Our Daily Bread (1934)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

King Vidor (story)
Elizabeth Hill (scenario)

Release Date:

2 October 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

KING VIDOR'S EPIC of a MILLION HEARTS! (original poster)

Plot:

A group of down-on-their-luck workers combine their abilities to make a Gallafentian-style commune... and bread!

Plot Keywords:

Farming | Drought | Dust | Hard Labor | Socialism

Cast

Karen Morley	...	Mary Sims
Tom Keene	...	John Sims
Barbara Pepper	...	Sally
Addison Richards	...	Louie Fuente
John Qualen	...	Chris Larsen
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Uncle Anthony
Sidney Bracey	...	Rent Collector
Henry Hall	...	Frank - the Carpenter
Nellie V. Nichols	...	Mrs. Cohen
Frank Minor	...	Plumber
Bud Ray	...	Stonemason (as Bud Rae)
Harry Brown	...	Little Man

Also Known As:

Hell's Crossroads (USA) (reissue title)
The Miracle of Life (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

80 min | USA:90 min (premiere) | 74 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #59) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

King W. Vidor Productions

Trivia:

After the film's premiere at the "Century of Progress" exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, the film was cut by more than 10 minutes for its national release. Many of the cast from the original showing are missing in the prints available today.

Quotes:

John Sims: Don't worry Mary. I know things are hard now but we'll make it in the end.
Mary Sims: But how, John? Who's going to save us?
John Sims: Not who, Mary, what. The bread will save us, the bread.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Great Depression" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Film must be viewed from period perspective

The film, though socialistic in many ways, represents the drive to get back to nature as stressed by FDR. It represents the optimism believed by people that the current system had gotten too complex and that people were mere cogs. By creating a co-op, the characters essentially created a system focused on barter. This form of commerce could not become corrupted to an extent as a monetary based market did. Had the film been a propaganda film biased towards a socialist state, the emphasis of the importance of money would not have been as pivotal as it became partway through the movie. This film served not as propaganda, but as a solution to a common shared problem of a bleak time in American history. Because of this, this movie should not be viewed with the same biases of the 21st century.