This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary, Feature, losing to The Titan: Story of Michelangelo. There will be spoilers ahead:
That this was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary, Feature is rather puzzling, principally because it isn't truly a documentary. It's what would be called today a "docudrama" and calling it a documentary is like calling a movie like Gettysburg or Lincoln a documentary. It isn't the only instance of the Academy doing something like this and they're entitled to make their own rules, but it still strikes me as strange.
There's a framing device and narration to tell the story of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (the union produced this film) through the life and eyes of a retiring worker, one Alexander Brody, who has been in the union 40 years, from 1910 to 1950. Much of the film is composed of "dramatizations" or "reenactments" of events. There's a brief scene reenacting the Triangle Waist factory fire in 1911, which spurred on needed safety regulations and interest in joining the union. For such a major turning point in the history of organized labor and worker safety, the actual event is handled rather cursorily.
The staged portions feel like just that-a stage play. There's no real feeling that history is being made here. It's a play. The film is roughly tho-thirds play and one-third info dump, with what looks to be newsreel footage of FDR and film of union workers on vacation or hard at work while the actor narrates the improvements which the union's brought about in the 40 years he's been a member. The "dramatizations" drag most of the time and the acting is obvious and often over the top.
I can't help feeling that it would have been better if they'd just produced a straightforward documentary instead of this hybrid. The most interesting parts were the info dumps.
Can be seen online and worth watch if the subject interests you.
That this was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary, Feature is rather puzzling, principally because it isn't truly a documentary. It's what would be called today a "docudrama" and calling it a documentary is like calling a movie like Gettysburg or Lincoln a documentary. It isn't the only instance of the Academy doing something like this and they're entitled to make their own rules, but it still strikes me as strange.
There's a framing device and narration to tell the story of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (the union produced this film) through the life and eyes of a retiring worker, one Alexander Brody, who has been in the union 40 years, from 1910 to 1950. Much of the film is composed of "dramatizations" or "reenactments" of events. There's a brief scene reenacting the Triangle Waist factory fire in 1911, which spurred on needed safety regulations and interest in joining the union. For such a major turning point in the history of organized labor and worker safety, the actual event is handled rather cursorily.
The staged portions feel like just that-a stage play. There's no real feeling that history is being made here. It's a play. The film is roughly tho-thirds play and one-third info dump, with what looks to be newsreel footage of FDR and film of union workers on vacation or hard at work while the actor narrates the improvements which the union's brought about in the 40 years he's been a member. The "dramatizations" drag most of the time and the acting is obvious and often over the top.
I can't help feeling that it would have been better if they'd just produced a straightforward documentary instead of this hybrid. The most interesting parts were the info dumps.
Can be seen online and worth watch if the subject interests you.
