For the Living (1949)

★★★★ · The Slums Must Go! · Christine Hennig · 2004-08-01

This 40s film promotes the building of public housing projects to replace slums in New York City. Housing projects are presented as The Answer to poverty, transforming the lives of slumdwellers from misery and danger to the bright, shiny, clean lives the middle class were living in the suburbs, with the father going to work in a crisp suit, the son going to school in a new sweater, and Mom wheeling the baby down a tree-lined sidewalk to the laundry room, where the washing is easy. This is laughable from todays standpoint, where the words the projects conjure up as many images of poverty…