A tribute to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in their efforts to find jobs for African-Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s.A tribute to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in their efforts to find jobs for African-Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s.A tribute to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in their efforts to find jobs for African-Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Photos
- Hecate
- (uncredited)
- Doctor
- (uncredited)
- The Duchess
- (uncredited)
- Macbeth
- (uncredited)
- Self - Choir Director
- (uncredited)
- Third Witch
- (uncredited)
- Lady Macbeth
- (uncredited)
- Second Witch
- (uncredited)
- First Witch
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaContains the last five minutes of the Federal Works Project production of "Voodoo Macbeth", directed by Orson Welles.
- Quotes
Narrator: A number of household training schools have been established by WPA. In these schools, girls from relief families prepare for domestic work which will make them self-supporting. Others take the course in order to learn the arts of home-making for use in their own homes. In modern kitchens, under competent instructors, the girls are taught to cook and prepare salads and other delicacies which add much to everyday meals.
- Crazy creditsThe narrator credits Juanita Hall as the choir director during the sequence showing the choir. She is barely visible at the left.
- ConnectionsFeatured in American Experience: The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996)
- SoundtracksEzekial Saw the Wheel
Conducted by Juanita Hall
While the documentary takes a look at the WPA's work in many different fields, it focuses specifically on the ways that African-Americans were affected by the depression and then helped by the WPA. It thus provides a look at a significant aspect of the depression that is not often considered on its own.
It's also interesting that it devotes so much of the running time to music and the performing arts. Many of the issues involved with government support of the creative arts are still debated, and in that respect, this feature might add a useful historical perspective.
The footage of the "Macbeth" finale in itself would of course make any documentary worth preserving. This is the version that the young Welles (then known mainly through radio) set in Haiti in the (then) relatively near past, with an all African-American cast. Even given the limitations inherent in a film of a stage show, it's very interesting. And the rest of the documentary is also far from without some points of interest as well.
- Snow Leopard
- Oct 25, 2005
Details
- Runtime15 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1