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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[National Recovery Administration (NRA) Promo] (1933)

New Deal-era promo for the NRA (National Recovery Administration).


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: New Deal: NRA; Durante, Jimmy

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: petrolero - - July 29, 2008
Subject: American Fascism
This humorous and interesting film captures well the fascistic nature of National Recovery Administration under Hugh S. "Iron Pants" Johnson, a well-known admirer of Mussolini's fascisti (as were many Americans of that era). The economics of the NRA are highly dubious and have been questioned by eminent economists, most notably Milton Friedman. As this promo reel humorously depicts, the public initially applauded the so-called Blue Eagle program but many of them eventually saw the darker side of it when NRA enforcers began raiding businesses and roughing up employees. The National Industrial Recovery Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1935 in Schecter Poultry Corp. v US because it unconstitutionally delegated law-making authority to the Executive.

This video, and especially the "no rats allowed" joke illustrates the massive force that was used by Johnson's NRA against businesses to force them essentially to go against what their own economics told them to do. The NIRA and the NRA was an example of American Fascism.

Reviewer: ERD. - - May 30, 2007
Subject: Effective for its time
The great Jimmy Durante is entertaining, and the message comes across. An effective tool for its time.

Reviewer: alraczkowski - - August 5, 2006
Subject: Believe it or not..
I had heard about this short film, also known as Give A Man A Job, from the 3 Stooges official website, www.threestooges.com. Why is it listed there? Belive it or not, a Stooge-less Moe Howard is in the film, playing the exterminator guy (second guy that Jimmy Durante talks to) You may not recognize him as he's nattliy dressed in a nice suit & tie, his hair is slicked back & you don't see him full faced, his back being mostly towards the camera. And of course, he doesn't smack anyone silly. But his voice & Brooklyn accent is a dead giveaway. A really rare snapshot of early Stoogedom.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - December 20, 2005
Subject: Does not star Charleton Heston
Jimmy Durante shills for the NRA! That¡¦s National Recovery Administration. This was all during the new deal program I guess. Anyways, Durante¡¦s great, singing about the NRA and screaming at everyone to ¡§Give a man a job!¡¨ It seems though that Durante¡¦s shill to ¡§the audience members¡¨ about employing more workers looked to be just hiring unnecessarily needed help. I mean, does the exterminator really NEED an assistant? What if he just has enough work to get him by?

Reviewer: NoRatsAllowed82 - - January 4, 2003
Subject: Yes,Virginia, there really was a different NRA...
...that is the National Recovery Administration. This promo, featuring Jimmy Durante, stated the purpose of the plan by President Roosevelt; to give a man a job during the Great Depression. This promo was funny and stayed on topic as it had my attention the whole time I viewed it. Perhaps the funniest part of the promo was when Durante walked up to one man he assumed to be a grocer but turned out to be an exterminator. After he informs Durante he needs more assistance to "kill the rats", Durante gives the exterminator an NRA sign and tells him to hang it up. He points out to the exterminator that NRA stood for No Rats Allowed! To me, that part reflects on the fall of Enron and other corporations after illegal accounting practices and money embezzlement by CEOs that took place last year.

Shotlist

NRA Promo with Jimmy Durante