This film is part of Free
Atlantic City U.S.A.
Diverse cinemagazine looking at the rise of teenage delinquents, dictators… and aeroplanes.
Overview
At least in its early years, when each monthly issue combined a selection of topical stories, the March of Time cinemagazine bore greater resemblance to a classic newsreel than a hefty piece of editorial polemic. However, the second item in this particular magazine does help pave the way for that later style, being an excoriating attack on the Dominican Republic dictator, Rafael Trujillo.
First up, though, is a hard-hitting dramatised documentary concerning one Joe Krutz – a poor boy sucked into a life of crime. The narrative might have a Dickensian pathos to it, but the handling is distinctly modern – and it's easy to see how one of the March of Time producers, Louis de Rochemont, came to help define the film noir genre. The final package offers something lighter, reporting on the ascent of Britain's aviation industry – at a time when Croydon ruled the skies through its (now closed) airport.
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