The 2010 documentary When the World Breaks is a compelling look at the Great Depression of the 1930s and its impact on the lives of various Americans. It makes great use of archival pictures and footage and includes many interesting interviews.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tells of using imagination and creativity to pretend his bicycle was an airplane. Actor Mickey Rooney recounts a perilous journey across the country to the promised land of California. Television personality Art Linkletter recalls traveling around the country in his teens.

Author Ray Bradbury relates how he was influenced by the 1936 film Things to Come and vowed to make the future. He tells of how at the age of 19 he traveled to the 1939 World’s Fair and on the way bought a copy of The Grapes of Wrath which he read while transversing Route 66. Steinbeck’s immortal work influenced Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.

Actor James Karen certainly has the most memorable story of the bunch. It involves an evil mortgage holder who threw the family and their possessions onto the street when James was a child. Years later when he returned from fighting in World War II he exacted a fitting revenge.

Overall I would recommend this for all ages. It was made when people were alive who still remembered the Depression and can be very enlightening for those who don’t.