BIG TOWN - 1932 - FRANCES DADE - RARE DVD

Back in 1979 when the steel belt from Pittsburgh to Chicago was beginning to evolve into the rust belt I moved from Campbell, Ohio to Cleveland in search of work. I landed a great paying job at the Park Drop Forge where I worked as a blocker apprentice. The big forges there were frequently needing repairs or attention, giving me a couple of hours of 'down time' almost daily. It was my custom to buy a copy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer every morning on the way to work and read it from front to back during the down times. I learned a lot about the city and about the world around me by reading that newspaper every day. It gave me a much deeper understanding of the city and the world than the half hour news television shows each evening. There were two daily newspapers in Cleveland at that time, the morning Plain Dealer and the afternoon Cleveland Press. Ahhh . . . but time passes and the world changes . . . the Cleveland Press has been out of business for many years, and today I understand that the Cleveland Plain Dealer will soon stop printing a daily paper. How do I know about it? I read an article on my smart phone just a few minutes ago. Today on my phone during my idle times I can access news, sports and everything else from several U.S., British and European news sources. I regularly check out the BBC, Reuters and a couple of U.S. sources . . . on my phone, at no charge. There is no need to spend any money purchasing a newspaper. But back in the day . . . newspapers were powerful tools for both good and evil. One of my mentors long ago reminded me that there is freedom of the press in the U.S. . . . but very few citizens own a press, and it gives them tremendous influencing powers over their readers. Of course today everyone with a no-cost blog or web site can influence world thought, and we are truely entering an amazing time. It is the best of times for the good guys to get honest information to the world . . . but it is also the best of times for dishonest people to spread half-truths and outright lies to the world. Reader beware! But let's go back to the good old days, when brave and persistent newspaper men and women uncovered the rackets and gangsters for the police in the big town - New York City. Pop a big bowl of white kernel popcorn with warm melted butter on it and enjoy the show.

Director: Arthur Hoerl

Stars: Lester Vail, Frances Dade, John Miltern

57 minutes.