We Work Again (1937)

A tribute to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in their efforts to find jobs for African-Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Stars:

Charles Collins, Eric Burroughs, Lawrence Chenault

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Collins	...	Macduff

Storyline

In the 1930s, the economic depression has been especially hard on African-American families and communities. But the federal government's Works Progress Administration now provides many new opportunities for employment and advancement. Both skilled and unskilled laborers are employed in many public works projects. Others find work in a wide range of fields, including education, medicine, and even music and the performing arts.

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Plot Keywords:

african american | works progress administration | job | great depression | reference to william shakespeare | 

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Genres:

Short | Documentary

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

Bolling Field, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration

Technical Specs

Runtime:

15 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the 50 films in the 4-disk boxed DVD set called "Treasures from American Film Archives (2000)", compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 18 American film archives. This film was preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration. This movie contains the only known footage of the 1936 production of "Macbeth" produced by the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project of the WPA, and directed by Orson Welles when he was 20 years old.

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Quotes

Narrator: A number of household training schools have been established by WPA. In these schools, girls from relief families prepare for domestic work which will make them self-supporting. Others take the course in order to learn the arts of home-making for use in their own homes. In modern kitchens, under competent instructors, the girls are taught to cook and prepare salads and other delicacies which add much to everyday meals.

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Crazy Credits

The narrator credits Juanita Hall as the choir director during the sequence showing the choir. She is barely visible at the left.

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Connections

Featured in The Panic Is On: The Great American Depression as Seen by the Common Man (2009)

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Soundtracks

Ezekial Saw the Wheel
Conducted by Juanita Hall

User Reviews

We Work Again is worth seeing for what future stars Juanita Hall and Orson Welles did early in their careers

Just watched a short version of this documentary of the accomplishments of the Works Progress Administration on YouTube and the original longer version on Internet Archive. The former concentrated on the entertainment side as we see an African-American choir group singing spirituals conducted by one Juanita Hall. Ms. Hall would achieve lasting fame for her roles in a couple of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals: South Pacific and Flower Drum Song. She'd reprise them for the original film versions as well. Then we watch the last minutes of a Harlem production of Macbeth which takes place in Haiti instead of the original Scotland. This was the version that Orson Welles directed that got him his early fame though his name is not mentioned by the narrator. The first 8 minutes that I saw on IA concentrated on construction of new buildings to replace the torn, dilapidated ones, poor black kids enjoying going in a public swimming pool, and the women of color getting lessons on cooking. For especially the last 7 minutes, We Work Again is worth a look for some early glimpses of what future iconic stars were doing during the early part of their careers.