The Golden Twenties (1950) User Reviews (3)

The roaring twenties both roared with tragedy and laughter.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 3 May 2020]

This combination of newsreel footage, mostly silent but a few with sound, is an interesting look back at an era of change. It starts with the end of World War II and goes to the great depression start in 1929. Along the way, the viewer will witness labor riots, race riots, the amazing entertainers, the introduction of prohibition and a lot of political upheaval. With the narration of Robert Q. Lewis, Frederick Lewis Allen, Elmer Davis and Allen Prescott, this provides an often humorous but mainly factual view at where we were 100 years ago. The print I viewed had a rather warbly musical soundtrack so that might be annoying to some. However, every important figure of that time is there, starting with President Wilson and ending up with President Hoover (Harding and Coolidge in between), as well as such figures as General Pershing, J.P. Morgan, Al Jolson, and even Peggy Hopkins Joyce.

There are profiles on the dance crazes, movie styles and important theatrical achievements as well as trends both sublime and ridiculous. The view of the Florida real estate boom is very interesting (considering some weather challenges), and economical challenges of the time are also detailed. A humorous shot of prohibition shows a daring man trying to fill up a bottle as barrels of booze are emptied and the cops stopping him. of course, this leads to a profile of the great gangsters of the time, although in its brief running time not every one of them is mentioned.

Still, as a recorded record of history, it is quite educational and entertaining at the same time, and gives us an idea of where we were in an era that saw the auto boom and the creation of a contraption named radio. You may not come out of this wanting to do the Charleston or the Black Bottom (dance crazes of the time), but it's important to see where we've come from in the past century in order to understand our present.

Starting in 1918

[boblipton · 5/10 · 29 June 2010]

This compilation of old film clips, narrated by various sportscasters, commentators and Frederick Lewis Allen, who wrote the definitive memoir of the 1920s -- not a history, since it came out in 1931 -- covers the 1920s, but begins with the Armistice. Well, no one one rang a bell and told me to grow my hair long on January 1, 1960.

Too simplistic for my taste, this does have interesting clips throughout, running from Carrie Nation to General Pershing, the great and noteworthy, and ordinary people. It's most interesting for the variety of those clips. If you wish to take a look at it, it's on the DVD set of the silent version of CHICAGO -- which is definitely worth your time.

A short trip through the 1920s

[vitro-37140 · 1 November 2019]

The compilation of clips from the 1920s aspires to the role of a short trip through the 1920s, during which the viewer has the opportunity to learn the most important events for American society of that period. Soak up everyday events, people's joys and concerns. After watching the movie, we actually have the impression that we have returned from a journey in time. Importantly, the film is not a mockery, on the contrary, today it is a valuable way to try the spirit of those years.

An interesting observation is a fact that during the one-hour film telling about the most important events and people of that period, as many as three people from Poland appear on the screen: Joseph Conrad, Ignacy Paderewski and Maria Sklodowska (Curie). Isn't it amazing that a nation that has just regained independence after 123 years of barbaric German-Russian occupation has so much to offer the world!