Editing The Plow That Broke the Plains (section)

==Significance==
===Legacy===
The Resettlement Administration and its successor, the [[Farm Security Administration]], and other government agencies distributed ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' as an educational service.<ref name=":0" /> In addition to screenings in the U.S., the ''Plow That Broke the Plains'' was screened publicly in Canadian educational venues and film societies. At a conference on Canadian-American relations at [[Queen's University at Kingston]] in [[Ontario]], ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' screened as part of a program of films that highlighted problems of adapting to the North American Environment.<ref name=":3" /> Additionally ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' inspired the Canadian film ''Heritage'' (1939). The [[Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau]] produced this film for [[Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada|Canada's Department of Agriculture]]. While not a copy of ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'', ''Heritage'' used ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' as a model for how to produce a film particular to Canada's own problems in the Great Plains and to make a case for federal government programs.<ref name=":3" /> A U.S. government catalog of documentary film classics states that ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' "has been one of the most widely praised and studied documentaries to be produced in America" and that its images "serve sort of visual shorthand which expressed a massive social problem on a more intimate and human scale."<ref name=":0" /> ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' also generated discussion on the future of the Great Plains and brought up the question as to what extent the land of the Great Plains regions should be used for agriculture.<ref name=":4" /> Under the [[National Film Preservation Act]] ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' was selected for preservation in 1999 as it was deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" />

===Political legacy===
Following the success of ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' and ''[[The River (1938 film)|The River]]'' (1938), President Roosevelt became interested in how the government could use documentaries to communicate. Roosevelt attempted to continue the financing of the [https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/united-states-film-service-1938/ U.S. Film Service]  whose purpose was to "coordinate motion picture activities for the federal government, establish a national film library; set minimum standards for future government films, examine scripts for prospective films; give advice to other movie-making entities private or public, and to produce a small number of films in conjunction with other federal agencies".<ref name=":13" /> However, in response conservative Democrats and Republicans criticized the service for misusing [[Works Progress Administration]] funds and creating New Deal Propaganda. Due to Congress's wariness of funding a propaganda machine, it cut the U.S. Film Service budget and its work ended by June 30, 1940.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=United States Film Service (1938) |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/united-states-film-service-1938/ |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=Living New Deal |date=8 November 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> Following the end of the U.S. Film Service, American film efforts were run solely by Hollywood.<ref name=":1" /> ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' was also significant for prospective Democratic congressmen and senators who used the films content to promote their own platforms during their election campaigns.<ref name=":1" />

===Rereleases===
Following its removal from circulation in 1939, ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' was again available to the public in a 1962 release.<ref name=":3" /> In 2007 ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' was re-released by [[Naxos (company)|Naxos]]. The 2007 DVD rerelease had a re-rendered soundtrack by [[PostClassical Ensemble|Post-Classical Ensemble]] conducted by [[Angel Gil-Ordoñez|Angel Gil-Ordóñez]] in addition to new sound effects and a new narration by Floyd King. The DVD rerelease also included special features such as a short excerpt of a 1979 interview with Virgil Thomson in which he makes remarks on the creation of the original musical score, among other interviews regarding the creation of the original film.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neil |first=Lerner |date=2007 |title=Review of The Plow That Broke the Plains, Angle Gil-Ordóñez; The River, Angle Gil-Ordóñez, Joseph Horowitz, Floyd King |journal=American Music |volume=25 |pages=376–378 |doi=10.2307/40071670 |jstor=40071670 }}</ref>