Riding the rails

DVD - 2003

Tells the story of the 250,000 teenagers who left their homes and hopped freight trains during the Great Depression.

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DVD/973.91/Riding
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Subjects
Genres
Video recordings for the hearing impaired
Published
[Boston, Mass.] : WGBH Boston Video 2003.
Language
English
Corporate Author
WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.)
Corporate Author
WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.) (-)
Other Authors
Michael Uys (-), Lexy Lovell
Item Description
An edited version of "Riding the rails" was broadcast on the PBS television program American experience.
DVD features: interview with the filmmakers; slide show featuring Depression-era photos; excerpt from Riding the rails : teenagers on the move during the Great Depression; web sites of interest.
Physical Description
1 videodisc (DVD)(72 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in
Format
Region 1, full screen presentation; Dolby Digital.
Audience
MPAA rating: Not rated.
Production Credits
Director of photography, Samuel Henriques ; editor, Howard Sharp ; music, Jimmie Rodgers, Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Elizabeth Cotten ; original music, Jay Sherman-Godfrey.
ISBN
9781578079759
Contents unavailable.
Review by Library Journal Review

The term hobo stems from the close of the Civil War and is a shortened version of "homeward bound soldier," explains The American Hobo. The willingness of hobos to work while traveling has traditionally differentiated them from tramps (traveling nonworkers) and bums (nontraveling nonworkers). The hobo population exploded during the Great Depression when more than 1.5 million Americans rode the rails. At the heart of this documentary are the on-camera explanations of hobo life provided by several dozen modern hobos, including the late author James Michener and singer/songwriter Merle Haggard. They offer diverse reasons for their choice of lifestyle-excitement, travel, freedom from responsibility, solitude, and camaraderie-while acknowledging the drawbacks: arrest, crime, and accidents. Background music, Ernest Borgnine's understated narration, and unusual camera angles from inside moving boxcars add to the mood. Anyone interested in hobos or alternative lifestyles will want this video. Because of differential pricing, libraries may only want to add where there is strong interest. Riding the Rails tells a narrower story of teenagers during the Great Depression who left their homes to ride the rails. Of the more than 3000 still alive, the 20 interviewed here tell collectively of the overwhelming hardship that drove them from their homes. To most, traveling by rail seemed a better choice despite the lack of work and the hunger, loneliness, crime, illness, and hostility they experienced. The DVD features a discussion by directors Uys and Lovell, a collection of still photos, and an excerpt from Errol Lincoln Uys's book Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression (Routledge, 2003. pap.). An edited version of the documentary appeared as part of PBS's American Experience series. This technically superb and poignant film, with its period black-and-white footage, music, letters, and survivor interviews, sheds additional light on our history. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ., Erie, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.