1. CHAPTER 13
SECTION 4
CULTURE OF THE 1930’S

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Movies & Radio FAN MAGAZINES TRACKED STARS
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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”

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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