Give a Man a Job

Give a Man a Job
Starring	Jimmy Durante Frank O'Connor Moe Howard
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	1933 (1933)
Running time	2 minutes 45 seconds
Country	United States
Language	English

Give a Man a Job (also known as National Recovery Act) is a 1933 American short film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in conjunction with the National Recovery Administration. ^{[1] [2]} The film encourages people to offer jobs to the unemployed in the midst of the Great Depression.

Synopsis

The film features Jimmy Durante fronting a meeting, explaining to the audience through a comic song "Give a Man a Job" how they could generate employment. Upon learning that a banker drives his own car, Durante suggests that he "hire a chauffeur / And keep a good man from becoming a loafer." He also has an exchange with an exterminator, suggesting that NRA stands for "No Rats Allowed." The film closes with an image of President Franklin Roosevelt and the words "If the old name of Roosevelt / Makes your old heart throb / Then take this message, straight from the President / And give a man a job!"

Song

The song "Give a Man a Job" was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. ^[3]

Cast

• Jimmy Durante as himself (uncredited)
• Frank O'Connor as the banker (uncredited)
• Moe Howard as the exterminator (uncredited)

References

1. "Motion Pictures: Pictures Hang Up Big Record in NRA Extensive Screen Campaign". Billboard . 45 (39): 40. September 30, 1933 – via ProQuest.
2. "Give a Man a Job (1933)". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
3. "Jimmy Durante papers, circa 1920s-circa 1990: Give a Man a Job, (1933 August 21)". University of California UCLA, Library Special Collections, Performing Arts. Retrieved November 30, 2025.

External links

• Give a Man a Job at IMDb
• View Give a Man a Job at the Prelinger Archives