The Life & Times of Eugene Victor Debs (2017)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Socialist: The Life & Times of Eugene Victor Debs is a documentary film which premiered in 2017.

 

Eugene Debs (1855-1926) was a union organizer and a socialist politician. This film is a biopic. The title explains the topic and the purpose of the film:

 

(A) To tell us the story of this man’s life and career.

(B) To place this account in a historical context.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Yale Strom (born 1957)

** Writers: Yale Strom & Elizabeth Schwartz

** Narrator: Amy Madigan

** The voice of Eugene Debs: Nick Cagle

** Released on DVD in 2018

** Run time: 97 minutes

 

Six historical experts are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):

 

** Dr Jim Bissett – Elon University, North Carolina

** Rick Hertzberg – writer – The New Yorker

** Dr Frances Fox Piven - City University of New York

 

** Dr Nicholas (Nick) Salvatore – Cornell University

** Dr Richard Schneirov – Indiana State University

** Dr Richard Wolf - economist

 

Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used while the narrator is speaking. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the participants and the narrator.

 

In addition to the talking heads and the narrator, one more element plays an important role in this film: music.

 

In the old days, when there was no radio and no television to offer entertainment, music and songs played an important role in the life of a trade union or a political party.

 

The members had to create their own entertainment in order to keep up the spirit. They would play music and sing songs about their hopes and dreams of a better future.

 

Yale Strom, the director of this film, is in fact a musician, who plays the violin. He is active in several fields: he is also a writer and a photographer. When he decided to do a documentary film about the life and times of Eugene Debs, it was obvious that music and songs had to be included in the project.

 

As stated above, Eugene Victor Debs was a union organizer and a socialist politician. He was a co-founder of two trade unions (the American Railway Union and the Industrial Workers of the World). He was a co-founder of a political party (the Socialist Party of America).

 

This film covers his life and career in great detail from the beginning in 1855 to the end in 1926. The story is told in 13 chapters. Here are the headlines:

 

Chapter 1

Life in Terre Haute, Indiana (1855-1889)

 

Chapter 2

American Railway Union (ARU) (1893)

 

Chapter 3

The Pullman Strike (1894)

 

Chapter 4

The Socialist Party of America (SPA) (1901)

 

Chapter 5

The Presidential Campaign of 1900

 

Chapter 6

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (1905)

 

Chapter 7

The Red Special (1908)

 

Chapter 8

The Lawrence Textile Strike (1912)

 

Chapter 9

The Presidential Campaign of 1912

 

Chapter 10

Joe Hill (1879-1915)

 

Chapter 11

World War One (1914-1918)

American Participation in the War (1917-1918)

 

Chapter 12

Prison Years (1919-1921)

 

Chapter 13

Coming Home (1921-1926)

 

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 67 percent, which corresponds to 3.4 stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon there are 42 global ratings and 23 global reviews. The average rating is 3.9 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 78 percent. The pattern on Amazon is clear: some people love it, while others hate it. There are not many in the middle.

 

72 percent are positive (they offer four or five stars), while 20 percent are negative (they offer only one or two stars). Less than 10 percent are in the middle (they offer three stars).

 

The negative reviews deserve a comment. It seems most of these reviewers do not understand what the purpose of a review is. They do not review the product. They just say that they hate socialism and then they use this occasion to explain just how much they hate it.

 

But the purpose of a review is not to state your personal opinion about an ideology. The purpose is to review the product. How is the film done? What is being said in the film? Is the information presented true or false? Is it relevant or not?

 

If you ask me, both ratings (IMDb and Amazon) are too low. Why do I say so? I have several reasons:

 

# 1. This film covers the life and career of Eugene Debs in great detail.

# 2. The story of his life is placed in a historical context.

# 3. The basic facts presented here are true.

# 4. This film explains what Debs did and what was done to him. It explains what the popular movements did and what was done to them.

# 5. We learn about their victories and their defeats. We learn that they were up against powerful forces: the private corporations and all three branches of the American government:

 

** The executive branch = the president in the White House

** The legislative branch = the members of the established political parties in Congress on Capitol Hill

** The judicial branch = the court system

 

Debs was vilified, his ideas were ridiculed and the people he represented were persecuted. Whenever a popular movement such as a trade union seemed to be making some kind of progress, the persecution was increased. Radical popular movements had to be crushed. Voices of dissent had to be silenced.

 

The story of Eugene Debs and the popular movements he represented is a significant chapter in the history of the United States. Whether we like him or not, his story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.

 

When you watch the film, it is obvious that the director has much sympathy for Debs and for the popular movements which supported him. But this is beside the point. The point is that the director has created a film of high quality. A film which is worth watching.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS. The Eugene V. Debs Museum is located in the former home of Eugene Debs and Katherine Metzel Debs in Terre Haute, Indiana. Visit the website of the Debs Foundation for more details.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Articles available online

 

** Mark Harris, “The Measure of a Revolutionary: Remembering Eugene V. Debs,” Counterpunch, 7 September 2015

 

** Louis Proyect, “From Debs to Berlusconi: The Socially Relevant Film Festival,” Counterpunch, 10 March 2017

 

** Andrew Stewart, “Eugene Debs: A Graphic Biography is a Masterpiece for the Ages,” Counterpunch, 8 February 2019

 

# 2. Documentary films

 

Eugene Debs and the American Movement

Directors: Renner Wunderlich & Margaret Lazarus

The words of Eugene Debs are spoken by Milton Shubert Sebree (1890-1980) who met Debs for the first time in the year 1900 when he was only 10 years old!

Cambridge Documentary Films, 1977

Run time: 43 minutes

Available online

 

The Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs

Writer and director: Kim Jacobs

Narrator: Danny Glover

The voice of Eugene Debs: Tim Grimm

This film premiered on US television (PBS) in 2019

This film is available on DVD

Run time: 56 minutes

 

# 3. Books (biographies)

 

** The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs by Ray Ginger (1949) (1969) (1992) (2007)

 

** Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist by Nicholas Salvatore (1982) (2007)

 

** Democracy’s Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War and the Right to Dissent by Ernest Freeberg (2008)

 

** Eugene V. Debs: A Graphic Biography by Paul Buhle, Steve Max & Noah van Sciver (2019)

 

# 4. Books (the American labor movement)

 

** The Pullman Strike & the Crisis of the 1890s edited by Richard Schneirov, Nicholas Salvatore and Shelton Stromquist (1999)

 

** Against Labor: How U.S. Employers Organized to Defeat Union Activism by Rosemary Feurer & Chad Pearson (2017)

 

** A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis (2018) (2020)

 

** The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America by Jack Kelly (2019)

 

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A poster from the presidential campaign in 1912

The Socialist Party of America

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The Red Special 1908

The presidential campaign in 1908

 

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Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs (2019)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2019.

 

As the title says, this film covers the life and times of Eugene Debs, a trade union organizer and a socialist politician, who played a significant role in American history for several decades (from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century).

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Writer and director: Kim Jacobs

** Narrator: Danny Glover

** The voice of Eugene Debs: Tim Grimm

** Original music composed by Tim Grimm

** Run time: 56 minutes

 

Several historical experts are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):

 

** Paul Buhle – Brown University

** Allison Duerk – Eugene Debs Museum

** Rosemary Feurer – Northern Illinois University

** Ernest Freeberg – University of Tennessee

 

** William P. Jones – University of Minnesota

** James H. Madison – Indiana University

** Michelle Moran – Indiana State University

 

** William S. Pretzer – Smithsonian Museums

** Nicholas (Nick) Salvatore – Cornell University

** Dennis Vetrovec – Indiana State University

 

Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used when the narrator is speaking. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads and the narrator.

 

As stated above, this film covers the life and times of Eugene Debs. We follow him from the beginning of his life in Terre Haute (Indiana) in 1855 to the end of his life in Elmhurst (Illinois) in 1926.

 

As stated above, Eugene Debs was a trade union organizer and a socialist politician. He was a founding member of two trade unions and a founding member of a political party:

 

** In 1893, the American Railway Union (the ARU) was founded by Debs and others. This union was special, because it was open for every person who worked on the railway. It was not a crafts union which was only open to skilled workers and only open to one kind of workers.

 

The idea behind a comprehensive railway union was that it would be stronger and more effective if it had to stand up to a private railway corporation.

 

** In 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (the IWW) was founded by Debs and others. This union was special, because it was open to every worker without any discrimination: men and women, skilled workers and unskilled workers, white people and people of colour.

 

The slogan was “one big union for all workers.” The idea was that one big union for all workers would have more power to stand up against large capitalist companies.

 

** In 1901, the Socialist Party of America (the SPA) was founded by Debs and others.

 

According to the founding members, the established political parties could not be trusted by the workers, because these parties supported capitalism. The purpose of the SPA was to support the workers in the struggle against capitalism.

 

Debs ran for president of the US several times. He never won. He knew he was not going to win, but he felt he had to run in order to show the American workers that there was an alternative; there was another option. The workers did not have to vote for one of the established parties.

 

According to the SPA, the established political parties were never going to support ordinary workers. They were never going to protect the interests of ordinary workers.

 

Debs was quite popular on the left wing of American politics. At that time, the US political spectrum had a left wing which was active and real. Not only a centre and a right wing.

 

But Debs was not popular among the owners of the large private corporations.

 

They wanted the government to stop Debs and the popular movements he represented. He was regarded as a threat. The popular movements (the ARU, the IWW and the SPA) were regarded as a threat which had to be stopped.

 

The executive branch (the government) and the judicial branch (the courts) had more sympathy for the corporations than for Debs. They sided with the large corporations against Debs and the left-wing organisations he represented.

 

Debs was arrested and sent to prison two times: the first time in 1894, because he and others had organized a strike against the Pullman Railway Company. The second time in 1918, because he had spoken out in public against US participation in World War One (known as the Great War).

 

In American history, Eugene Debs represents the road not taken. For many years, he fought against capitalism – the only war he was prepared to fight – but he lost. He wanted to have a revolution, but it was not allowed to happen.

 

The owners of the private corporations wanted to silence him and destroy the popular movements he represented. The owners of the large corporations joined forces with all three branches of the American government.

 

Debs was vilified, his ideas were ridiculed and the popular movements which supported him were crushed.

 

The story of Eugene Debs is a significant chapter of American history. The contents of this chapter are uplifting and at the same time depressing. Whether we like him or not, his story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.

 

What do reviewers say about it? 

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 58 percent which corresponds to (almost) three stars on Amazon.

 

If you ask me, this rating is too low. This film covers an important topic, a significant chapter of American history which is not well-known, and the topic is covered very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Articles available online

 

** Mark Harris, The Measure of a Revolutionary: Remembering Eugene V. Debs, Counterpunch, 7 September 2015

 

** Louis Proyect, From Debs to Berlusconi: The Socially Relevant Film Festival, Counterpunch, 10 March 2017

 

** Andrew Stewart, Eugene Debs: A Graphic Biography is a Masterpiece for the Ages, Counterpunch, 8 February 2019

 

** William P. Jones, Something to Offer, Jacobin Magazine, 11 August 2015

 

** Erick Trickey, When America's Most Prominent Socialist Was Jailed for Speaking Out Against World War I, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 June 2018

  

# 2. Documentary films

 

Eugene Debs and the American Movement

Directors: Renner Wunderlich & Margaret Lazarus

The words of Eugene Debs are spoken by Milton Shubert Sebree (1890-1980)

Cambridge Documentary Films, 1977

Run time: 43 minutes

Available online

 

American Socialist: The Life & Times of Eugene Victor Debs

Director: Yale Strom

Narrator: Amy Madigan

The voice of Eugene Debs: Nick Cagle

Blackstream Films, 2017

Run time: 97 minutes

Available on DVD

 

# 3. Books (biographies)

 

** The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs by Ray Ginger (1949) (1969) (1992) (2007)

 

** Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist by Nicholas (Nick) Salvatore (1982) (2007)

 

** Democracy’s Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War and the Right to Dissent by Ernest Freeberg (2008)

 

** Eugene V. Debs: A Graphic Biography by Paul Buhle, Steve Max & Noah van Sciver (2019)

 

# 4. Books (the American labor movement)

 

** The Pullman Strike & the Crisis of the 1890s edited by Richard Schneirov, Nicholas Salvatore and Shelton Stromquist (1999)

 

** Against Labor: How U.S. Employers Organized to Defeat Union Activism by Rosemary Feurer & Chad Pearson (2017)

 

** A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis (HC 2018) (PB 2020)

 

** The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America by Jack Kelly (Hardcover 2019)

 

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