All language subtitles for America in Color S01E02 The 1930s

Narrator:
This is the story of America,

seen in color
for the first time.

The 1930s are the years
of the great depression.

In the aftermath
of the stock market crash,

violence and anarchy threaten
to tear the country apart.

One president flounders.

Herbert hoover:
Be patient. Be helpful.

Narrator:
Another offers a new deal.

Franklin Roosevelt:
This nation is asking for action

and action now!

Narrator:
Bold projects inspire Americans.

Hoover's g-men
go after the gangsters.

J. Edgar hoover: We should all
be concerned with but one goal--

the eradication of crime.

Narrator: It's a decade of grand
visions and lofty achievements.

But powerful forces threaten

to leave the American dream
in the dust.

This is the story of
a nation's fight for survival,

as you've never seen it before.

John f. Kennedy:
I want us to recapture that...

Narrator: Macy's
Thanksgiving day parade, 1929.

Americans put on a happy face.

In Washington on Christmas Eve,
first lady Lou hoover

traditionally distributes toys
to local children.

But this year, the bags
contain food, not toys.

The country is in the throes
of an economic meltdown.

That same night,
disaster strikes.

Faulty wiring sparks a Blaze
in the white house,

leaving president Herbert hoover
scrambling to save what he can.

As Christmas day dawns,
the damage is clear.

The west wing,
including the oval office,

is a burnt-out shell.

The charred, smoldering ruins
of the white house

seem to reflect
the national mood.

Just two months earlier,

$25 billion--
nearly half a trillion today-.

Disappears
as the stock market plummets.

Banks demand that brokers repay
what they've borrowed,

but many cannot.

And on main street,

Americans lose confidence
in banks

and try to pull their money out.

Thousands make runs
on the banks,

and as the new decade starts,
more than 650 fail.

Almost $80 million
of personal savings are lost,

forever.

Men across the country
are losing their jobs in droves.

Chicago is one of the places
hardest hit.

In 1930, nearly 450,000 people
in this city alone

are unemployed,

an increase of 170%.

They're unable
to feed their families.

The needs of the poor
overwhelm local governments.

Churches and private charities
step in to help.

Even mob boss al Capone sets up
one of the first soup kitchens.

Across the country,

4.3 million people
are out of work.

Many of the homeless
and destitute

tough it out in shantytowns.

They're dubbed hoovervilles,

a scathing commentary
on the president.

This rare home movie

of hoover teaching
his grandchildren to fish

was shot by his wife Lou
in 1930.

Hoover is a self-made man.

He believes America
can end the depression

through the efforts
of individuals

and private enterprise

and not with
government handouts.

Hoover:
And therefore I would say

to the American public--

be patient. Be helpful.

Recognize the complexity and
the difficulty of the problem

before these servants of
your combined public interest.

Narrator: Hoover appeals to one
of the richest men in America,

Henry Ford.

Hoping to stimulate sales
and the economy,

Ford raises wages
and cuts car prices.

But by 1932,
sales are at rock bottom,

and Ford has lost $75 million.

He lays off two-thirds
of his workforce.

In response,
the laid-off workers demand

that Ford rehire them.

On march 7th,
5,000 gather in Detroit

and make their way
to the Ford plant in dearborn.

The only surviving footage
of that fateful day

is filmed by the Detroit
unemployed council.

At the city limits,
violence erupts.

Dearborn police spray tear gas
and attack the men with clubs.

The protesters fight back
with anything they can.

Then Ford's private security
gets the nod and opens fire.

Four laid-off workers
die that day.

80,000 mourners
join the funeral procession.

The relationship
between labor and management

will remain contentious.

For the lucky few
who have even a little money,

life is much different.

19-year-old Wallace Kelly was
drawn to New York by his dreams.

He saved for a movie camera
by skipping lunch in college.

He aims to find work
as an illustrator.

While job hunting, he captures
city life during the depression.

He tells his family that he sees
more suicides than paychecks.

But he has enough spare cash
to visit New York's playground,

coney island.

For others, savings are gone.

They have nothing.

Announcer: ...From all parts
of the country,

and this contingent
from California

are heading for Washington
to join the bonus fight.

In 1932, some 20,000 world war i
veterans, called the bonus army,

march to a new battlefront.

Congress has promised them
a bonus of $1.25

for each day served overseas,

not to be paid, though,
until 1945.

With so many veterans
broke and jobless,

they are demanding
the money now.

Congress refuses.

$2 billion,
it's just not possible.

But the veterans
refuse to leave.

They camp out
in the sweltering summer heat.

Five long weeks pass.

Finally, president hoover,
convinced the bonus army

is a front
for a communist revolution,

orders the police
to clear the men out.

But the veterans aren't going
without a fight.

Hoover calls in the army.

His chief of staff,
general Douglas MacArthur,

orders the 12th infantry
and 3rd cavalry regiments

to assemble.

For the first time
in American history,

tanks roll down
Pennsylvania Avenue,

mobilized
against American citizens.

Ignoring hoover's orders
to evacuate the men peacefully,

the infantry closes in
on the veterans.

The soldiers advance
with tear gas and fixed bayonets

and burn the camps
to the ground.

When it's all over, 54 veterans
are injured and 135 arrested.

The bonus army disbands.

By 1932, Americans
are increasingly desperate,

and it's an election year.

The democrats choose
as their candidate

New York governor
Franklin delano Roosevelt.

Roosevelt: I emphasize to you

that the deep question
in this campaign

is one of confidence
in leadership,

confidence in leaders.

Narrator: Fdr offers a plan.

The government will provide work
for Americans.

He calls it the new deal.

It's a stark contrast
to hoover's hands-off policy.

Hoover: This campaign is more
than a contest between two men.

It is more than
a contest between two parties.

It is a contest between
two philosophies of government.

Narrator: Presidential campaigns
are now featured on newsreels.

A national leader's image is
more important than ever before.

Roosevelt appears to be
an energetic candidate,

but actually
he has something to hide.

11 years earlier,
at the age of 39,

Roosevelt contracted polio,

which left his legs
partially paralyzed.

He fears people
won't vote for him

if they know the truth
about his condition.

At Griffith stadium
in Washington, D.C.,

senators pitcher jimmie deshong
captures this very rare footage

of fdr walking
with his leg braces.

Ultimately, fdr comes
to an agreement with the press--

no photos of him walking
or getting in and out of cars.

This footage
shows the security detail

signaling for the cameras to cut

as fdr prepares
to leave his car.

On November 8, 1932,
Roosevelt triumphs.

Roosevelt: It looks, my friends,
like a real landslide this time.

Narrator: He wins with nearly
90% of the electoral vote,

the highest margin to date
for a Democratic candidate.

But before he can even start,

he's almost stopped dead
in his tracks.

It's February 1933.

President-elect Roosevelt
is in Florida.

Roosevelt:
This is another partial reunion

of the Roosevelt family

before we men go off on a cruise
up the coast starting tomorrow.

Narrator:
He's on a brief vacation

before his march inauguration.

He stops at bayfront park,
Miami,

to make an impromptu speech
from the back of his car.

Roosevelt:
Mr. mayor, my friends of Miami,

I haven't been here
for seven years,

but on my coming back,

I have firmly resolved
not to make it the last time.

Narrator: Suddenly, a man
steps forward pointing a gun.

Announcer:
The startled onlookers

suddenly realize
what has happened.

Pandemonium reigns.

Narrator: Next to Roosevelt
is Chicago mayor Anton cermak.

He takes a bullet meant for fdr
and later dies.

Four others are injured.

Announcer: They've got him!

The secret service men load him
on the rear of the car

and hustle him away to jail.

Narrator:
Roosevelt escapes unscathed,

thanks to an unlikely hero.

Housewife Lillian cross
was standing next to the gunman.

She swatted his firing arm
with her handbag.

Lillian cross: I knew he was
shooting at the president,

so my first thought was
to get the pistol up in the air

so he wouldn't hurt
any of the bystanders.

Narrator:
The gunman, giuseppe zangara,

had vowed to kill
all capitalists.

He's convicted, sentenced,
and five weeks later,

he's executed in old sparky,
Florida's electric chair.

March 4, 1933.

Hoover joins Roosevelt,

and they travel together
to the inauguration...

...where a crowd
of 250,000 gather.

Radio announcer Norman sweetser
has a ringside seat.

With his home movie camera,

he captures one
of the most iconic speeches

in American history.

Roosevelt:
Let me assert my firm belief

that the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself.

This nation is asking for action
and action now.

Narrator: The president's first
action is to shore up the banks.

Some 9,000 have already failed.
The rest are under strain.

Fdr orders every bank in the
nation to close for four days.

4,000 insolvent ones
never reopen.

In an unprecedented move,

he restocks the rest
with newly minted money.

The government is intervening in
the economy like never before.

$2 billion is printed
and shipped out to the banks.

With confidence restored,

the banks reopen, and people
redeposit their savings.

The bank runs are over.

But solving the banking crisis

is only a first step
in reviving the economy.

12 million Americans
are still out of a job.

Illustrator Wallace Kelly

has been badly hurt
by the depression.

He loses job after job
as companies go bust.

Finally, he leaves New York City

and goes back home
to Lebanon, Kentucky.

Wallace puts his dreams on hold

to help his brother Oliver
run the family-owned newspaper,

the Lebanon enterprise.

This small-town weekly
binds the community together

and is still published today.

Wallace captures this intimate
look at life inside the paper

in the 1930s.

Despite hard times,

people can still find five cents
for the paper.

And fdr wants to ensure they
have something else to enjoy--

liquor.

In December 1933,

he announces the repeal of
the 18th amendment--prohibition.

This is the first legally
imported shipment of alcohol

in over 10 years
arriving at the New York docks.

And if ever the country
needed a drink, it is now.

Prohibition,
which began in 1920,

was intended to purify society.

Instead, it spawned corruption,
violence, and organized crime.

By the time
Roosevelt becomes president,

homicide rates
are at an all-time high.

The public has little faith
in the police.

Armed vigilantes patrol
the streets of New York.

Fdr needs a solution.

And he looks to a small outpost
of the department of justice,

the FBI,

and its director,
j. Edgar hoover.

With limited powers,

the bureau's agents
had long labored in obscurity.

Hoover transforms them into
the nation's top crime-fighters,

who bring in the gangsters
dead or alive.

Hoover: We should all
be concerned with but one goal--

the eradication of crime.

The federal bureau of
investigation is as close to you

as your nearest telephone.

It seeks to be your protector

in all matters
within its jurisdiction.

Narrator: Hoover and his
government men, the g-men,

take on the bank robbers
and killers,

whom he dubs public enemies.

And public enemy number one
is John dillinger.

He has a $10,000 bounty
on his head

for robbing 24 banks
and 4 police stations.

He is filmed here in
February 1934 after his arrest

for the murder of police officer
William O'Malley.

One month later,
in crown point, Indiana,

dillinger breaks out of jail.

Finally, on July 22, 1934,
the FBI acts on a tip.

After watching a movie
at Chicago's biograph theater,

dillinger emerges,

and the g-men shoot him dead.

Machine gun Kelly,
from Memphis, Tennessee,

is renowned
for his favorite weapon--

the Thompson submachine gun.

But by using
the cutting-edge science

of fingerprint analysis,
the FBI nails him.

Kelly's trial
marks the first time

cameras are permitted
in the courtroom.

Sentenced to life behind bars,

he becomes an inmate
at a new prison.

Perched on a rocky island

surrounded
by the dangerous currents

of the San Francisco bay,
Alcatraz opens in 1934.

It claims to be escape-proof

and houses the very worst
of America's criminals.

Fdr's tough stand on crime
is getting results.

By the end of the decade,

homicide rates
will drop by a third.

Roosevelt
tries everything he can

to make good
on his campaign promise

of work for those who need it.

He forms the civilian
conservation corps, the ccc,

and offers jobs
to 250,000 young men.

They earn 30 bucks a month,
25 of which is sent back home.

They reshape
the American landscape

with new roads, 800 parks,
and 3 billion trees.

Illustrator Wallace Kelly
is now married

and still making movies.

He and his wife Mabel
take a road trip.

They pass through America's
first national park,

yellowstone,

its roads and campsites
all built by the ccc.

In south Dakota,

the Kellys visit
the unfinished mount rushmore,

12 years into its construction.

In 1935, another new deal
project, the grand coulee dam,

is the biggest building site
in the world,

employing 11,000 men.

In Washington state,

they excavate nearly 63 million
tons of earth and rock.

A conveyor belt two miles long
transports the debris.

And some 24 million tons
of concrete

pour into the Columbia basin
to dam the river.

Grand coulee
is Roosevelt's pet project.

He tours the site
in an open-top yellow Lincoln.

By 1935,
the new deal is delivering.

America is getting back to work.

Unemployment has dropped
by nearly 20%.

Fdr takes to the radio

to assure Americans
the recovery will continue.

Roosevelt: ...Economic calamity.

We have in the darkest moments
of our national trials

retained our faith
in our own ability

to master our own destiny.

Fear is vanishing.

Confidence is growing
on every side.

Narrator:
But in the great plains

of the American heartland,

pioneer dreams
are turning to dust.

The sky over Oklahoma
is a dark swirl of grit.

A curtain of black
tears through the great plains.

Events filmed in black and white

are now seen for the first time
in color.

Following a devastating black
blizzard on April 14, 1935,

Kansas news editor
Edward Stanley

says the great plains
are now the dust bowl.

A perfect storm
of falling grain prices,

overplanting, and drought

have turned the fields
of mid-America into dead land.

The topsoil has no moisture left
to hold it together.

By 1935, 50 million acres
of farmland are barren.

Tumbleweed rolls into fences,
and the dust piles on,

creating huge drifts

that look more
like the Sahara than Oklahoma.

Over the decade,
3 1/2 million Americans

are forced
to leave their homes,

in an exodus that will
inspire steinbeck's novel

"the grapes of wrath."

It is the largest migration
in American history.

Almost a quarter of a million
head off to California,

America's new land
of opportunity.

California is the golden state,

and with 800 miles of coastline,
the action is at the beach.

Sunbathing is a new trend
in the 1930s.

Gone is the quest
for pale skin.

Now it's all about the tan.

Inventive skin tone products

include spray tans
and tanning drinks.

Out on the water,

Hawaiian Duke kahanamoku
is riding his surfboard.

The Duke is the father
of modern surfing,

enticing young Americans
to brave the waves.

West Oakland, California,

is a predominantly
African-American neighborhood.

This is the home movie footage
of one resident, Ernest bean.

The beans are unusual
for the time,

a family moving up
to the middle class.

Ernest is fortunate.
He has a steady job.

During the depression,

unemployment for blacks
is at 50%,

twice the rate of whites.

Jim crow laws mean segregation
is still widespread.

Even the new deal discriminates
against African Americans.

Whites get the pick of the jobs
and a higher wage.

One place black men
are welcome to work

is on the Pullman
sleeper trains.

Each luxury car is staffed
by uniformed porters.

The majority
are African American.

Ernest bean
is one of these porters.

His job provides a stable income
through the depression,

but it comes at a price.

Black journalist Thomas Fleming
observed,

"a Porter had
the best job in his community

and the worst on the train."

Ernest and his colleagues

form the first
African-American labor union,

the brotherhood
of sleeping car porters.

The American federation of labor
recognizes it in 1935.

The brotherhood gains better pay
and working conditions

for 12,000 porters
across the country.

In the coming decades, the union
will play a pivotal role

in the civil rights movement.

Across San Francisco bay
from Oakland,

an ambitious new deal project
is under way.

The golden gate bridge
is soon to be

one of the wonders
of the modern world.

Work begins in 1933,

and by 1936,
is nearing completion.

The project offers good pay
and a steady job,

but not without risk.

As a rule of thumb, construction
companies expect one death

for every million dollars spent.

The bridge costs 35 million.

During construction,
30 workers fall,

but 19 are saved by a safety net
strung underneath.

Architect Irving morrow
chooses the bridge's rich color,

international orange,

which he feels blends perfectly
with the landscape.

The first vehicles cross
on may 28, 1937.

At the time, it's the world's
longest suspension bridge,

a golden gate
to a bright American future.

A new feeling of optimism
is beginning to gain momentum.

In November of 1936,
fdr is elected to a second term.

The new deal
has produced results.

Roosevelt:
People of the United States

have made it clear
that they expect us

to continue our active efforts

in behalf
of their peaceful advancement.

Narrator: But Roosevelt is about
to threaten his own success.

In January 1937,
fdr begins his second term.

The nation's production,
profits, and wages

are rising back
to pre-crash levels.

Unemployment is at its lowest
since he took office.

The country is coming
back to life,

but fdr can't
take all the credit.

They say behind every great man
is an even greater woman.

Roosevelt is no different.

In 1905, he married
Eleanor Roosevelt,

a distant cousin.

Now 32 years later, they have
5 children and 7 grandchildren.

Eleanor is vital to fdr's vision
for America.

She is his eyes, ears, and legs
on the ground,

transforming
the role of first lady

from hostess to stateswoman.

Eleanor Roosevelt:
I'm very glad to be back.

Um, we've had
a perfectly delightful trip

and enjoyed every minute of it.

Narrator: She fights
for the oppressed and forgotten.

After extensive lobbying
by Eleanor,

fdr sets up the national
youth administration.

Eleanor Roosevelt:
Those who are not employed

will need more
than they have needed before.

Their hope has completely gone.

Narrator: The new agency
helps American boys and girls

stay in school
and get vocational training.

And thanks to Eleanor,
it includes African Americans,

who have been failed
by the new deal.

Her activism doesn't stop there.

An ardent supporter
of women's rights,

she champions
pilot Amelia earhart,

who, in 1932,
became the first female pilot

to fly solo
across the Atlantic.

Amelia earhart: It's much easier
to fly the Atlantic ocean now

than it was a few years ago.

I expect to be able to do it
in my lifetime again.

Narrator: Now, in 1937,

she's planning
to circumnavigate the globe

in her lockheed
model 10 electra.

Al bresnik is there
to capture the moment

in a photoshoot at
Burbank airport in California.

Bresnik has been earhart's
photographer for five years.

His brother John filmed

this recently discovered
home movie footage.

Here, we see a carefree
39-year-old earhart

just before
her June 1st departure.

But on July 2nd,

it's headline news
around the world.

Amelia earhart's plane
has disappeared.

The plane is never found,

its fate a mystery
debated to this day.

But America's love affair

with planes and record-breaking
doesn't stop.

A year after earhart disappears,

millionaire playboy
Howard Hughes

is about to attempt
the feat that killed her,

around-the-world flight.

His silver twin engine plane
cost him $200,000 to build.

On board at Floyd Bennett field
in New York,

a trusty crew of four.

Howard Hughes: I've been
in a rush to get away from here,

I hope you'll forgive me.

Announcer: Oh, you bet.

Narrator: He lands in Paris
after 16 hours 38 minutes,

a record-breaking time.

But he hasn't finished.

Moscow...Siberia...

All the way around the globe
to land back in New York

in just 3 days, 19 hours,
8 minutes, and 10 seconds,

slashing the previous record
in half.

Howard Hughes' success is
just the news the nation needs.

In 1937, America's recovery
is dealt a blow.

Fdr, believing that
his bold government programs

have now achieved
what was needed, changes course.

He cuts back federal spending.

The economy soon falters, and
the country begins to struggle.

The year becomes known
as Roosevelt's recession.

Man: Fellow workers,

we want peace and prosperity
in this country here.

That's what we're fighting for,

and that's what
we're gonna have!

Narrator: Four million people
lose their jobs.

Strikes break out
all over the country.

Fdr quickly takes action.

He boosts government spending

and delivers
a landmark labor law.

In June 1938, the minimum
hourly wage is set at 25 cents,

the working week
a maximum of 44 hours.

And soon both employment
and production have recovered.

After almost a decade
of life on the brink,

people start to breathe easier.

But the nation's fear of another
calamity is never far away.

On October 30, 1938,

radio listeners
tuning into the CBS network

are in for a shock.

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen,

we interrupt
our program of dance music

to bring you
a special bulletin

from the intercontinental
radio news.

It is reported
that at 8:50 P.M.,

a huge flaming object,

believed to be a meteorite,
fell on a farm

in the neighborhood
of grover's mill, New Jersey,

22 miles from Trenton.

Narrator: Listening intently,
the audience is transfixed

by a terrifying report
from the scene.

Man on radio:
I can see the object itself.

Doesn't look very much
like a meteor.

The top is beginning
to rotate like a screw,

and the thing must be hollow.

Man: It's moving!
Keep back there!

Keep back, I tell ya!

Narrator: It sounds like America
is under attack.

Announcer: We are bringing you
an eyewitness account

of what's happening
on the wilmuth farm,

grover's mill, New Jersey.

Narrator: In October 1938,

an estimated 6 million Americans
are tuned into CBS radio.

Man on radio:
Something's happening!

Narrator: The constant
news flashes are alarming.

Man on radio: Eyes are black,
and they gleam like a serpent.

The mouth is,
it's kind of v-shaped

with saliva dripping
from its rimless lips

that seem
to quiver and pulsate.

Narrator:
The audience is terrified.

Man on radio:
There's a jet of flame

springing from the mirror,

and it leaps
right at the advancing men.

It strikes them head-on!

Good lord,
they're turning into flame!

Narrator: Listeners phone
the police and radio stations.

They bombard
the CBS switchboard.

They have no idea
that this is actually a play

directed by 23-year-old
Orson welles

with his Mercury theatre.

Man on radio: It's definitely
extraterrestrial,

not found on this earth.

Narrator: The play
is "the war of the worlds,"

a Sci-Fi classic
that sounds frighteningly real.

The press picks up the story,
and the following morning,

welles faces questions
from reporters.

Orson welles:
I'm extremely surprised to learn

that a story which has
become familiar to children

through the medium
of comic strips

and, uh, many succeeding
novels and adventure stories

should have had such
an immediate and profound effect

upon radio listeners.

Narrator: While Orson welles
terrifies listeners

through the power of words,

in Los Angeles, filmmakers
are preparing to use images

to create
an enchanting new world.

In October 1938,
at the mgm studios,

shooting starts on a project

that will revolutionize
the movies.

It's one of the first
mainstream Hollywood movies

shot in technicolor.

Its title--
the wizard of oz.

The costly technology has been
available for over a decade,

but due to the great depression,

it is only
commercially viable now.

This rare behind-the-scenes
home movie footage

shot by composer Harold arlen
shows the stars on the set.

Playing the main character
Dorothy Gale--

the legendary Judy garland.

Portraying a 12-year-old,

she is, in fact,
16 at the time of filming.

Originally set to wear
a blond wig,

garland's more natural look

is decided upon
once filming starts.

Her co-star Bert lahr wears
a costume made of real lion fur,

weighing over 100 pounds.

He later says,
"after the wizard of oz,

I was typecast as a lion,

and there aren't
all that many parts for lions."

At the New York premiere
on August 17, 1939,

Judy garland is accompanied
by boyfriend Mickey Rooney.

15,000 strain to get a glimpse
of the Hollywood stars.

Audiences pack the theaters,

but the high cost of technicolor
leaves mgm just breaking even.

This story of a girl's triumph
over adversity

is reminiscent of America
at the end of the decade.

President Roosevelt,

by marshaling the untapped
powers of government,

has pulled America
out of the great depression.

The country, pushed to
its economic and physical limit,

has suffered and survived.

The 1930s is part
of our American story...

...the economy, the land,
and the people

overcoming adversity
to make a better life.