One Third Of A Nation

Adapted from a controversial play originally produced by the Federal Theatre Project (part of the WPA), this Depression-era film contrasts the lifestyles of tenement dwellers with the existence of the upper class in New York City. The phrase "one-third of a nation" was derived from Franklin D. Roosevelt's statement that one-third of America's population was not adequately housed. The plot concerns Erickson, a member of a very wealthy family who learns that he has inherited a block of slum tenements. In one of these dwellings, a raging fire had crippled the young Lumet. Erickson meets the boy some time after the fire and eventually falls in love with Lumet's older s...