This film is part of Free

Farming Pays Off
Bumper crops, shiny new cars and enormous kitchen appliances. America’s farmers enjoy their new prosperity in a film which hints at the worries beneath the confident exterior.
Overview
From the farms of Nebraska to the cotton fields of Louisiana, this film shows farmers enjoying the results of nine years of bumper crops: from wheat and corn to tobacco and rice. But for all the gleaming tractors and the sleek Buicks parked in the farmyard, America’s farmers were worried about the future. Footage of potato mountains and huge piles of surplus wheat, together with political disagreements about farming subsidies, show a few bumps ahead on the road to prosperity.
The centrepiece of this March of Time film focuses on the Walker family: hard-working dairy farmers from Lincoln County, Ohio, who are the definition of wholesome Midwestern values. Although this film lacks some of the gritty investigative qualities of the series at its peak, the film does a nice job of confounding prejudices about sophisticated urbanites and unrefined country folk. The sequence which explains that families like the Walkers - with their giant freezer, new kitchen range and washing machine - now spend 20% more on electrical equipment than their city-dwelling counterparts, embodies not only the March of Time’s democratic impulse but also its ability to surprise and entertain at the same time.
Related

Inside Nazi Germany Inside Nazi Germany
Documentary 1938 16 mins
A genuinely historic film, which caused much controversy at the time: the first commercially -released American motion picture to explicitly attack Hitler and Nazism.

Presidential Year Presidential Year
Documentary 1948 15 mins
‘Crisp and sincere’,‘carefully trained’ or ’resonant and vibrant’? Which voice would appeal to you if you had to pick the Republican candidate for the 1948 Presidential Election?

Great Britain Coronation Great Britain Coronation
Anthology 1937 24 mins
Weatherproof bunting, fog, clockwork dolls and a Hollywood exodus to London: this sideways look at preparations for the Coronation of George VI provides a wry American take on a very British ceremony.

Metropolis Metropolis
Documentary 1939 18 mins
This ode to New York from March of Time shows us how seven and half million people from every race and nationality in the world, live, work and play together in ‘the greatest metropolis of the New World’.

Irish Free State Irish Free State
Anthology 1936 23 mins
How Ireland turned herself into a self-sufficient powerhouse - plus a study of the "lunatic fringe" in US politics.

America Thinks It Over America Thinks It Over
Documentary 1939 17 mins
In a world on the verge of war, will America support the democracies of Europe, or turn inwards and embrace isolationism?

If I Make It To The Morning If I Make It To The Morning
Drama 2024 9 mins
A Chinese teenager dreams of living with her cool aunt in New York, until tensions boil over during a crab dinner.

We’ll Go Down in History We’ll Go Down in History
Documentary 2025 25 mins
Two years in the life of TRUK United FC, a beacon for positive change and trans inclusivity in football.

Wrong Bathroom Wrong Bathroom
Drama 2024 9 mins
A trans high-schooler is tempted by toxic masculinity in the boys’ bathroom.

Dragfox Dragfox
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 8 mins
A child struggling with their identity and a charismatic fox (voiced by Sir Ian McKellen) learn to embrace their differences in this heart warming stop-motion animation.

Wait, Wait, Now! Wait, Wait, Now!
Drama 2024 13 mins
A Maori and a Kiwi teen buddy up to raid their mum’s wardrobe and pucker their lips with red.

NGGAK!!! NGGAK!!!
Drama 2024 8 mins
‘I pronounce you wife and wife.’ A young couple design their perfect wedding online, but then mum dials in.