M - 42a/The Depression Years
SEGMENT A
Fade up on A
Montage of shots of
1930s
:00
Dis. to B
:07
:08
D SOUND FULL: Music
C SOUND FULL: Miller/D SOUND UNDER
SAM MILLER:
Almost half the population today inthe U.S. was not alive
during the depression, or if so were at such an age that
they couldn't remember it, therefore it is typeical of
Dis. to A
:20
that type of individual to say that/we must be in a depres­
sion at the present time, well that's not the case. The
difficulty is almost half the population today, has heard
of the depression, has read of the depression, but never
tasted a depression.
:33
Dis. to B
C SOUND OUT/D CONT'S. UNDER
:37
:38
C SOUND FULL: Geo. Condon/D CONT'S. UNDER
CONDON:
It was not the time you'd want to return to except in your
mind, because the negative side certainly met great
poverty and privatiot;l with suffering •......... for huma­
nity. And it was a crippling thing for the nation. But
perhaps it was a crucible that made the nation stronger
M - 428/Sego A
Page 2.
in the long run I don't lmow •
Dis. to A
Bread lines
1:00
C SOUND OUT/D SOUND UNDER (Cont's.)
1:03
C SOUND CONT'S. FULL: Osbourne/D CONT'S. UIDER
OSBOURNE:
The Decade of the 30's--the decade that flattened hope
and crushed the American dream •••. A time that stands
as the great American trauma. The Great Depression
of the 1930's fa s had a most profound impact on Ameri­
can thought. It lasted, in effect, for eleven long years
ending only wi th the mobilization for World War Two.
Perhaps its shock value was meant to serve as a shrine
to future generations--a warning. As economist John
Kenneth Galbraith once wrote: "A Good knowledge of
what happened in 1929 remains our best safeguard against
the recurrence of the more unhappy events of those days. "
1:41
X-FADE FROM D SOUND TO B UNDER
Today, as unemployment heads toward some unlmown
double digit figure; production and sales alike continue on
a steady decline; and as the consumer tightens his purse
strings the nagging thoughts of many Americans are,
either consciously or subconsciously, returning to the
Clo.,.,.HiI O'hORt_Hkp. ;maQ'@s of
the Great Denression. The
Page 3.
M - 428/Seg.A
question haunting so many people today is --What ire the
odds it will happen again? The answer can be found, in
Vertical
Wipe to A (left to right)
Depression lines
2 :13
X-FADE FROM B TO D SOUND UNDER
part, by examining those economically depressed days of
the 1930s •••. What caused the worst depressicn in world
history? ••• and, as a nation, who somehow muddled
thIWgh it, what DR de us hugh and what made us cry?
_M_a_tte_:_M_o_n_ta.. g"-e_____
.
2_:_25_ _ _M_o_n_ta-""-ge/ will look back on those turbulent days and invesMatte: title
2 :31
tigate the possibilities of a recurrence off 'the depres­
sion years. '
Fade to Black
2:33
C SOUND OUT/D SOUND FULL: Music
2:38
FADE OUT D SOUND
END SEGMENT A Page 4. M - 428Jt'he Depression Years
SEGMENT B Fade in A
Stills of depression
:00
D SOUND FULL: Music
:05
C SOUND FULL: Osbour ne /D SOUND UNDER
OSBOURNE:
The depresion today is remembered as a time of bitter­
sweet existence. For those who recalled the 30s, their
stories are comprised mostly of thebitter and very little
of the sweet. For many, the Great Depression of the
1930s was a lost decade, something that you put out of
your mind forever, and hoped that it didn't come back to
haunt you.
:26
:31
D SOUND OUT/C CONT'S. FULL: Music
,C SOUND UNDER: Music/D SOUND FULL: Osbourne
Informed sources say that he depression was moot likely
cut to 1920s footage rooted in the wUd speculative years of the 1920s, but no
one knows for sure. A 'speculative modd' had pervaded
the 20s with the philosophy that all people had the right
to become rich, very quickly, with a minimum of physi­
cal effort--and, one speculated by investing in the stock
market.
Page 5.
M - 428/Seg. B
:51
D SOUND OUT
:53
C SOUND OUT: With Heavy Re -verb
:54
FADE IN C SOUND: WlReverb-Tickertape
:56
D SOUND FULL: Osbourne/C SOUND UNDER
But, on Thursday, Oct. 24, 1929 the bottom fell out of an
overexte.nded Wallstreet.
DiS. to B
st6cks as wallpaper
our/c
1:03
D SOUND
FULL: Tickertape (WIreberb)
1:09
X-FADE FROM C FULL TOD SOUND FULL: Music
1:15
D UNDER IC SOUND FULL: Osbourne
The real value of stocks reflected nothing more than
hunches and guesses. For some who handn't lost every­
thing, most of all their sense of hum ore , the worthless
stock issues could find other uses like wallpapering your
house, if indeed, you still had one.
Dis. to A
still pix/run on the
banks
1:33
C SOUND OUT
1:35
X-FADE FROM D TO C SOUND UNDER: Music
M- 428/Seg. B
Page 6.
1:38
D SOUND FULL: Bums/C SOUND CONT'S. UNDER
BURNS:
I was about 4 years married and uh, depression came
along. I paid $3,000 on a 2 family house, and then I
couldn't meet the payments anymore. ThEf said well uh,
"we're sorry, we sold your mortgage to somebody else. "
This was terrible thing, man worked h ard and saved a
few dollars to buy a home for himself am then he was in
thi. s kind of a s itua tion.
Cut to:
W .S. -overhead
W. S. -line in street
M.S. -cops ushering
men thru door
2:03
EFFECTS
D SOUND OUT/FADE C SOUND OUT/ADD CROWD .
(Horse -clopping, trolley) FULL
2:05
D SOUND FULL: Osboume.EF,FECTS UNDER
OSBOURNE: Now that "paper" fortunes had turned to dust, the Ameri­
can people still were not willing to believe what had hap­ p ened. Disbelief turned into panic, and in panic, mobs
besieged the banks demanding their life savings •.....
2:19
D CCJlJT'S. FULL: Selkowitz/LOSE '·EFFECTS
SELKOWITZ:
Matte: L-l/3: Selkowitz
2 :21 My wife said that a lot of people were drawing in their
money out of the bank. Society for Savings had a branch
out there and I said aw that'll never go broke. its a big
Page 7.
bank, they got plenty of money, so we didn't do anything
that day, so when I arne home the next day, she told me
they were still, people were drawin' their money out, she
said, there's trouble, so we went to the bank, we drew
our money out about 2 days later, the president closed all
the banks and we were pretty fortunate that way, I guess
we's just lucky.
D SOOND OUT/C SOUND UNDER: Music
Cut to :
apple sellers
3:01
D SOUND FULL: Osboume/C CaNT'S. UNDER
OSBOURNE:
The depression rapidly began to snowball. With savings
lost, people immediately began cutting purchases. All
cut to:
empty, idle factories
production in the country began to decline, and some came
to a grinding halt. As rrassive deflation picked up steam,
the inevitable happened: men began to lose thei r jobs -­
layoffs were swift and heavy.
Fast
Dis. to B
1930-Auto poster
3:23
D SOUND OUT/C CaNT'S. UNDER
3:24
D SOUND FULL: Condon/C CaNT'S. UNDER
CONDON:
It was a most distreSSing time of course for the bread­
winners, the conscientious ones who had a family and
Page 8.
M - 428/Seg. B
suddenly found themselves deprived of an ireome.
Dis to A
Condon on Cam.
3:38
FADE C SOUND
our
It was a time that did bring humanity closer together in
Matte: L-I/3, Condon
3:40
many ways. And it did something else I think it height­
ened this need for survival.
Horizontal Wipe to B
from bottom to top
3:50
C SOUND IN UNDER: Music
Uh heightened the senses. The adversity of the times did
make the adrenalin flow. Those who could not endure
the deprivations, the rejections, the breadlines, the
job lines, uh were in very bad shape psychologically, and
physically and every other way.
4:08
D SOUND OUT/C FULL: Music
4:14
D SOUND FULL: Osbourne/C SOUND UNDER
OSBOURNE:
Amidst this all, there were stUI cries from American
business men, industrialists, and the Hoover Administra­
tion that "prosperity was just around the corner". But
to the 13 mUlion people out of work, a staggering 25% of
the entire work force, empty phrases did little to put
bread on the table. Men out of work, hungry, with spirits
Page 9.
M - 428/Seg. B broken, stood in line for free nourshment.
4:40 CHANGE IN D SOUND FULL: "Brother Can You Spare A
Dime"
Brother can you spare a dime. They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, when the re was earth to plow or guns to bear, I was alway s there right on the job. They used to tell me I was build­
ing a dream, with peace and glory ahead. Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? MUSIC REFRAIN: Once I buUt a railroad, made it rWl, made it race against time, once I bunt a rairoad, now its done, brother at n you spare a dime. 5 :38
5 :39
C SOUND UNDER: Music
D SOUND FULL: Osbourne /C C ONT'S. UNDER
OSBOURNE:
Men at-­
employment agencies 1
A man, reduced now to another hungry statistic, would
realize all too soon the pain and frustration of regaining
employment. In desperation he turned to the employment
agencies--wUling to lose a weEk, or a months pay for a
job that might rebuild his deflated ego. Butas many soon
found out, the longlines of hopeless men at the employ­
Page 10.
M - 428/Seg.B
ment agencies came upon collective, wholesale rejections.
Dis. to B
Ladies at employment
bureau
6:07
C SOUND CHANGES, UNDER
(Mat
Need Fade Out-Fade In)
C ONTfS. FULL
ELDERLY LADY: Iuh,got 'So discouraged and so frustrated that I became' depressed myself during the depression and couldn't snap . out of it because I couldn't do what I wanted to do. I wasn't doing the things that I cruld do, that I wasn't able to do. Dis. to A
Factory Worke rs
6:24
C CONT'S. UNDER: Music
6:25
D SOUND CONT'S.: Osbourne/C CONT'S UNDER
OSBOURNE:
By 1932 wages and prices sank to an aU time low .. The
national income had declined by 50%. For those who
were stUl employed, most sweatshop, factory work only
brought home between 75 cents to $2.00 a week.
6:41
D SOUND CONT'S
FULL: Condon
.
CONDON: If money was hard to come by goods were cheap so a little bit of money went a long way. We would spend 5¢ Page 11. M - 428/Seg.B
Dis. to B
Condon on Cam.
6:47
FADE C SOUND OUT ON: ''Went A Long Way" for a bag of potato chips and you could have a feast - three
or four of you could dip into that bag of potato chips for ­
that cost you a nickel. You bought broken cookies at the
cookie factory, pop was ridiculously cheap and you found
ways to make a little bit of money. In those days you
could get a job perhaps delivering groceries for the cor­
ner grocery store.
~FFECTS
Cut to:
Vets descending on
Cleve. Freight train
yard (mob scene)
7:23
7:27
FULL: Add locomotive Whistle & Gen'!. Crowd
Noise
EFFECTS
C SOUND FULL: Osbourne/CROWD
UNDER: W/idle
Steam Engine in B. G .
OSBOURNE:
From every comer of the country, jobless World War One
Veterans, calling themselves Bonus Marchers, boarded
any type of transportation they could find that was bound
for Washington. Here in Cleveland the Vets overtook
freight trains to begin their long trip to protest what they
felt was rightfully theirs--a bonus worth about $500. In
Vertical
Wipe to A (left to right)
Vets March down
Pa. Ave.
7:48
EFFECTS
CHANGE
UNDER: Add Men Marching in Streets
Washington the men, in tattered clothes, marched down
Pennsylvania Avenue to take their dellR nds to Congress,
and they set
lp
camp on the Anacostia Flats. Their argu­
Page 12.
M - 428/Seg. B
ment was that the m;oney was needed now ,not upon
maturity in 1945. In the end, their demands were met
only with tear gas and bayonets.
Cut to:
Bonus March
8:09
EFFECTS
C SOUND OUT/LOSE
. /D SOUND FULL: Music "Brothere Can You Spare A Dime
LYRICS:
Once I buUt a tower to the sun bricks and rivets and lime,
once I built a tower, now its done, brother can you spare
a dime. Once in cacky suits gee we looked swell, full of
that Yankee Dood'le Dance, half a million boots, went
slogging thru hell, and I was the kid with the drum. Say
don't you remember they call me AI, it was al all the tim
say do't you remember I'm your pal, buddy can you spare
a dime."
8:59
D SOUND UNDER/C SOUND FULL: Lady
ELDERLY LADY:
I
I do want you all to know something about Hoover puttin'
these chickens in the pot. You mow he, he ••. he was
gonna put 2 chickens in every pot, but I think what hap­
pened to the chickens, they went in his pot, because we
didn't see any of it, or get any of it, that was the worse
depression during the time that he was preSident, and
the time that uh, PreSident Roosevelt took over and came
in there and kept us from starving.
Page 13.
M - 428!Seg. B
9:23
D SOUND OUT/C CONT'S FULL: FDR (Needs Boost)
FDR: (Inaugural) This is ••. pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth frankly and boldly. This great nation will endure, as it las endured, will revive and will prospe r. 9:39
C SOUND UNDER: Music/D SOUND FULL: Osbrurne
OSBOURNE:
In March, 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Shots of FDR
was
inaugurated Presidnet, unemployment had reached its
peak, about 15 million. To the common man, working or
unemployed, FDR, that cold year of the depression, was
.the MeSSiah.
9:55
D SOUND OUT/C SOUND FULL: WPA fUm
WPA FILM NARRATION: As Uncle Sam ••• ventured to the challenge of the depressiOl the names of Boulder, Grand Coulee, Woodpeck and Bonneville stand without equal in the annals of engineering, achievements of all time. Together they will reclaim areas of land greater than the territory of whole nations, they're combined electric power output will rival the great· est fortunes known to man, they're benefits will be the inheritance of future gneerations. They stand as enduring Page 14.
M - 428/Seg.B
monuments, to the valiant battle of a great people against
the combined forces of a world wide depression.
10:30
D SOUND FULL: Osboume/C SOUND UNDER
OSBOURNE:
The construction of great projects like the Botler or
Grand Coulee dams were undertaken by FDR's New Deal
through the public works programs. Under the WPA, the
PWA, and the CCC to name only a few, men were put
;";'F;:;a=-st.--:D:-;is=.:-r-to~B_ _ _ _ _I_O_:4_4_ _ _b_a_ck_t_0_w_0_r_k_a-"gai_n",-,.
___ / In Cleveland, the parks system,
WPA-PWA in
Cleveland-stills
the memorial shoreway, and playgrounds by the dozens
were improved or constructed from scratch by the so­
called "alphabet soup" agencies. (Watch Change In Music;
Dis. to A
WPA -Stills
10:54
D CaNT'S. FULL: Condon/C CaNT'S. UNDER: Music
CONDON:
The WPA came to be a, the standing joke with the radio
comedians. The whole point of the joke being that there
were thousands or millions of men leaning on shovels
everywhere you looked. Well, cause those comedians
never used a shovel---or they would know that if you dig
--especially if you're not used to digging or wheeling a
pick you got to stop once in awhile and take a long rest
because its uh arduous. There are a lot of buildings a:tanc
as monuments to those agencies which put people to work,
Page 15.
M - 428/Seg. B
And work was a precious thing. It was a precious psy­
chologica11y, as it was economically.
11:42
X-FADE FROM C SOUND: To added Effects-UNDER:
Angry Crowds & Derr.
11:44
D SOUND FULL: Osbourne/CROWD EFFECTS UNDER
WI' -Protest in streets
OSBOURNE:
In 1936 the WPA, like many of the New Deals relief agen­
cies began experiencing trouble--the government began
massive WPA layoffs. The worker immediately took to
the streets in protest.
11:56
D SOUND OUT/EFFECTS FULL
12:02
D SOUND FULL: Osbourne/EFFECTS UNDER
OSBOURNE:
WPA workers were not the ooly ones to express discon­
tent. For more than 10 years labor unions had lost their
voice and were in steady decline. By themid 30s labor
Cut to:
union strikes
was coming into it's own, and the people were beginning
to feel their strength. Strikes against powerful manage­
ment empires spontaneously unfolded one-by-one------­
In the mid-west dairy workers protested by spilling milk
into the streets. Taxi drivers went on strike in New
Yor~
and in Cleveland protesting low wages. Automotive wor­
Page 16.
M - 428/Seg. B
kers stopped production by a sit-down strike at Chevrolet
12 ~.f)
ADD VIOLENT CROWD NOISE
While others hoping for peaceful demonstrations, ran into
Cut to:
Crowd Throwing
Briks, etc.
violence .•••.......
12:42
D SOUND OUTLEFFEQ.r=S-=F:-:U=L=L=--_ _ _ _ _ __
Fade B to Black
12:52
FADE OUT ALL SOUND
Fade in BRoIl
1930s comic books
etc.
12:54
D SOUND FULL: Music
13 :10
C SOUND FULL: Condon/D SOUND UNDER
f
CONDON:
Adversity has its own uses and - well its the saying
Itsweet a:rethe uses of adversity" and they are, because
=D,..:..is-:-:.:..-..::to""""A-:-::-~,.......-:~_---13-:-18---0-n-t-h-e.,J"p~0-s,.;..it"""'"'iv,;,...e_sl~'de/ of the depressIon we enjoyed life ­
Babe Ruth hits In me
run
Dis. to B
we enjoyed it tremendously as kids and I think a lot of
13 :30;
adults - it has to be by nature a Simpler time. 1 You have
People on beaches
tobrego luxuries which when you have lost them tend to
Dis. to A
13:41
not be as valuable as you thought they were .1 Cleveland
got its biggest psychological boost in the middle of the
depressiDn when the Gl8lt Lakes Exposition was staged
on the lakefront. While it dIdn't fake the city out of the
depression, it helped the city to forget the depression. It
Page 17.
M - 428/Seg. B
was a rollicking affa ir, really beautfu1.
14:00
Dis. to B
C SOUND OUT/D SOUND FULL: Music
14:05
14 :06
C SOUND FULL: Condon/D SOJ ND UNDER
For two years Cleveland laughed and danced and had a
good time downtownduring the worst depression in history.
Fad~
to Black
14 :15
C SOUND OUT /D SOUND FULL: Music
14:48
C SOUND OUT: Add Re-verb to Last Note
Fade in Bumpe r
14 :49
Fade to Black
14:52
END SEGMENT B
Page 18.
M- 428/The Depression Years
Fade in A
1930s (full-screen)
:00
D SOUND FULL: Ford/ADD RE-VERB
PRES. FORD:
"We are in trouble. But we are not on the brink of
Start very slow vertical
_W-...::ixp..:..e_t_o_B--!(_rig..,!::·:.: h:. ;. t..:..to.::.-.:.le_f_t~)_ _:_07_ ___a_n_o_th_e_r_G_r_ea~t_De_..£.p_re~s-s-i-on.-:;. / Our political and econom ic
system today is many times stronger than it was in the
Hold -split screen 1930s. We have income safeguards and unemployment
cushions built into our economy. I have taken, and will
continue to take whatever steps are needed to prevent
massive dislocations and personal hardships, and, in
particular, the tragedy of rising unemployment. "
:42
D SOUND OUT /e SOUND FULL: Osbourne /B SOUND
UNDER
OSBOURNE: 'Depression', of course, is all a matter of definition. Today, what is in fact depression to the poor am middle irebme groups, is mild recession to the affluent. How­
ever, its probably safe to say that depression or reces­
sion will never be what it was in the 1930s. Dis. to A
Fed. Reserve
money counting
:58 1:05
C SOUND OUT/X-FADE FROM B UNDER TO A FULL
e SOUND FULL: Osbourne / A SOUND UNDER
We have been, and will always remain on an everchang
ing business cycle. By classic definition, the cycle is
Page 19.
M - 428/Seg. C
made up of 'Boom' periods or inflations, which is always
followed by periods of recession or depression. Stated
quite simploy, the 'boom', or inflationary period, is the
increase in the quantity of money in the economy where
excesses b\lUd up in wages and prices; cCllversely,
'recession' or 'depression' is the fall in the money
supply where liquidation of wasteful misinvestment of
the 'boom' occurs. The stability of that system rests
with the safeguards that are built into it. One such
safeguard is our federal reserve system who tightens
or loosens that money supply depending upon prevailing
economic conditions.
By definition of economics, the whole system appears
very sound---but is it really sound enough to prevent a
return of 'the depression years?'
1:58
C CaNT'S. FULL: Rothwell/A CaNT'S. UNDER
RGrHWELL:
The economy, the political institutions that we have
today, are a lot different than those of the 1930s. 'Know
Dis. to B
2:09
there's the economists call automatic stabilizers, / we
2 :09
FADE A SOUND OUT have unemployment insurance, we didn't lave that in the
-
-
••
or
,
I"
I'J .11
1 Q~nQ
lTnpmnlovment insurance maintains purchasing
Page 20.
M - 428/Seg. C
power. Uh we have bank deposit insurance, in the 1930s
we didn't have anything like this if a bank failed uh, a
little guy could lose all of his money today an agency of
the federal government uh, insures deposits up to
Dis. to A
Fed. Reserve
money handling
2:33
A SOUND IN UNDER
$40,000. We have the tax structure that the tax rate goes
down as incomes decline, so if our incomes do fall, at
least we pay less to the federal government. Now when
you think about it, Congress thru its instrumentality of
the Federal Reserve System has the power to create
money, it also has the power to uh, put people to work,
so if we did begin sUding into a very very deep recession
government would be the employer of last erscrt, when
you can print money, and employ peop,e, you can pre­
vent a debacle like the 1930s.
MC CARTHY:
The plain truth of the matter is we don't know that much
Dis. to B
3:21
FADE OUT A SOUND
about the structure of the U.S. economy or the world
Matte: LrI/3, McCarthy
3:23 economy to be able to make very confident uh, state­
ments about the effect, particularly the long run effect,
the policies that we undertake in any" given point in time.
Page 21.
M - 428/Seg. C 1
The more the economy is subjected to shocks that cannot
be anticipated, the more vulnerable it is to uh, to depres­
sion. In fact our economic policy controls uh, are going
to have somewhat less reliability in the future as, as our
Dis. to A
Idle auto prod. lines
3:57
A SOUND UNDER
vulnerability to 00, 00 to developments in the rest of the
world increases uh, we're gonna find that uh our econo­
mic policy measures uh, may not have quite the effect­
iveness that we anita pated.
Dis. to B
Condon on Cam.
4 :11
A SOUND OUT: After: "I thinkt that uh, .... ")
CONDON:
I think that it would be a challenge to nature to say that
there will be no depression in the future. I think that it
is the natural scheme of things that we go in cycles, that·
the pendulum swing back. We have been in an upswing
for many and many years. It would be illogical to sup­
pose that nature doesn't require an adjustment from
time to time and that there would not be a natural law
which would provide a natural reaction to eve ry action.
Well, we have been going in one direction for a long
time and I think that we have to go in another direction
and it may be that such adjustments are not only essen­
tial but intrinSically helpful as distasteful as an economic
Page 22.
M - 428/Seb. C
dip is to most experts in economic matters and politi­
cians especially.
5:23
START SLOW FADE IN ON D SOUND: Music
I think it probably something that will not be able to
Start Matte Credits
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
5 :27
C SOUND OUTjD SOUND FULL: Music, Helen O'Cowell:
"Are You Having Any Fun?"
Title
Narrator: Osbourne
Writer-Prod.: H. Schwartz
A. Prod.: Mrzena/Siegler
Cine. /Ed.: Goulden/Mrzena
T .D. /Audio
Montage Ackn.
Co-op #1
Co-op #2
MRA/Pub. Af.
Fade to Black
6:38
ADD RE-VERB, LAST NOI'E ON D SOUND & RING OFF
END SEGMENT C
END SHON