1940 - THE POWER AND THE LAND, 1933 - INDUSTRIAL BRITAIN, a couple of short "classic" documentaries.

I doubt The Power and the Land would even be produced today by the United States Government since it glorifies rural electric cooperatives and the government's involvement in bringing power to the rural areas of the country in the late 1930's, this stuff is way to socialist for the present mood of the country.

The real life farm family in The Power and the Land.

The Power and the Land has some nice photography but not unexpectedly looks hopelessly dated, with the narration glorifying the "simple people" working the land.  Television has completely killed this kind of informational film.

38 minutes.

Industrial Britain is just hopeless.  The film was started by Robert Flaherty for the Grierson film unit and then taken out of his hands and reedited.  The stereotypical British narrator intones about the merits of industrialization across the British empire.  The word "stogy" comes to mind.  This is the kind of short film that played before before the main feature in theaters during the 1930's and 40's.  It's primary function was to torture the audience by boring them to death.

22 minutes

1937 - THE SPANISH EARTH, well meaning but boring documentary on the Spanish Civil War

A documentary about the Spanish Civil War which was considered to be the first big stand against the rise of fascism in Europe during the 1930's.

The film was directed by Joris Ivens a left leaning documentary filmmaker.  Ernest Hemingway who had logged a lot of time partying and watching bullfights in Spain wrote and spoke the narration.  Another good liberal Marc Blietzstein composed the score.  The end result is this boring film. 

The Spanish Earth was probably shot as a silent film.  The film crew was apparently not allowed where the actual fighting was going on.  There are lots of shots of soldiers and recruits training.  During the film, Hemingway even says that the cameras couldn't get very close.  So Ivens shoots a lot of film of the Spanish people, farming which is not exactly exciting  wartime footage.

The scenes of war that Ivens supposedly captured seem very suspect and the explosions filmed were clearly edited in, since the shots don't match.

Joris Ivens directs safely from his hotel room.

The whole things comes off as a patronizing tribute to "the little people,"  if there's one thing that rich famous white liberals know, it's what's best for the simple people.

52 minutes.