Product Details

• Directors: Pare Lorentz;JOHN GRIERSON
• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Unknown
• DVD Release Date: September 19, 2008
• Run Time: 49 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B001GE2CE6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,009 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
1.THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS (1934-USA). Written and directed by PARE LORENTZ. Music composed by VIRGIL THOMSON. The Plow That Broke The Plains is one of the cornerstone documentaries in American film history. It was made at the height of the Depression, when Pare Lorentz was film advisor to President Roosevelts U.S. Resettlement Administration. Its the story of Americas Great Plains: windswept grasslands that stretch from the Texas Panhandle up through Canada, an area of "high winds and sun...without rivers and with little rain." The land was at this time devastated by drought; this powerful, poetic, beautifully photographed film details the areas history and the then-current migration of farmers to the Pacific coast: the reality of The Grapes of Wrath. Virgil Thompsons uniquely American musical score is a highlight.

2.NIGHT MAIL (1936-England). One of the most famous and highly regarded documentaries to come out of Britain during the 1930s. The film was produced by JOHN GRIERSONs famed GPO Film Unit and is a homage to the British postal and railway systems. It is the impressively mounted chronicle of the special express train that each year delivers over 500 million pieces of mail across the United Kingdom. Night Mail is a document of precision, and dedication.49 minutes total.

NOTE: This DVD is published under license from Video Yesteryear - Plain Case - NO ARTWORK

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars five star -- with reservations, June 19, 2009

By	birdwalker "birdwalker" (Friday Harbor, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Both Plow... and Night Mail are classics, five stars, and the people who provided these on DVD deserve five stars for doing so. That said, the buyer should know that 1) there is no menu; 2) Plow... ends and Night Mail begins on the same chapter (i.e., accessing Night Mail without Plow... requires searching through chapter 6); 3) the print on both of these is not good (Plow... is especially grainy); and 4) the sound is also poor, but tolerable. Auden's verse is clear enough, but Britten's music is a bit muffled (Night Mail). I've seen another print of Night Mail (PAL format) and I don't remember it being so poor. (I've never seen Plow... before.) Perhaps the bottom line here is that these two thirty minute documentaries will be best appreciated by those who have some idea beforehand the historical significance of what they will be viewing.