This film is part of Free
Life With Grandpa
Watch America’s ‘oldsters’ dance, get married, play baseball and work more efficiently than their younger counterparts in this spirited challenge to prejudices about old age.
Overview
This lively examination of the problems and opportunities confronting America’s ageing population in 1948, mixes humour and pathos to show that life can begin at sixty, seventy, or even eighty. From journalist Dorothy Dix, dictating her latest advice column at the age of 78, to the men in the workshop of the Ithaca Gun Company - where you’re a youngster if you’re sixty - this issue shows how Americans were finding new ways to grow old in an era of increasing life expectancy.
In 1948 America was facing the new challenges of an increasing population in which 11 million people were over the age of 65. Despite a tendency to focus on men rather than women, the issue is notable for its generally progressive tone, which manages to avoid patronising older people and focuses instead on how the prejudices of employers, rigid company policies and inadequate pension schemes were making life difficult for the over-60s. Combining genuine footage - including some powerful clips of life in a poorhouse - with re-enacted scenes, and comments from politicians and reformers such as Thomas E. Dewey, this issue shows American society coming to terms with major demographic changes in the post-war years.
Related
Inside Nazi Germany Inside Nazi Germany
Documentary 1938 16 mins
A genuinely historic film, which caused much controversy at the time: the first commercially -released American motion picture to explicitly attack Hitler and Nazism.
Presidential Year Presidential Year
Documentary 1948 15 mins
‘Crisp and sincere’,‘carefully trained’ or ’resonant and vibrant’? Which voice would appeal to you if you had to pick the Republican candidate for the 1948 Presidential Election?
Great Britain Coronation Great Britain Coronation
Anthology 1937 24 mins
Weatherproof bunting, fog, clockwork dolls and a Hollywood exodus to London: this sideways look at preparations for the Coronation of George VI provides a wry American take on a very British ceremony.
Metropolis Metropolis
Documentary 1939 18 mins
This ode to New York from March of Time shows us how seven and half million people from every race and nationality in the world, live, work and play together in ‘the greatest metropolis of the New World’.
Irish Free State Irish Free State
Anthology 1936 23 mins
How Ireland turned herself into a self-sufficient powerhouse - plus a study of the "lunatic fringe" in US politics.
America Thinks It Over America Thinks It Over
Documentary 1939 17 mins
In a world on the verge of war, will America support the democracies of Europe, or turn inwards and embrace isolationism?
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.
New Perspectives: Wings of Desire New Perspectives: Wings of Desire
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Trixie Parkin-Christie of Northumbria University offers fresh insight into why Wings of Desire remains essential viewing.