Even before he got his start as “FDR’s Moviemaker,” crafting documentaries for the government that pulsed with New Deal optimism, Pare Lorentz, in his book The Roosevelt Year (1934), chronicled America’s struggles during the Great Depression and how the president’s policies were putting the country on the road to recovery. Lorentz’s The River follows the same path: produced by the Resettlement Administration/Farm Security Administration, the film travels the Mississippi River and its tributaries to tell the story (in poetic narration nominated for the Pulitzer Prize) of how “we planted and plowed with no regard for the future,” causing ever-worsening floods. The last reel, though, bursts with patriotism and a can-do spirit as it celebrates the Tennessee Valley Authority’s creation of new homes and hydroelectric power—even if there is no mention of the fact that, in doing so, the federal agency (still the nation’s largest government-owned energy provider) had to displace thousands of citizens.
Both The River and Indian Summer are part of the collection of The Museum of Modern Art’s Circulating Film and Video Library. MoMA holds the original 35mm elements for Indian Summer, which were used to create this pristine restoration. The Library’s catalogue describes the film as “an excellently photographed example of a lyrical, nostalgic documentary style.” Like The River, Indian Summer recorded governmental seizure of the land, ostensibly for the greater good, but it foregrounds the negative impact on the community. Jules Victor Schwerin captured close-ups of Cannonsville residents and wide shots of the rural landscape before the destruction of the upstate village, which was flooded to create a reservoir that would supply additional drinking water for New York City. Music by Pete and Mike Seeger provides a lively soundtrack, yet one tinged with a melancholy appropriate to witnessing a way of life on the brink of extinction.
The Fall of Cannonsville, a short follow-up by Charles Cadkin, who initiated the restoration of Indian Summer, rounds out the program. Cadkin combines images of the present-day countryside with audio of former residents, recorded at their annual reunion. “Their stories serve as a reminder for numerous others before them.”
The River. 1938. USA. Directed by Pare Lorentz. Score by Virgil Thomson. 35mm preserved print from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. 31 min.
Indian Summer. 1960. USA. Directed by Jules Victor Schwerin. Scenario by Peggy Lawson, Schwerin. Music composed and performed by Peter Seeger, Michael Seeger. With Robert C. Gregory, Ralph Vanderlip, Grant Rodgers, David Marshall, Herta Marshall. Digital preservation by BB Optics, Inc., under the supervision of Charles Cadkin in collaboration with the Delaware County Historical Association and with the support of the National Film Preservation Foundation. Restoration world premiere. 28 min.
The Fall of Cannonsville. 2023. USA. Directed by Charles Cadkin. With Helen Schriver-Zandt and the former residents of Cannonsville, NY. Restoration world premiere. 21 min.