America Lost and Found (1981)

Composed entirely of archival material and narrated by actor Pat Hingle this hourlong film documents the runup to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed Made in the 1970s the film carefully lays out major historical events as with the stunning footage of the German Zeppelin Hindenburg bursting into flames over New Jersey in 1937 Powerful images such as this are both literal and metaphoric documents of the tragedies of the age By relying on the old newsreels alone to depict the events the filmmakers immerse us in the period in a way that would not have been possible had they interviewed a team of experts Compared to some of the more freely associated assemblages presented in the seriesand especially to Brother Can You Spare a Dimethis film seems stoic contemplative When left to speak for themselves archival images can be most illuminating