Transmission
1 January
1938
The River
The River
Network
US Farm Security Administration
Running time
31 min
The River (1938). US Farm Security Administration. Held by the Internet Archive;
The River
Lorentz's second film for the government: the watershed, a century of cutting and ploughing, the floods that followed, and the TVA's answer.
- Year
- 1938
- Made by
- US Farm Security Administration
- Directed by
- Pare Lorentz
- Free to use because
- A work of the United States government — no copyright, anywhere
The note
The narration of The River is the most famous piece of writing in American documentary — the litany of river names, delivered in a rising cadence that owes more to Whitman than to journalism. It won at Venice. Thomson scored it again, quoting hymns and river ballads. If any film in this wing was made to be heard rather than seen, it is this one. Federal work, no copyright.
The River, 1938. US Farm Security Administration. Directed by Pare Lorentz. This is the film’s soundtrack: narration, score and location sound, streamed from the Internet Archive’s master. No picture — the audio is the work. A work of the United States government, and therefore free of copyright anywhere it is used.