The River (1938), by Pare Lorentz, is a motion picture counterpart to the Depression-era photographs commissioned by Franklin Roosevelt's government agencies. Music composed by Virgil Thomson complements moody black-and-white footage of erosion, rising river waters, acres of houses covered with water up to their roofs, and tent cities. A poetic narration drums along, bringing to mind other man-made disasters such as the flooding after Hurricane Katrina.
