Great Sit Down, The

Synopsis

An account of how auto workers seized plants at General Motors in 1937 - a single incident which represented a turning point in the American Labour movement. Uses contemporary footage showing pickets, confrontations with the police, the use of the national guard, the conciliation efforts of the Governor of Michigan, and shots of the men inside the plant as they waited it out. Prominence is given to the role of the Women’s Emergency Brigade.

Series

Yesterday’s Witness, Series

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film; Film. 16mm. sd. col. 50 min.

Technical information

Black-and-white / Sound

Year of production

1978

Availability

OUT OF DISTRIBUTION
REFERENCE ONLY

Uses

Illustrative material for 3rd-year courses in politics or sociology; appropriate to any level history course that covers the US labour movement.*

Subjects

Sociology

Keywords

cars; industrial disputes; industrial relations; motor vehicles; United States of America

Credits

Producer

Stephen Peet

Contributor

Les Norman

Cast

James Cameron

Distribution Formats

Type

Film

Format

16mm

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

Concord Media

Email

sales@concordmedia.org.uk

Web

http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

01473 726 012

Address

Rosehill Centre
22 Hines Road
Ipswich
IP3 9BG

Notes

A long-established, not-for-profit organisation with a large collection DVDs, specialising in the sectors of general and mental health, child care, race relations, war and peace, addictions, the third world, ecology, civil rights, personal relationships, educational issues, and social work training. Concord also handles titles made for the Graves Medical Audio-visual Library. Sale on DVD. Formerly known as Concord Video and Film Council. In 2014 Concord began to offer selected films as Video on Demand, via Vimeo.