Here are some good movies that came out between the twentieth century's two World Wars. Most of them are fictional. Nonetheless, they have primary-source value, insofar as they reflect attitudes, concerns, dreams, and fears from the period. What do the films suggest to you about the times? What questions do they raise in your mind?

Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov [The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks], directed by Lev Kuleshov, U.S.S.R. 1924 — Silent slapstick comedy about an American businessman's prejudices towards Communist Russia. Note the Soviet stereotypes of who was productive and who was parasitic.

Die freudelose Gasse [The Joyless Street; also: Street of Sorrows], directed by G. W. Pabst, Germany 1925 — Silent melodrama that contrasts the lives of rich and poor in a destitute street in postwar Vienna. Inflation and hunger make prostitution the only option for some, while the local butcher lords it over people waiting in line all night for a chance to buy meat from him, and the very rich manipulate the stock market and visit the local bordello. Stars Greta Garbo.

Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt [Berlin: Symphony of a Great City], directed by Walther Ruttmann (Germany 1927) — Documentary that condenses a day's worth of footage into an hour. A visual feast that tells you a lot about the city's work and social life in 1927.

Der blaue Engel [The Blue Angel] (Germany 1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings.

Mädchen in Uniform (Germany 1931), directed by Leontine Sagen. A recently orphaned girl is sent to a boarding school, where she develops a crush on one of her teachers, a woman. The movie is set in Prussia before the First World War, but it is very much a Weimar film

À nous la liberté [For us, Liberty], directed by René Clair (France 1931) — Delightful, thoughtful comedy that treats the problem of liberty in the face of modern bureaucracy and industrialization.

Modern Times, directed by Charles Chaplin (USA 1936) — A hilarious take on the issues also raised in "À nous la liberté".

Tsirk [Circus], directed by Grigory Alexandrov, USSR 1936 — Fun musical comedy. Soviet propaganda under Stalin that uses racism to contrast the communist worker's paradise with the racist and fascist West. Begins in the southern U.S. and the bad guy is a German. Keep in mind that many millions died under Stalin. Nonetheless, the hard political and economic times propably made the laughs in this film that much more welcome.

[recommendations originally published on History Survey on 8/24/2007]

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