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Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 9 - Index

Government Art: The New Deal Film Festival
By Jack C. Newell
Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt enacted
a series of government programs, services and promises to
help pull the nation out of economic depression. These
programs operated under the name “The New Deal.” The
New Deal was the government’s promise to America to
help everyone and to provide hope for those most affected
by the economy’s downturn.
The programs brought with them the largest expansion of
government power in the country’s history and claims of
unconstitutionality by conservative members of Congress.
The New Dealers argued that the power of the government
was needed to pull the country up by its bootstraps. But,
The New Deal did not pull the country out of depression. It
would take World War II and the demand for more products
to do that.
Although not a success, The New Deal was a watershed in
the American experience. Some programs started then are
still in use today, like the FDIC and Social Security system.
Two of the programs that have fallen by the wayside are
the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and the Works
Progress Administration (WPA).
These two organizations are highlighted in the films screened
at The 75th anniversary of The New Deal Film Festival, which
made its Midwest premiere on April 16th at Columbia
College Chicago’s Film Row Cinema. The National Archives’
first showing of the collection was on March 15th at the
Charles Guggenheim Center for The Documentary Film at
the National Archives.
In addition to the 13 films screened,
there was a panel of historians,
filmmakers and film scholars who
provided insight and answered
questions from the audience. The panel
included visiting experts Robert Niemi,
a film and literature historian from St.
Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.,
and Tom Nastick, a producer of public
programs at the Center for the National
Archives Experience in Washington,
DC. Columbia College Chicago also
provided historians and teachers Erin
McCarthy, Nick McCormick, Con
Buckley and filmmaker Don Smith.
The films chosen for this festival represent
the only time in America’s history that
the government produced and created
art. The films’ messages of hope didn’t
distract contemporary viewers from the
fact that the films were propaganda
tools on par with Riefenstahl’s “Triumph
of the Will.” Contemporary audiences
will also find the social and cultural
differences in the short 50 years since
The New Deal astounding.
A number of films garnered laughs from
the audience in spots where the cultural
divide is the largest, for example, women being portrayed
as good obedient homemakers and seamstresses waiting
for their men to come home from a long day of manual
labor or from the office.
Others now just seem ridiculous, like the short film “The Road
is Open Again” starring singer Dick Powel, who is inspired to
write a patriotic song about the NRA and FDR by the ghosts
of Washington, Lincoln and Wilson.
Another feature film shown is “The Fight for Life,” which
was produced by the U.S. Film Service and follows actors
portraying doctors from the government-funded Chicago
Maternity Center dealing with the hazards of childbirth in
the Chicago slums.
Arguably the most famous film presented was Pare Lorentz’s
“The Plow that Broke the Plains” about the Dust Bowl. It has
been studied and praised for its masterful use of music and
the editing by generations of documentary filmmakers.
At each screening, New Deal Democrats or people who
participated it the WPA and NRA programs were recognized
and invited to speak about their experiences.
The panel held lively discussions with the audience about
the nature of propaganda, Hollywood’s fear of government
competition, and the historical and political ramifications of
the films and the programs. The event also featured period
music by The Swing Doctors.
//www.archives.gov