Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
August. 06,1975 PGPeriod music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
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Reviews
That was an excellent one.
disgusting, overrated, pointless
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
This was labeled as a documentary, so I expected there to be actual interviews or at least a narrative explaining what the references were. Instead, it's just a melange of clips and archival footage without any context. There's no script, no identification of anyone who's speaking, no labeling on the film clips, no explanation of the significance of what's been included.I'm fairly knowledgeable about this era, and even I didn't recognize half of the archival footage used or the personalities who appeared in it. I certainly didn't learn anything more from it, which is a shame. Anyone actually wanting to learn about the Depression era should give this a pass. The PBS series on the 1930s was far more interesting and informative.
I recently bought this documentary on DVD and watched it several times in succession. It is the best archival source of Depression-era material I have ever run across. I particulary enjoyed the segment with Huey Long. What a terrific speaker he was! And to see him on stage with Ina Ray Hutton, the woman band leader, was a real treat. I highly recommend this for historians of America in the 20th century.
this is an extraordinary use of both documentary and archive newsreel to tell a story of the depression era in the USA. No naration, the film speaks for itself. The use of Jimmy Cagney as a running character is great. Fascinating and amusing.
Documentary on the depression era that begins at the crash and documents the horrible results on the country. Uses newsreel footage along with some hollywood film footage as well - it can be a little confusing since there are sometimes interspersed together. All in all a very well put together showing of that time in american history with some rare footage and songs of the time. on a scale of one to ten... 8