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Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website “The Supreme Court” (1949) is a black-and-white educational short film made under the auspices of the March of Time. Through a montage of archival footage of Supreme Court justices, President Roosevelt, and congressional meetings in combinations with shots of the architectural details of the United States Supreme Court Building and Capitol building, the film sheds light on the history of the US Supreme Court. Specifically, the film takes a look at how the Supreme Court both challenged FDR’s New Deal legislation and was challenged as FDR attempted to alter the structure of the court system. Opening credits (0:08). Film title overlaid shot of the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC (0:30). Close-up James Earle Fraser's statue The Contemplation of Justice on the west side of the United States Supreme Court building (0:36). Close-up West Pediment by sculptor Robert I. Aitken located above the front entrance of the Supreme Court Building - 9 pediment figures each have allegorical meanings (0:39). Close-up of other Fraser statue of male titled Authority of Law (0:41). Interior architectural details: spiral staircase, doric columns, brass doors and decorative fixtures (0:54). Visitor traffic in the Great Hall (1:05). The courtroom, close-up Justices’ Bench (1:18). Details of Adolph Weinman’s East Wall Frieze above Justices’ Bench, one of four sculpted marble panels along courtroom walls (1:25). Entrance and interior Law Library of Congress (1:33). Cover “The Life of John Marshall” by Albert J. Beveridge (1:44). Close-up marble frieze of Lady Justice holding Scales of Justice (1:59). Cover “Roger B. Taney” by Carl Brent Swisher - Taney known for using judicial review to invalidate Missouri Compromise in Dred Scott Decision (2:02). Perhaps members of the Taft Court 1923 line up for photo outside Supreme Court: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Joseph McKenna, George Sutherland etc. (2:15). View of Capitol Dome framed by trees (2:26). Montage clips of Holmes Jr. considered “first of the modern liberals of the court” (2:30). Justice Louis D. Brandeis on stroll with wife (2:49). Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo exiting building and getting into 1930s era automobile (2:53). Harlan Fiske Stone at work in office, surrounded by walls of bound books (3:02). The Great Depression: men in newsie caps, overalls gather in groups smoking cigarettes waiting for employment opportunities in warehouse yards (3:20). The Dust Bowl: thick layers of dust cover abandoned homes, farm equipment, man packs up belongings and family onto wagon and head for big city (3:39). Exterior United States Capitol Building (4:13). Steps of US Capitol Building featuring Horatio Greenough’s marble sculptures “Discovery” and “Rescue” (4:18). Clerk South Trimble of the House of Representatives calls the House to order during session of Congress on Mar. 10, 1933; discuss Roosevelt’s New Deal (4:22). Makeshift poster advertising the National Recovery Administration (NRA) with blue eagle logo and words “NRA MEMBER / U.S ./ WE DO OUR PART” (4:38). U.S. industries recovering: scenes of smoke stacks, interiors of factories melting steel, men line up to receive pay stubs (4:46). AAA (The Agricultural Adjustment Act): farmers use machinery to harvest grain, corn in fields (4:58). Constitutionality of New Deal questioned - diagram of how legislation was challenge by federal district courts before case brought to Supreme Court (5:13). Holmes Jr. walks on sidewalk with cane in derby/bowler hat, duster jacket, suit (5:28). Front page of various newspapers (New York Times, New York Herald Tribune) with headlines about Supreme Court decisions (5:47). Exterior of White House and Andrew Jackson equestrian statue in Lafayette Park (6:15). Franklin D. Roosevelt “Fireside Chat“ on the Plan for Reorganization of the Judiciary March 09, 1937 (6:21). Clips of congressional meetings discussing FDR’s proposed plan for reorganizing the court system (6:51). New justices: Hugo Black, Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Robert H. Jackson, Harold Burton, Fred M. Vinson, Thomas C. Clark, Sherman Minton (7:30). Closing words and credits (8:09). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
