CELEBRATED THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WORKERS WHO HELPED BUILD THE NATION – STILL CAN BE SEEN IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS TODAY PHOTOGRAPHERS ALSO BENEFITTED FROM THE FEDERAL ARTS PROGRAM – THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (FSA) – SOUGHT TO DOCUMENT THE PLIGHT OF AMERICA’S FARMERS

The New Deal and the Arts WALKER EVANS AND DOROTHEA LANGE – CREATED THE MOST POWERFUL IMAGES OF IMPOVERISHED FARMERS AND MIGRANT WORKERS – INCLUDING LANGE’S MIGRANT MOTHER THE FEDERAL ART PROGRAMS CEASED TO EXIST IN THE EARLY 1940S – THEY SET A PRECEDENT FOR FURTHER FUNDING OF THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES IN THE 1960S

The Literature of the Depression THE DEPRESSION ERA PRODUCED MANY MEMORABLE WORKS OF LITERATURE MANY WRITERS WROTE ABOUT WORKING CLASS HEROES – SAW “ORDINARY AMERICANS” AS THE BEST HOPE FOR BETTER DAYS

The Literature of the Depression THE MOST FAMOUS NOVEL OF THE 1930s WAS JOHN STEINBECK’S – THE GRAPES OF WRATH – FOLLOWS THE JOAD FAMILY FROM OKLAHOMA TO CALIFORNIA DURING THE DUST BOWL THEY HOPED FOR A BETTER LIFE BUT INSTEAD OF THE PROMISED LAND THEY FOUND EXPLOITATION, DISEASE, HUNGER AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION

The Literature of the Depression AFRICAN AMERICN WRITERS WROTE ABOUT HARDSHIPS FACED BY BLACKS RICHARD WRIGHT – WROTE NATIVE SON – ABOUT RACIAL PREJUDICE IN A NORTHERN CITY

The Literature of the Depression LILLIAN HELLMAN – PLAYWRIGHT – WROTE PLAYS FEATURNIG STRONG ROLES FOR WOMEN – WROTE THE CHILDREN’S HOUR , THE LITTLE FOXES, AND WATCH ON THE RHINE – NOTED FOR THEIR SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS SUBJECT MATTER

The Literature of the Depression CLIFFORD ODETS – WROTE WAITING FOR LEFTY AND AWAKE AND SING – ABOUT THE STRUGGLES OF THE WORKING CLASS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The Literature of the Depression MANY AMERICANS READ COMIC STRIPS AND COMIC BOOKS MOST POPULAR: 1. FLASH GORDON – SCIENCE FICTION 2. DICK TRACY – DETECTIVE STORY 3. SUPERMAN – SUPER HERO

The Literature of the Depression THE SUCCESS OF SUPERMAN LED TO A RADIO SHOW AND LATER A POPULAR TV SERIES AND SEVERAL FEATURE FILMS – SUPERMAN REASSURED AMERICANS THAT ORDINARY CITIZENS LIKE CLARK KENT COULD OVERCOME EVIL