478 better just to read the shot list! better just to read the shot list! red sweater 2002-11-26 00:00:00 2002-11-26 00:00:00 3 17783 We've traveled quite a way in 60 years. Politics the way we were told it was supposed to be Rick Prelinger 2004-07-29 20:51:21 2004-07-29 20:51:21 5 As part of the postwar effort, the United States government produced a series of film to ready the war torn countries of Europe and Asia for setting up American style democracies. This film explains, in simplified terms, the American electorial process, describing such concepts as the secret ballot, and the system of checks and balances. While there is some dated information (references to 48 states, and specific references to the 1944 election), the basic information is still valid, if a bit idealized. Note that such institutions such as the role of labor and other specialized groups in an election are just starting and use of electronic media is still something of a novelity. Of particular note is the director of the film, attributed by Mr. Prelinger to John Houseman (though the film itself does not give such a credit). Houseman became best known in the 1970s as the spokesperson for Smith-Barney ("the old fashioned way, they earned it") and starring in the movie The Paper Chase. However, Houseman got his start in the 1930s writing and co-producing with Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on radio, stage, and on film (most notably the classic Citizen Kane). As part of the wartime effort, a number of Hollywood types joined the Information Office to produce films. While this film is no Citizen Kane, it is certainly interesting to compare the idealized portrait of an election portrayed here, and the realpolitik that makes up the campaign of Charles Foster Kane. The Democratic Circus 4 Wilford B. Wolf 2004-08-01 16:27:47 2005-07-28 22:55:00 18367 A sentimentalized look at Election Day in Riverton, California. Mrs. Dawson, the high school principal, is the small-town matriarch who runs the local polling place and keeps the voting honest. Her presence in this 1944 film reflects how women kept America’s civic institutions running during World War II. This film shows the same mythical, small-town America that Norman Rockwell portrayed on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post. The domestic upheaval of the Depression and the war obviously led to a lot of nostalgia for a past that never was, even on the part of the otherwise sophisticated director John Houseman and composer Virgil Thomson. The cities, where elections were messier and more problematic, get shorter shrift in this film. Still, it’s interesting to note that Election Day was a holiday then. Too bad that’s not the case now. And too bad there aren’t more fair-minded people like Mrs. Dawson around to make sure each vote is counted. America Through Rose-Colored Glasses Marysz 2004-08-07 20:53:29 2004-08-07 20:48:51 5 24287 I am afraid this is too complex - why don´t you challenge the present ...? Be here now Yogibear 2004-11-05 07:45:17 2004-11-05 07:45:17 3 30431 So, like, NOW Diebold has to make voting machines that print a piece of paper. Now! How has the lives of billions of people been subject to the wims of a fucking printer? Paper and ink have been forced together for THOUSANDS of years. Why, after cloning animals and traveling to other objects in space, have we just figured out how to print a ballot after a computer records our vote? How many tens of thousands have or will die because of this? Fucking insanity... hart noecker 2005-01-30 00:34:10 2005-01-30 00:34:10 5 31059 Very nicely put together short about the intricies of putting an election together in small town America in 1944, we follow a regular office (Campaign buttons off please!) as people stroll in to cast their ballots. We see who the people are voting for (eg the upper house, the lower house) and we also see some fantastic early convention footage. All of this is narrated by your Uncle Ben, the calm one who sat you by the fire and told you stories? Anyways, the narration is calm, which makes you very comfortable and at ease. A surprise! Highly reccomended! Dewey For President! Spuzz 2005-02-05 01:01:50 2005-02-05 01:01:50 4 7 4.14