The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)

Director:

Pare Lorentz

Writer:

Pare Lorentz (writer)

Release Date:

10 May 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Short | Drama | History

Plot Keywords:

Dust Bowl | Farming | Farmer | Grass | WWI

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Thomas Chalmers

...

Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

25 min | Argentina:28 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Argentina:Unrated

Company:

Resettlement Administration

Trivia:

Three of the four cameramen (all but Paul Ivano) who worked on this film were fired by director/writer Pare Lorentz. Basically, they considered him too verbally script-oriented and not sufficiently visually oriented. One of these cameramen was Paul Strand, who went on to become one of America's most honored still photographers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Donald Brittain: Filmmaker (1995)

Soundtrack:

Reveille

Document of history

Viewers who insist on judging past attitudes by today's standards will hate or dismiss this film (see several examples.) Whether it was a propaganda piece or an educational one when it was made, it is now one of the most immediate visual records we have of the dust bowl and the migration that resulted from it, a monumental achievement which can never be duplicated, and one which influenced both American music and documentary film-making in an essential way. For many years it was shown in U.S. Schools, which is where I first saw it about 55 years ago, in the early 1950s with their emphasis on bread-basket America and the promise of farming technology. With a proper introduction by teachers, even the jingoistic narration could be made useful. As a record of where our country has been, it's an invaluable, irreplaceable document.