Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The lean, mean 30's, when America laughed… to keep from crying!

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Documentary History

Laverne Andrews

(Self (archive footage))

Maxene Andrews

(Self (archive footage))

Patty Andrews

(Self (archive footage))

Fred Astaire

(Self (archive footage))

Warner Baxter

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Wallace Beery

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Brooks Benedict

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Constance Bennett

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Jack Benny

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Busby Berkeley

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Irving Berlin

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Willie Best

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Herman Bing

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Joan Blondell

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Humphrey Bogart

(Self (archive footage))

Fanny Brice

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Joe E. Brown

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James Burke

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James Cagney

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Eddie Cantor

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Hobart Cavanaugh

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George Chandler

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Charlie Chaplin

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Spencer Charters

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Winston Churchill

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Mae Clarke

(Self (archive footage))

Betty Compson

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Gary Cooper

(Self (archive footage))

Jackie Cooper

(Self (archive footage))

Joan Crawford

(Self (archive footage))

Bing Crosby

(Self (archive footage))

Frankie Darro

(Self (archive footage))

William B. Davidson

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Cecil B. DeMille

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John Dillinger

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Walt Disney

(Self (archive footage))

Marie Dressler

(Self (archive footage))

Tom Dugan

(Self (archive footage))

Margaret Dumont

(Self (archive footage))

James Dunn

(Self (archive footage))

Irene Dunne

(Self (archive footage))

Jimmy Durante

(Self (archive footage))

Nelson Eddy

(Self (archive footage))

Cliff Edwards

(Self (archive footage))

Dwight D. Eisenhower

(Self (archive footage))

Bill Elliott

(Self (archive footage))

Madge Evans

(Self (archive footage))

Alice Faye

(Self (archive footage))

Stepin Fetchit

(Self (archive footage))

W.C. Fields

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Errol Flynn

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Dick Foran

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Gerald Ford

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Preston Foster

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Kay Francis

(Self (archive footage))

Clark Gable

(Self (archive footage))

Judy Garland

(Self (archive footage))

Janet Gaynor

(Self (archive footage))

George Gershwin

(Self (archive footage))

Benny Goodman

(Self (archive footage))

Cary Grant

(Self (archive footage))

Woody Guthrie

(Self (archive footage))

Oliver Hardy

(Self (archive footage))

Jean Harlow

(Self (archive footage))

George 'Gabby' Hayes

(Self (archive footage))

Katharine Hepburn

(Self (archive footage))

Billie Holiday

(Self (archive footage))

Herbert Hoover

(Self (archive footage))

J. Edgar Hoover

(Self (archive footage))

Bob Hope

(Self (archive footage))

William Hopper

(Self (archive footage))

Walter Huston

(Self (archive footage))

Lyndon B. Johnson

(Self (archive footage))

Al Jolson

(Self (archive footage))

Boris Karloff

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Ruby Keeler

(Self (archive footage))

Jacqueline Kennedy

(Self (archive footage))

John F. Kennedy

(Self (archive footage))

Fiorello LaGuardia

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Hedy Lamarr

(Self (archive footage))

Stan Laurel

(Self (archive footage))

Gypsy Rose Lee

(Self (archive footage))

Vivien Leigh

(Self (archive footage))

Carole Lombard

(Self (archive footage))

Joe Louis

(Self (archive footage))

Myrna Loy

(Self (archive footage))

Bela Lugosi

(Self (archive footage))

Douglas MacArthur

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Jeanette MacDonald

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Fredric March

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Chico Marx

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Groucho Marx

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Harpo Marx

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Ethel Merman

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Grant Mitchell

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Paul Muni

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Harold Nicholas

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Fayard Nicholas

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Pat Nixon

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Richard Nixon

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Jesse Owens

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Dick Powell

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Eleanor Powell

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William Powell

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Tyrone Power

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George Raft

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Paul Robeson

(Self (archive footage))

Dewey Robinson

(Self (archive footage))

Edward G. Robinson

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Ginger Rogers

(Self (archive footage))

Will Rogers

(Self (archive footage))

Mickey Rooney

(Self (archive footage))

Eleanor Roosevelt

(Self (archive footage))

Franklin D. Roosevelt

(Self (archive footage))

James Roosevelt

(Self (archive footage))

Cliff Saum

(Self (archive footage))

Max Schmeling

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Kate Smith

(Self (archive footage))

Barbara Stanwyck

(Self (archive footage))

James Stewart

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Shirley Temple

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Spencer Tracy

(Self (archive footage))

Harry S. Truman

(Self (archive footage))

Rudy Vallee

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Ethel Waters

(Self (archive footage))

John Wayne

(Self (archive footage))

Johnny Weissmüller

(Self (archive footage))

Orson Welles

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Mae West

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Harlow Wilcox

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Walter Winchell

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Fay Wray

(Self (archive footage))

Loretta Young

(Self (archive footage))

Tammany Young

(Self (archive footage))