History 1302 (Haney)

Movie List, 1920-1941

Below are some movies from the interwar period that might illuminate some of the issues we will be discussing. (Some of them are very entertaining as well.) They are listed according to some of the key themes of this part of the course, but be aware that in some cases these films address those themes only indirectly. Many of these titles are more readily available at local, independent video rental stores than at national chains.

(Dates and other basic information will be added to these titles shortly.)

I. The Impact of the Great War

The Big Parade

All Quiet on the Western Front

 

II. The 1920s Sexual Revolution

Salome

It

 

III. Tensions Over Modernity During the 1920s

Sunrise

The Crowd

 

IV. The "Moral Vacuum" of the Early-'30s

Skyscraper Souls

Red Dust

Red-Headed Woman

She Done Him Wrong

Little Caesar

Scarface

The Public Enemy

 

V. 1930s Social Realism

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

Wild Boys of the Road

The Grapes of Wrath

 

VI. New Deal Populism

Gabriel Over the White House

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Sullivan's Travels