THE CONGRESS: Fight for Life

The U. S. Government went into the movie business with a bang by producing three superb documentary films in four years. In 1936 came The Plow That Broke the Plains, in 1937 The River, in 1940 The Fight for Life. All three were directed by Pare Lorentz. The first dealt with the dust bowl, the second with flood control, the third probed childbirth mortality in U. S. slums. Even captious critics granted that its 69 minutes of clinical realism established Pare Lorentz as No. 1 U. S. director of documentary films.

In 1938...

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