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Depression Comparison
Cinderella Man vs. Depression of 1933

Shawndalee Brooks

HIST: 1700: American Civilization

Professor: Ken Hansen
29 November 2015

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It never fails that in movies, stories are told differently. Knowing
what is factual vs. fiction can be hard to distinguish between the two.
In the movie Cinderella Man, Russell Crowe plays the role of Jim
Braddock, a professional boxer during the depression. Jim Braddock is
portrayed to be a manly man, who does whatever he needs to do to
provide for his family during the depression. Cinderella Man was
awarded fifteen awards and nominated for forty. Therefore, portrayed
an award winning story, but was it the complete truth, or was it all just
an over exaggeration of a time period in history? In the paragraphs
that follow I will compare fact from fiction and was the depression
really as bad as the movie portrayed it to be.
The United States has experienced several depressions
throughout history. The great depression was due to the stock marker
crash on October 27, 19291. This is when everything began, but
nothing as bad as the year of 1933. In this year unemployment had
risen from eight to fifteen million.2 This left many without jobs, that
than lead to loss of property, savings, and even the ability to feed your
family let alone yourself. During this period in history every single
person even including farmers were hit by the economic downturn.3
There were very few jobs that were available to people willing to work;
about a handful of guys everyday would be picked to work hard labor

1 (Causes of the Great Depression 2015)

2 (The Great Depression n.d.)
3 Ibid

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jobs.4 The great depression left many shocked and ashamed after not
being able to find any jobs, provide for their families, or even be able
to pay the bills. Due to the financial stresses of the depression both the
homeless and suicide rate went up during this time.

Many are probably wondering was there any possible aid to help
families out in dyer need of food and shelter? There was limited
amount of help from the government and welfare. Things such as
money relief, work relief and soup kitchens to help feed people did not
start up till about the year 1931. Even than not all families received
any relief, only about . The government only budgeted 1.5 percent in
government funds that equaled about $1. 67 a person per day maybe
even less6. Due little to no assistance this is when you started seeing
camps of poor or homeless people called, Hoovervilles. Hoovervilles
were known for a place where people who were unemployed and
evicted from their homes go to live. These camps were usually on the
outskirts of major cities.7 The people who lived in these Hoovervilles
blamed President Herbert Hoover, who was president at the time of the
depression and many believed it was all due to no help or relief from
the government. Receiving little to no aid left many with ill feelings
towards the president, creating anger and havoc. The people who
faced the hardships had no one else to blame but Herbert Hoover,
4
5
6
7

Cinderella Man (Movie)

(The Great Depression n.d.)
Ibid
(Hoovervilles n.d.)

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hence the name Hoovervilles.) Generally Hoovervilles were made up
of cardboard, tarpaper, glass, lumber and tin. People would use
whatever materials they could find, just to have shelter. What made
Hoovervilles so unique is they had their own set up. Sense most
Hoovervilles were unsanitary and unsafe many were continuously shut
down by law enforcement8. The citizens who lived within these camps
were usually hard working men who would take any job that was
offered to them, but just like the rest of the nation, everyone was in
need of work and money.
Reasons behind the Great Depression spiral off more than just the
crash of the stock market, there have been other major events that
also created the economic downfall such as bank failures, the dust
bowl and lack of credit9. Starting with the stock marker crash in the
year 1929. The Dow Jones was at a high of 381 point, in matter of a
month; it had fallen to the low of 41 points10. This alone-created panic
among everyone who his or her money was invested into the bank.
Sense so many people were scared about their money and the
possibility of losing it; millions of Americans following the crash of the
stock market rushed to their banks and withdrew all their savings. With
people taking out all of their money from the bank, thousands of banks
failed because there was not enough money to lend to people. This

8 (Hoovervilles n.d.)
9 (Causes of the Great Depression 2015)
10 Ibid

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alone created a vicious cycle that everyone could not seem to break
free from. On top of all the economic downfalls, than came the Dust
bowl. A drought was going on at the time of the depression that lasted
from 1930 to the year 1936. During this time period farmland was
severely damaged and than became useless, due to no crops or edible
food. Farmers were than added to unemployed population. So as you
can see, times were only getting rougher and almost seemed as if their
was no end in site.
During this time people had to find cheap ways to entertain
themselves and their families. Usual activities families would
participate in is go to rodeos, play cards, school programs, as well as
movies, music and dancing11. The radio was a huge thing at the time
and it was used to connect less fortunate people to world. Such as
news, sports as well as a variety of music. Typical sports played during
the depression were football, baseball and boxing. Due to the
economic downturn, boxing became less and less of a thing. Boxers
were offered lower purses and would not want to fight for that little of
pay. Although boxing became less and less, America still loved tuning
into the radio to hear the matches. How boxing benefited the economy
was that people during the great depression would save up every little
dime they had just to pay and watch a good fight12. This was a way
people kept their spirits up and spent there down time, it also gave
11 (Reinhardt, Ganzel and Ganzel Group 2003)
12 Cinderella Man (movie)

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them something to look forward to. So the question is, does the movie
Cinderella Man present real life events? Or was it just an over
exaggeration of the depression?
The movie Cinderella man did a tremendous job portraying the great
depression. The movie in my opinion is amazing and worth seeing if
you have not already. Over the years I think I have only watched this
movie about three times total. Every time I watch it again I pick up on
things that I may have not noticed or looked for before. I re-watched
this movie about a week ago, and decided to look beyond more than
just the story line, but things that played a part within the movie and
what it portrayed the depression as. Keep in mind; this movie was
centered on the story of Jim Braddock and his struggles through the
depression, among others and what life was like for other people as
well during these hard times.
What I thought was interesting was the beginning of this movie.
It started off showing how glamorous his life was, he had everything he
could possibly need. It seemed as if he lived upper to middle class. He
also had a wife by the name of Mae along with his three kids Jay,
Howard and Rosemarie. He was a heavy weight-boxing champ who
seemed to be very successful throughout the great depression.
Although the whole movie was based off of Jim Braddock and his
career, his wife played a huge role in the movie as well in real life. She
was the underlying reason along with their family for Jim Braddock to

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keep going in his boxing career. The movie did a great job of
transitioning the story line from their family having it all, to when the
Depression started. About five years later, their entire life had changed
for the worse. Just like many peoples lives, they lost everything. They
went from having it all, to living in a small dark basement apartment,
with little to no food or heating or lighting. This was a normal scenario
for families during the great depression. There was even a mass
majority of them who didnt even have a home, which than lead to
Hoovervilles for the homeless. Most families could not afford to help
or provide anymore for families, so that is when the banks played a big
role. Majority of people at the time had to use what was called, Public
Relief Money, that was borrowed from the bank. Today this would be
considered our current welfare system. During these times jobs were
scarce, so only so many jobs were offered everyday. Jim Braddock was
put into this situation after a fight against Tommy Loughran, when Jim
broke his right hand (his punching hand.) This is the fight that made
him lose, as well as lose his boxing license. This is what forced Jim
Braddock to now be one of the men who fight for a job at the docks. In
reality, this was an everyday struggle for men to find work, and even if
they did get picked, the pay was small.
In the movie, you could see the every day struggle for families.
There was a particular scene in the movie that shows Jim Braddock
having to go to the bank just to get some relief money to turn his

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power back on at his house, just so he could keep his family. The
emotion that was felt in this scene was incredibly sad. Jim along with
other men in the depression had to take their pride and put it to the
side, and except the fact that you need help. This was a big challenge
during this time period, resources were scarce, and yes during this
time just about everyone was depressed. There were a few things that
families would do to help be entertained as well as keep positive,
things such as listen to the radio, kids would play outside with other
kids that were around, and watching or playing sports. Both the radio
and sports were very important during this time period. The radio was
used for less fortunate people to be able to stay in tuned with things
going on, as well as listening to live sports. Throughout this whole
movie, the use of the radio was crucial in Jim Braddocks story. This is
what his family as long as supporters would tune into to listen to live
boxing matches. Radios became very useful for entertainment,
because it provided some sort of access to people who could not afford
to go to the matches. Some people would save every last penny that
had just to be able to attend a boxing match.
While Jim Braddocks career took a couple hits itself, so did his
family. In the movie Mae moves the kids to her sisters house, so they
could be provided with warmth and essentials. This was an extremely
hard time in Jims life, feeling of failure that he could not provide his
family with what they needed. Everyone felt this, the economy was so

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bad, and people were desperate for help just to be able to survive. In
the movie Cinderella Man, Jim continues to not only work at the docks
with a broken hand, he continues to train and fight with it. Jim
Braddock really did go through a couple rough patches in his boxing
career and lost sixteen out of the twenty-two fights he had while
having a broken shattered hand13. As you can see, people became
desperate to be able to bring home anything to be able to provide.
Theyre just to happen to be a turn in luck In Jim Braddocks case, he
finally won a fight that put him back in the ring for good.
There was another interesting concept that I was not aware of at the
time, until this last time I viewed this movie. There was a certain
scene in the movie where little Rosemarie Braddock is walking with
Mae, and she says to her mom, I wish I could go to school. I was not
aware that at the time women were not allowed to get an education. I
was not sure why, if it was not established yet for women to get an
education or if It was due to the financial burden it was. I found that it
was education was very limited due to expense. More and more kids
were taken out of school due to not having the right school supplies,
being undernourished etc14. All of these things played huge roles what
society was like during this time period. It was shameful of the parents
to show that they could not provide for their families, so more and
more women stayed at home with the children. Sense the men were
13 (findingDulcinea 2011)
14 (Ware n.d.)

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seen as bread winners, and women misfits for the jobs out there, many
married women as well as single moms were out of luck with no way to
be able to provide for their kids, let alone themselves.15 These were
everyday problems both men and women had to face. It was a fight
over resources yet again, as well as a split in gender roles.
As you can see, this was just how life was at the time, and there was
nothing people could do about it. Jim Braddock played the role of the
bread winner in the family, his wife Mae was a stay at home mom
whos job was to take care of the kids as well as teach them to their
best abilities. What happens next to the Braddock family is very
fortunate, but not everyone was able to have such success during the
great depression. In the movie, Jim Braddock has multiple fights; but it
did not show all of his fights throughout his career just the ones that
made the biggest impact. Another fight that leads to the success of Jim
Braddock was the last major one presented in the film, Max Baer vs.
Jim Braddock. This fight was about the only major fight in the movie
that was misrepresented. In the movie, Jim Braddock Is set to fight Max
Baer on June 13, 1935 at Madison Square Garden. This would be one of
Jim Braddocks biggest fights, and is the fight that will change his life.
The movie portrays Mae (his wife), to be extremely worried about his
boxing career. With the match against Max Baer being to dangerous,
she highly discourages him to fight. In the movie they said that Max

15 (Ware n.d.)

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Baer was ruthless killer in the ring, with killing two other opponents in
the ring. This was not entirely true; Max Baer was an extremely good
boxer with an amazingly hard right hand punch that could knock
people out. Max Baer actually only killed one man in the ring, and that
man was Frankie Campbell.16 Despite what people said about Max Baer
and that his killing was intentional, it was not. Max even helped raise
money to help out the family in which he had hurt.17 Another part of
the story that people may not know about is that Jim Braddocks wife
really did support her husbands boxing. In the movie it shows that she
was very nave about his boxing career, and for good reason. She did
not want to be a single mom of three kids, which was common during
the Great Depression. Things that were true about Mae Braddock is
that she was supportive and very caring for her husbands and his
choices, but also only watched one boxing match, due to it being to
hard for her to see anymore.18
The last few things I thought were actually really cool that were true in
the film Cinderella Man, as well as historically in the Great Depression,
was that people really did look forward to sports events, but the fight
Max Baer vs. Jim Braddock was incredible and enticing so everyone
wanted to go. Even the homeless and people who literally had nothing
saved every penny that had just to attend this match.19 I cannot
16
17
18
19

(Max Baer n.d.)

Ibid.
(Cinderella Man 2014)
Cinderella Man (movie)

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believe that such an event could be so important to people. Another
incredible thing about this period of time as well as Jim Braddock, is
when he borrowed relief money from the bank, he really did go pay
back that money20. He had borrowed about $300 to keep his electricity
on, feed his family, etc. I thought this was so amazing and it also
inspired people and also gave him the title of a hero, as well as
Cinderella Man. Jim Braddock really was an inspiration of the Great
Depression, he gave people hope by showing to never give up, and it is
possible to rise up from nothing to something. For instance, not only
was Jim Braddock an heavy weight boxing champ, he served in World
War II as well as owned and operated equipment on the docks in which
he worked on during the great depression, helped build the Verranzo
Bridge as well as being a great husband and father.

21

Both the great

depression and Jim Braddock will forever be remembered for both the
achievements made during this time, as well as the impact both of
them had. On an endnote, dont always believe everything you see in
a movie, do your research!

20 (Cinderella Man 2014)

21 Cinderella Man (movie)

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Works Cited
Causes of the Great Depression. 2015. (accessed December 5, 2015).
Cinderella Man. April 4, 2014. truesportmovies.com (accessed
December 5, 2015).
Cinderella Man- A Secondary Source. www.umwblogs.org (accessed
December 5, 2015).
Hoovervilles. www.history.com (accessed December 5, 2015).
Mcmahon, Kathy. The Invisible Women of the Great Depression .
January 14, 2009. www.peakoilblues.org (accessed December 5, 2015).
Reinhardt, Clauida, Bill Ganzel, and Ganzel Group. Having Fun During
the Great Depression. 2003. www.livinghistoryfarm.org (accessed
December 5, 2015).
San Jose State University Department of Economics. The Great
Depression of the 1930's and Its Orgins. www.sjsu.edu (accessed
December 5, 2015).
Story Notes for Cinderella Man. 2011. www.amc.com (accessed
December 5, 2015).
The Great Depression. www.gwu.edu.
The Great Depression. www.gwu.edu (accessed December 5, 2015).
the Man. www.jamesjbraddock.com (accessed December 5, 2015).
Ware, Susan. Women and the Great Depression .
www.gilderlehrman.org (accessed December 5, 2015).
Willis, George. Champion of the People-Even After "Cinderella Man"
James Braddock Made History. May 2009, 2005. nypost.com (accessed
December 5, 2015).
Zammit, Alexander. Boxing in the 1930's Era. July 30, 2010.
maltaboxing.net (accessed December 5, 2015).

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