1940s Anti-Fascist PSA's Getting New Attention After Charlottesville

A 1940s-era anti-fascist PSA has become
newly relevant, unfortunately.

Back in the 1940s, as Nazis tried to take over the world, the U.S. government released a bunch of public service announcements and films denouncing fascists.  

Made sense then.

Makes sense now, especially after Charlottesville and when we have a president that pretty much gives a wink and a nod to the Nazis and white supremacists who caused death and heartache over the weekend.

There's a 17-minute version of the film you can see by clicking on this link from The Atlantic. 

There's another video, below, that's a more streamlined version of this very relevant clip.

In both versions of the film, we hear words from a blustery fascist American politician that we are now hearing some version of today:

"I see negroes holding jobs that belong to me and you. Now, I ask you, if we allow this thing to go on, what's going to happen to us real Americans?"

The loudmouth then blames blacks, Catholics, Freemasons and immigrants for the nation's problems.

In the clip, a young man is almost persuaded by the rhetoric until the idiot speaker mentions Freemasons, as he's one.

Then a man with an eastern European accent - an immigrant from Hungary who became an American citizen - schools the younger man on just how dangerous this rhetoric is.

The clip should be required viewing for all of us. Here it is:

Side By Side View Of A Drive Through Los Angeles

Glenn Close in the current Broadway run of "Sunset Boulevard"

I was in New York City this week to see some shows and be tourists.

My husband Jeff and I were lucky enough to score very good seats to see Glenn Close in the revival of "Sunset Boulevard."  (We were very lucky to time this right because "Sunset Boulevard" is there for only a limited 16-week run.)

We loved it, of course, and Glenn Close was absolutely terrific. I resisted the temptation to say out loud those famous lines from the play as Close spoke them.

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

"Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."

During Sunset Boulevard scene changes and transitions, the show at the Palace Theater had a translucent screen that showed 1940s-era black and white flim clips of Hollywood and the glamorous actors who inhabited it. ("Sunset Boulevard," for those who don't know, takes place in 1940s Hollywood.)

Quite a world, back then.

Imagine my delight when I got home yesterday, opened up the BoingBoing web site, and found, with perfect timing, a video showing side by side view of the same drive through Los Angeles in the 1940s and today.

It's pretty fascinating to see how much things have changed.

Watch the video, which comes to us courtesy of the New Yorker: