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