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Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie

Acting

Biography

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and composer who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land". Guthrie wrote hundreds of country, folk, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. Dust Bowl Ballads, Guthrie's album of songs about the Dust Bowl period, was included on Mojo magazine's list of 100 Records That Changed The World, and many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence on their work include Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Tom Paxton, Brian Fallon, Sean Bonnette, and Sixto Rodríguez. He frequently performed with the message "This machine kills fascists" displayed on his guitar.

Known For

Dark Winds
7.5

This psychological thriller follows two Navajo police officers, Leaphorn and Chee, in the 1970s Southwest as their search for clues in a grisly double murder case forces them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs and come to terms with the trauma of their pasts.

Dark Winds

2022
All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music
6.5

A 17-part television documentary series on the history of modern pop music covering some of the many different genres that have fallen under the label of "popular music" between the mid-19th century and 1976, including folk, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville and music hall, musical theatre, country, swing, jazz, blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and others.

All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music

1977
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
7.7

A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

2005
Bound for Glory
6.9

A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering the suffering and strength of America's working class.

Bound for Glory

1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
6.3

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975
Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation
7.0

Explores the music scene in Greenwich Village, New York in the '60s and early '70s. The film highlights some of the finest singer/songwriters of the day.

Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation

2013
This Land Is Your Land: The Animated Kids' Songs of Woody Guthrie
10.0

Songs that live in the American heart can now be enjoyed by a new generation in "This Land Is Your Land: The Animated Kids' Songs of Woody Guthrie", a wonderful and imaginative music video program consisting of Guthrie's irresistible songs for kids of all ages. With superb animation that makes each song's story come alive, and featuring the voices of Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo, it's a songbook to see and share again and again. We think you'll agree it's good ― downright great ― to know songs like these.

This Land Is Your Land: The Animated Kids' Songs of Woody Guthrie

1997
Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home
N/A

Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie's music was politically leftist, uniquely patriotic and always inspirational.

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home

2006
BBC Arena: Woody Guthrie
N/A

Documentary on the life of Woody Guthrie, the travelling songwriter and singer who paved the way for the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

BBC Arena: Woody Guthrie

1988
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6.5

The Fight for Life was documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz' first "dramatic" film, utilizing the talents of several top New York stage actors. A tribute to the Chicago Maternity Center and its efforts to provide the best possible care for destitute mothers, the film is based on the book of the same name by Paul de Kruif. Myron McCormick plays the largest role as a dedicated intern, while others in the cast include such theatrical heavywrights as Will Geer, Dudley Digges and Dorothy Adams. The film's many vignettes range from the tragic (a mother dying in childbirth in the opening scene) to the exultant (another mother rescued from the brink of death in a disease-ridden tenement). Filmed in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, Fight for Life is a worthwhile effort, though Lorentz seems more comfortable with the "actuality" scenes than with the dramatized passages.

The Fight for Life

1940
Down the Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan
8.5

This fascinating program tells the story of the music and artists that have influenced Bob Dylan throughout his career. Although his reputation as a songwriter stands supreme, Dylan has often covered tracks from vintage blues, folk and country performers or incorporated elements from them into his own material. "Down The Tracks" explores the lives and work of many of these artists and how Dylan interacted with them through archive performance and interview footage alongside new interviews and documentary material.

Down the Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan

2008
Billy Bragg & Wilco: Man in the Sand
8.0

"Man in the Sand" is a 1999 music documentary that chronicles the collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, which involved the musicians creating new music to accompany lyrics that were written decades earlier by folk singer Woody Guthrie. The project, which was organized by Woody's daughter Nora, spawned two albums: "Mermaid Avenue," released in 1998, and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II," released in 2000.

Billy Bragg & Wilco: Man in the Sand

2005
Caudillo
7.9

Caudillo is a documentary film by Spanish film director Basilio Martín Patino. It follows the military and political career of Francisco Franco and the most important moments of the Spanish Civil War. It uses footage from both sides of the war, music from the period and voice-over testimonies of various people.

Caudillo

1977
To Hear Your Banjo Play
4.5

A short film about Pete Seeger and the birth of banjo music throughout the Southern United States.

To Hear Your Banjo Play

1947
The Columbia: America's Greatest Power Stream
N/A

Historic look at the Columbia River and its development. This film contains rare footage of Grand Coulee Dam construction, Indian fishing at Celilo Falls and the 1948 Vanport flood.

The Columbia: America's Greatest Power Stream

1949
Plane Days
N/A

Old friends. Young friends. Lovers and loners. They all wait, hoping to see something they have never seen before. A Virgin? Thai? Singapore? Hopefully another one for the book. A flask of tea or bottle of wine to keep warm, and every day around the perimeter fence at Heathrow is a plane day.

Plane Days

2008
Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry: Red River Blues 1948-1974
3.8

For some 30 years, they embodied "country blues" for folk music audiences around the globe. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were once ubiquitous, and as such tended to be taken for granted in the halcyon days of the 1960s blues rediscoveries. But nearly two decades have passed since the perennial team parted, and the 16 performances here remind us of this superb duo's complementary strengths.

Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry: Red River Blues 1948-1974

2003
Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin'
6.5

A warmhearted memorial to the folk singer whose songs galvanized organizers and guitar-pickers across the United States. Part biography, part travelogue and part hootenanny, it follows the singer's son, Arlo Guthrie, as he retraces his father's steps and collects reminiscences from his father's family, friends and musical partners.

Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin'

1984
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N/A

Narrated by Rosanne Cash and featuring music from Bruce Springsteen, this timely film connects the paths of two American icons—songwriter Woody Guthrie (who penned "This Land is Your Land") and novelist John Steinbeck (who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath")—as they forged a bond in a campaign to ease the suffering of migrants in California, and their legacy today.

Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad Today

2026