The Easy Way Out

Sullivan's Travels

1941 · ★ 7.4

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

Brighter Stars

Follows James Miller, an ambitious and industrious young man, learning to embrace his sexuality and romantic desires, while fighting to survive the Great Depression and preserve his beloved home of Nantucket. Film adaptation of Logan Kelly's historical epic romantic novel.

Prosperity

1932 · ★ 5.8

Longtime friends become feuding mothers-in-law when their children marry.

American Madness

1932 · ★ 6.9

Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair... all in the same day.

12 Mighty Orphans

2021 · ★ 7.2

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.

It's a Wonderful Life

1946 · ★ 8.3

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Modern Times

1936 · ★ 8.3

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Places in the Heart

1984 · ★ 7.2

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Awake and Sing!

1972 · ★ 10

The Bergers, a blue-collar Jewish family living in an overstuffed tenement and undone by the Depression, struggle through hard times and dream of a better future in this 1972 production of Clifford Odets' pungent play. Personalities and politics clash as Odets' mélange of characters try to survive on pennies a day. Walter Matthau plays cynical World War I amputee Moe Axelrod, and Leo Fuchs portrays the family's iron-willed leftist grandfather.

Pennies from Heaven

1981 · ★ 6.1

During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent schoolteacher.

Paper Moon

1973 · ★ 7.9

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Seabiscuit

2003 · ★ 7.1

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.