Tuesday in November (1945)

Tuesday in November is a film in simple language made primarily for overseas audiences, many of whom did not enjoy the right to elect their own governments. It dramatizes both the participation of citizens in the electoral process and the 1944 campaign for the Presidency, linking these two threads into a quasi-religious quest characterized by unchallenged belief, ritualistic behavior and culminating in a mass announcement before a large crowd. The simplicity expressed in the understated narration and many of the images was a conscious choice dictated by the non-English-speaking intended audience, but for us now underscores the film's stature as a morality play.

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. 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. A fascinating bit of ephemera.

Producer: U.S. Office of War Information

Видео Tuesday in November (1945) канала shaggylocks