planktonrules Review of We Can Take It

We Can Take It (1935)

Hard to rate but an important part of our history.

[29 July 2012]

This is a very late silent film that was produced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in order to create public support for their programs. It's clearly a propaganda film--the sort of thing with a benign nature that was intended to bolster the new Roosevelt administration. It begins with young volunteers arriving at a conditioning camp--like a boot camp to ready the men for very hard work with the CCC. Following this you see a variety of works programs (some staged, some actual) in the Sacramento area--such as clearing forests for parks, planting trees, creating fire breaks, stringing phone lines, building bridges and work at erosion control. In addition, you see these volunteers taking classes and receiving job training. Late in the film you see work on the Ponderosa Way as well as work at Mt. Whitney as well as putting out a fire.

While it's really hard to give this a score due to the type of film is it, the film is an invaluable piece of our history and worth a look.