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Hero image for The Years Back - 3, The Thirties (Episode Three)

The Years Back - 3, The Thirties (Episode Three)

Television (Full Length Episode) – 1973

Bernard Kearns looks at New Zealand life in the 1930s in this episode of the National Film Unit series on "people and events that shaped the New Zealand of today". The documentary includes a wealth of dramatic footage, from the aftermath of the 1931 Napier earthquake, the Depression (as Kearns bluntly states, “there was a lot of misery in the 30s”), and runner Jack Lovelock’s gold medal triumph at the Berlin Olympics. There’s also editorial flair as King George VI’s lavish coronation ceremony is juxtaposed with the A and P show back in New Zealand.

Petrol was 19c a gallon, so people clubbed together to share the cost.
– From the documentary

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