1929, la crise

This is a fairly standard, fairly dull documentary relying on old-time archival news footage punctuated by interviews with some earnest, articulate talking heads -- respected economists and historians. What amused me, and scandalized me, was that 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the first of the two episodes, it features what is meant to be the front page of a 1929 American newspaper, its huge headlines assuring the gullible public that it's time to Buy, Buy, Buy and that stocks can only go up.

But this is NOT from a genuine 1929 newspaper. As the name at the top proclaims, it's a front page of "The Onion," the satiric online newspaper. You can find it in the Onion's hilarious paperback book OUR DUMB CENTURY, published in 1999, which includes 100 parody front pages, each representing a year of the 20th century. (To quote Wiki: "For example, an issue dated a week before the 1929 crash of the American stock market heralds the market as 'invincible' and urges readers to 'put everything they have into the stock market.' ")

Perhaps the French producers of this documentary were simply ignorant of what they were including -- or else they were hoaxed by whoever put together the archival footage for them. At any rate, I feel sorry for the professors who served as talking heads.