Editing The Plow That Broke the Plains (section)

==Reception==
''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' had its first showing at the [[White House]] in March 1936. After several private showings, the film was officially released to the public at the [[Mayflower Hotel]] on May 10, 1936.<ref name=":6" /> Following President Roosevelt's private showing, FDR praised Lorentz for his work and wanted to show it to a joint session of Congress.<ref name=":0" /> This would have made ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' the first film to be screened in Congress, but this did not occur due to the House chambers not being equipped to show a film with sound.<ref name=":7" /> Although some film reviewers did not agree that ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' was a pinnacle of artistic achievement, praise was almost unanimous and Lorentz became one of America's foremost directors.<ref name=":0" />

Following the film's release, members of the Hollywood community claimed that due to the film being created by the government it was, therefore, a propaganda film and not a documentary. For this reason, they refused to show it in theaters. Lorentz traveled the country with the film to convince theater owners to show his film. The [[Rialto Theater (Monticello, New York)|Rialto Theater]] in New York agreed and the public reacted positively. This led to other theater owners showing the film as well.<ref name=":6" />  Out of 14,000 commercial cinemas nationally, 3,000 screened the film to an audience of about 10 million in 1937.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> In addition to independent theaters the film was also shown in school auditoriums and public meeting places as well.<ref name=":4" />

According to Robert L. Snyder's book about Lorentz, the filmmaker's favorite comment about the movie was something he heard an audience member say in the row ahead of him: "They never should have plowed them plains."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Robert L. |url=https://archive.org/details/parelorentzdocum00robe |title=Pare Lorentz and the Documentary Film |publisher=University of Nevada Press |year=1994 |isbn=0874172314 |url-access=registration}}</ref>