Presented in its entirety as originally broadcast.
The NBC News Project Twenty productions of thei1950s andi1960s created the world of the historical documentary for prime time TV. The series derived its title from the century in which we live, and put together these programs add up to the composite drama of our age. This is the series that first perfected techniques of combining archival film and scanned still photos with a rich musical score and compelling narration. Winner of almost every major broadcasting award, including the Emmy, the Peabody and the Robert J. Flaherty Awards. Projected Twenty set the standards against which all subsequent documentaries are measured.
Life In the Thirties From the Great Crash to the New York World's Fair of 1939, the decade of the Great Depression was also a period of great variety. Life In the Thirties blends haunting images of poverty and desperation with footage of escapist crazes, such as bank night at the movies, Benny Goodman and the birth of Swing, pinball machines and bingo. The period's major dramatic stories are recounted through unforgettable newsreel coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Hindenberg disaster. There were other wars than that between labor and management which captured the attention of the masses. The radio feud of Jack Benny vs. Fred Allen and the battle between Joe Lewis and Max Schmeling both offered the nation needed diversion. Brilliantly orchestrated by the greatest voice of the documentary, Alexander Scourby, a compelling portrait of Depression life in America emerges. As the World's Fair of 1939 started and the decade drew to a close, events in Europe would soon turn the nation's focus abroad.