We're in the Money: Depression America and It's Films [Paperback]

Andrew Bergman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1975

Looking at the figures for movie attendance in the 1930s, one might conclude that the America of the Great Depression was a land of Bijous, Gems, Orpheums, Strands, and Rivieras. Americans needed their movies, as Mr. Bergman notes, and they needed them not just for escape. In We're in the Money, Mr. Bergman looks at the films of the thirties (many of them which we now regard as classics) and shows how Hollywood helped prop up the nation's fundamental institutions during the gravest economic crisis in history. Movies, he demonstrates, kept alive the myth of a mobile and classless society, focused on the endless possibilities for individual success, turned social evil into personal evil, and made the New Deal into a veritable leading man. "The kind of book that both old film buffs and the new post-grads of `Sesame Street' can really enjoy. It makes history fun, enables teachers and kids to test out their own assumptions about how the 30s turned out the gangsters, the hi-steppers, the FBI gurus, the zany anarchists and the mythical down-on-the-farm good guys who took on the whole punchy and reeling microcosm of America."—Robert Geller, Center for Understanding Media. "First rate. It should stand for a long time as a pioneer work in a field where all too little has been written."—Alfred B. Rollins, Jr.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is a fun way to take a look at history and well worth reading. (Rainbo Electronic Reviews ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Andrew Bergman, who studied history at the University of Wisconsin, is a Hollywood screenwriter whose films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, Fletch, and The Freshman, which he also directed. He lives in New York City.

Andrew Bergman, who studied history at the University of Wisconsin, is a Hollywood screenwriter whose films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, Fletch, and The Freshman, which he also directed. He lives in New York City. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins College Div; 1st Harper Colophon edition edition (June 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060902701
• ISBN-13: 978-0060902704
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,362,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood's American dream and Depression-era realities, March 4, 2005

By 

M. Bromberg "BellemeadeBooks" (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We're in the Money: Depression America and Its Films (Paperback)

At a desperate time when Americans had no money for necessities, how did the movie industry turn its own luxury status into a vital part of the country's social and economic recovery? Bergman's look at the themes and ideas expressed in over 100 Depression-era films (gangster movies, comedies, Broadway revues, musicals, serious dramas) is more of a broad overview than an in-depth examination, but he does a good job explaining the industry's role in overcoming the country's deepening crisis. At the same time the industry itself was facing opposition from "moral guardians" to emphasize all-American values, Hollywood's expansive gloss on the American dream reassured uncertain and nervous audiences. The basic values expressed in many 1930s films (hard work overcomes all obsticles for the itinerant and the socialite alike, issues of class aside) reflected a basic trust in the American political and social system, which was being threatened from abroad as well as from within. Although Bergman's slim book is not essential reading, it is entertaining, and good historical background for many lesser-viewed (and lesser-known) films.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like movies you will like this book!, April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: We're in the Money: Depression America and Its Films (Paperback)

This book explores the movies of the 30's in great detail. It covers some of the best movies ever made. If you are a fan of the movies you will be a fan of this too.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OUT DATED FILM CRITICISM, March 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: We're in the Money: Depression America and Its Films (Paperback)

In the days before video, if you could get access to twenty or thirty films and come up with a few insights, you could get a book published. This book, written originally for a thesis or dissertation in American studies, is one of those. Occasionally, he comes up with an accurate observation, but much of what he says is based on a very limited familiarity with films of the era. Indeed, most films fans of today, with access to video and classic film stations, will have seen more than Bergman had when he wrote the book.
He follows the traditional line: Mae West was the most incendiary thing on the thirties screen (hardly); the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP was daringly political and that's why it was unpopular (not true.) If he'd seen other films about sex besides Mae West's -- or had seen enough films to realize just how political movies could be in the early thirties (when Duck Soup was made), he'd not have jumped to those conclusions. But you can't be an expert by leaping to lofty generalizations based on limited knowledge.
His analysis of the film FAITHLESS, for example, proceeds from a complete misunderstanding of its context. He talks about a daring, feminist film as though it were a throwback because he has no idea of what he's seeing.
Thirty years later, Bergman probably knows better, but the idea of anybody reading this book and thinking they're getting some kind of real knowledge about the subject is saddening. I'd be willing to bet that ninety percent of the people who read this know more about the subject than Bergman did when he wrote about it.