
We're in the Money
Depression America and It's Films
Andrew Bergman(Author)
Ivan R Dee, Inc (Publisher)
Published on 1. March 1992
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-929587-85-1 (ISBN)
Description
Looking at the figures for movie attendance in the 1930s, one might conclude that the America of the Great Depression was a land of Bijous, Gems, Orpheums, Strands, and Rivieras. Americans needed their movies, as Mr. Bergman notes, and they needed them not just for escape. In We're in the Money, Mr. Bergman looks at the films of the thirties (many of them which we now regard as classics) and shows how Hollywood helped prop up the nation's fundamental institutions during the gravest economic crisis in history. Movies, he demonstrates, kept alive the myth of a mobile and classless society, focused on the endless possibilities for individual success, turned social evil into personal evil, and made the New Deal into a veritable leading man. "The kind of book that both old film buffs and the new post-grads of `Sesame Street' can really enjoy. It makes history fun, enables teachers and kids to test out their own assumptions about how the 30s turned out the gangsters, the hi-steppers, the FBI gurus, the zany anarchists and the mythical down-on-the-farm good guys who took on the whole punchy and reeling microcosm of America."-Robert Geller, Center for Understanding Media. "First rate. It should stand for a long time as a pioneer work in a field where all too little has been written."-Alfred B. Rollins, Jr.
Reviews / Votes
It is a fun way to take a look at history and well worth reading. * Rainbo Electronic Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
325 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-929587-85-1 (9780929587851)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Andrew Bergman, who studied history at the University of Wisconsin, is a Hollywood screenwriter whose films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, Fletch, and The Freshman, which he also directed. He lives in New York City.
Content
Part 1 Introduction xi
Part 2 A Note on the Movie Industry and the Depression xix
Part 3 PART ONE 1930-1933
Chapter 4 The Gangsters 3
Chapter 5 The Shyster and the City 18
Chapter 6 Some Anarcho-Nihilist Laff Riots 30
Chapter 7 Sex and Personal Relations: Women of the Streets, Women of the World 49
Chapter 8 A Musical Interlude 62
Part 9 PART TWO 1933-1939
Chapter 10 Back to the Earth: King Kong and King Vidor 69
Chapter 11 The G-Man and the Cowboy 83
Chapter 12 Warner Brothers Presents Social Consciousness 92
Chapter 13 The Mob and the Search for Authority, 1933-1937 110
Chapter 14 Frank Capra and Screwball Comedy, 1931-1941 132
Chapter 15 A Solution to Environment: The Juvenile Delinquent 149
Chapter 16 Conclusions 167
Part 17 Notes 175
Part 18 Bibliography 187
Part 19 Index 195
Part 2 A Note on the Movie Industry and the Depression xix
Part 3 PART ONE 1930-1933
Chapter 4 The Gangsters 3
Chapter 5 The Shyster and the City 18
Chapter 6 Some Anarcho-Nihilist Laff Riots 30
Chapter 7 Sex and Personal Relations: Women of the Streets, Women of the World 49
Chapter 8 A Musical Interlude 62
Part 9 PART TWO 1933-1939
Chapter 10 Back to the Earth: King Kong and King Vidor 69
Chapter 11 The G-Man and the Cowboy 83
Chapter 12 Warner Brothers Presents Social Consciousness 92
Chapter 13 The Mob and the Search for Authority, 1933-1937 110
Chapter 14 Frank Capra and Screwball Comedy, 1931-1941 132
Chapter 15 A Solution to Environment: The Juvenile Delinquent 149
Chapter 16 Conclusions 167
Part 17 Notes 175
Part 18 Bibliography 187
Part 19 Index 195