FAC to host screening of two New Deal films Thursday

“THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS” AND “THE CITY” WITH LECTURE
When: 7:00pm, Thursday, September 16
Where: Music Room, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St.
Admission: FREE

Professor Curtis Smith of the UCCS Music Department will discuss the important role that film music played in the early careers of two American composers, Aaron Copland and Virgil Thompson. As part of the program, two New Deal films, “The Plow That Broke the Plains” and “The City”, will be shown.

“The City” is a 1939 documentary that draws a startling contrast between the grimness of the modern city with the idyllic conditions of small town America, eventually focusing on the promise of planned cities like Greenbelt, MD. It was part of the City of Tomorrow exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed called Aaron Copland’s score to “The City” an astonishing missing link not only in the genesis of Copland’s Americana style, but in American music and cinema.”

“The Plow that Broke the Plains” is a landmark documentary released in 1936 that vividly shows how uncontrolled farming led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.

Virgil Thomson’s score is among the most famous ever composed for the movies. Aaron Copland praised the music for its “frankness and openness of feeling”, calling it “fresher, more simple, and more personal” than the Hollywood norm.

This screening and lecture is sponsored by the local branch of the National New Deal for the New Deal. The local chapter is sponsored by the Pikes Peak Arts Council.

For additional information, contact New Deal board member Judith Rice-Jones at jricejon@uccs.edu or 473-2154.

For more film news, visit the Gazette's Film Blog