It WAS propaganda, after all...

Perhaps a little overstated in the OP, but it is a wonder how that delightful band of eccentrics make ends meet.

I just now watched this film from the beginning. For me, the film is too long. Comedies rarely work past ninety minutes.

Anne Miller kinda annoyed me with her constant dancing. Maybe SHE earns money with dancing gigs.

The father smoking his pipe while working in a basement full of fireworks was creepy. If I lived on that block, I would sell out to the big capitalist in a heart beat! No sense getting blown to kingdom come, no matter how nice those neighbors are. Is that how they pay the bills? Selling fireworks for the 4th and New Years?

And Rochester on the dole (relief, welfare whatever) what's up with that? Maybe the tax man could have used him as an example of something tangible for old man Vanderhof to pay his taxes.

I came away with the feeling Capra or the original playwright were poking fun at both money grubbers and deadbeats.

Hey it's only a movie. To wallow into details on how they live would have made this a THREE hour film.

Pierre Trudeau once said of Ronald Reagan, he saw a Communist under every chair. I can't take this on, I just got through watching it and it makes my heart sing with joy. Yes, it was made during the depression and yes, many were on "relief", why would anyone to tear down what this movie was trying to say? If I knew of such a house today, I would move there tomorrow.

For Your Consideration - - -

http://www.ssa.gov/history/imf.html
Ida May Fuller was the first beneficiary of recurring monthly Social Security payments.
Miss Fuller's claim was the first one on the first Certification List and so the first Social Security check, check number 00-000-001, was issued to Ida May Fuller in the amount of $22.54 and dated January 31, 1940.
She received monthly Social Security checks until her death in 1975 at age 100. By the time of her death, Fuller had collected $22,888.92 from Social Security monthly benefits, compared to her contributions of $24.75 to the system.
.....
Contributed $24.75... Received $22,888.92

I wonder if Ms Fuller ever thought about the morality of accepting the benefit?

I wonder if Ms Fuller was grateful to the taxpayers, who believed they were compelled to labor for her benefit?

Or did she believe she was "entitled" to it all, and just thanked the government?

.....


"Arthropodocracy - voting for the lesser of two weevils."

Ishallwearpurple,

As somone who loves this movie -- and the play it was based on -- and who is interested in history, I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you that the play and film recreates a time when Americans had to hang together or else they would hang separately. It also reminded me of a family story. My grandparents lived in Pittsburgh during the 1930s. My grandfather was fortunate to have a job as a streetcar conductor. A neighbor wasn't so lucky. He lost his job and was forced to go on Relief. A government woman came to evaluate the family and decided since they had a carpet and a piano in the living room, they were not entitled to Relief money. My grandfather, who happened to stop over at the neighbor's house during this visit, told the neighbor's son to go get the salt and pepper shakers. When the boy brought them, my grandfather took them and handed them to the Relief agent and told her eat the carpet and piano. He made his point and she reccommended that the family's relief continue.

Jet,

In your post you addressed people who paid attention to the film. After I read the post, I wondered if you paid attention to it. Consider these points:

1. While Alice is the only family member to have a 9-5 job, it is untrue to say that no one in the family works. Ed and Essie sell homemade candy door-to-door. Paul and Mr. DePinna make and sell fireworks. Granted, these are not big money-making jobs, but they do bring money into the house. According to the play, Grandpa owns property and collects a yearly income from that property. According to both the play and the movie, the only person who collected relief money was Donald. This family owns its own house. They buy their own groceries and pay their own bills. And they employ the services of a cook, Donald's girlfriend, Rheba. How many welfare families do you know who hire servants?
2. Grandpa doesn't pay income taxes because he doesn't believe in them. Well, Tea Partiers have made it clear they don't believe in income tax either. Does that make them evil socialists? In the play Mr. Kirby wants to learn how Grandpa avoids income tax. Does this make the "evil capitalist" a socialist, too?
3. You never mentioned the people of the neighborhood. What about them? They work for a living, pay their rents and taxes, and are in danger of losing their homes and businesses so that Mr. Kirby can expand his business. Are you saying that they are not important? That it doesn't matter if they work and pay and create homes and raise families; if a wealthy businessman wants to buy their leases and forclose on their mortgages and throw them out of their homes and businesses against their wills, so be it. You are inferring that the lower and middle classes don't count. If a rich man wants to get richer, he is in the right to kick them and their dreams out of the way. Most Americans did not believe that was right in the 1930s, and they still don't believe it is right today.
4. Did you notice that Grandpa, his family, and their friends gather around the dinner table twice during the film to pray. Yes, they pray. And what do they pray for? Nothing but their health. After thanking God for His assistance, Grandpa asks for everyone's health, and then says, " . . . as far as anything else is concerned, we leave it to You." He even talks Mr. Poppins into quitting his job and moving in with the family by quoting the Gospel of Matthew: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Is Grandpa not following the teaching of Christ? To seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be given? They are not rich. They do not have material possessions. But they do have the love of family and friends. Are you saying that the teachings of the Christ are socialist and, therefore, evil?
5. Did you listen to Grandpa's speech to Mr. Kirby? Grandpa was a businessman, a rather successful one. Thirty years before, however, he realized that he was not having fun in life. Along with the money came stress and ulcers. He realized that at the end of his life, he can't take his wealth with him. Again, a Christian message. A rich man's wealth will not help him when he crosses over to judgment. It's there in the Gospels. Grandpa quit his job and spent the next years doing what he wanted to do and teaching his family to do the same. Grandpa is not against work. He believes there will always be people to invent things and work on Wall Street and so on, but they do it because they, in Grandpa's words, LIKE IT. Tony even tells his father that he is not going into the family business because he doesn't like doing it. He says he might be a bricklayer, but he would at least be doing something he WANTS to do. Grandpa believes that Mr. Kirby's indigestion and ulcers are do to the fact that he really hates his work, he's unhappy with it. Is that such an evil message? Are you saying that money is everything? That one should work at a job one hates just for the money? That indigestion and ulcers, stress, tension, migraines, insomnia, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, and unhappiness are nothing because you're making big bucks? Get real. This was the film's moral.
6. This also was part of the film's message: Did you notice when Tony said he brought his parents to the Sycamores on the wrong night on purpose? Tony says, "I wanted you to see a family that loved and understood each other. You never understood me. You never had the time." In spite of their wealth, the Kirbys were a disfunctional family. In spite of their weirdness, the Sycamores loved and supported each other; they took the time to know and understand each other.

I apologize for such a long post, but, as I said before, this is one of my favorite plays and movies. I've acted in it three times, directed it twice, watched several movies and live productions, and read and re-read it over and over. I have no problem if someone does not like this play/movie, but I have a problem with people who do not get it.

Spin

P.S. I just wanted to add to my last post. Those were some of my ideas, here is something else from an informed source:

Grandpa Vanderhoff's house is most similar in ideology to that of Henry David Thoreau's Walden: a place where people can explore their dreams. Compare that to Grandpa's house filled with happy eccentrics. Thoreau's ideals also bear some resemblance to Anarchism, among other things, but not socialism. Grandpa's stance against paying taxes is a case in point. Grandpa was the opposite of a socialist.

Thoreau's thoughts and ideals are embraced by key figures from a wide sociological and political spectrum. You can read more about that here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau

I started reading more about the play itself and, for those who might be interested, this is where I learned about the similarities to Thoreau:

http://www.stephaniezimbalist.net/youcanttakeyou.pdf

I hope that helps.

And Alice had a job too.