The River

The most prestigious and influential of the many film projects initiated under the Depression-era Roosevelt administration is Pare Lorentz's The River (1937), a piece of poetic Americana advancing the cause of Washington-managed public works. The New Deal found the political impetus to push through huge construction projects that changed the face of the country, such as the Hoover/Boulder Dam on the Colorado River, and tamed the destructive rivers of Tennessee. Former journalist and writer for The New Yorker Pare Lorentz came to the attention of the White House through his text for a book about F.D.R., and was hired by an office called the Resettlement Administration to make a documentary about the Dust Bowl. In The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936), Lorentz demonstrated his personal definition of the documentary film, an idea that had not yet been codified: not a newsreel or a travelogue, but something with dramatic conflict and a theme beyond simple reportage. The Plow was a half-hour in length and came in at just under $20,000 dollars; paired with other films, it enjoyed a brief run in commercial theaters. Lorentz next took on a much bigger subject. The River documents the devastating and costly problems associated with the greater Mississippi River system - seasonal flooding, the erosion of precious topsoil - and promotes more Federal projects to remedy the situation. This message is buffered with poetic narration and uplifting montages that celebrate the mighty resources of the American landscape and the hope for a better future. Narrator Thomas Chalmers, an opera soloist, recites Lorentz's words in a reverential mood, letting lists of river tributaries and regional apples attest to the vast territory and its endless bounty. Lorentz had to keep political divisions in mind when recounting the history of the region, especially when the subject of the Civil War needed to be addressed. As a balm to soothe Southern congressmen, he worked General Robert E. Lee's 'final letter to his troops' speech into the poetic narration. At the film's premiere in New Orleans, the entire audience rose silently to its feet during this sequence. Lorentz turned to composer Virgil Thomson for the film's music. Instead of being scored to a finished cut, the picture and music elements were developed together. The score mixed Thomson's themes with traditional songs and occasional quotes from others, including George Gershwin. Composer Aaron Copland called the result "a lesson in how to treat Americana." With a somewhat larger budget, Pare Lorentz hired more cameramen, relying mostly on the artistry of Willard Van Dyke and the young Floyd Crosby, who had famously shot F.W. Murnau's South Seas drama, Tabu (1931). At a time when documentaries were mostly shown at sponsored events, The River received wide distribution. A few critics called it New Deal propaganda, a charge that Pare Lorentz would have agreed with - its purpose was to promote government programs. The film did well enough in its New Orleans run that Paramount picked it up for national distribution. It also won an award for best documentary at the Venice Film Festival. Lorentz was made the head of a new office called the U.S. Film Service. He was planning a picture about unemployment when the 1938 election gave Republicans the power to defund and dismantle many of FDR's new programs and bureaucracies. Government-sponsored information films took a break until WW2 arrived, and openly propagandistic policy and morale films were made by the hundreds, including the Frank Capra-produced series Why We Fight (1943). Pare Lorentz continued to make smaller, privately funded films and aided other directors. His early collaborator Leo Hurwitz retained the 'dramatic poetry' approach for his fiery pro-Union advocacy documentary Native Land (1942), narrated by Paul Robeson. By Glenn Erickson