Very disappointed :(

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Much has be written about the use of propaganda by Nazi Germany to control and misinform its citizenry. Inflation is an American short that falls into the same category.Released in 1942, Inflation does not offer rational reasons for recommending certain behavior; it attempts to play on the emotions of the viewer. FDR outlines the unprecedented steps the government is about to take during the early months of WWII to control the U.S. economy. By 1942, the public had become accustomed to his far-reaching and federally-centric approach to public policy while fighting The Depression. The film suggests that another depression is down the road if Americans don't follow his advice.Consistent with other wartime releases, Inflation implies in a very heavy-handed way that anyone who does not comply with Washington's edicts is unpatriotic and, in fact, traitorous. Don't even think about questioning the government's approach. Inflation tells the viewer not to complain.Why? Because if you complain or act contrary to the public message, you might as well consider yourself a killer of American soldiers. Worse, you are in league with the devil. That's right, in this fable with a moral, the primary character is none other than El Diablo himself. And he converses daily with Hitler, of course. Together they plot the downfall of America. Their solution is to convince American citizens to ignore the pleas from Washington, which will cause that most dreaded of all calamaties--Inflation!The acting is intentionally over the top, except for Esther Williams who (in her first film role) plays the wife of a spendthrift jerk who, for some reason, feels compelled to buy! buy! buy! The music is appropriate, providing the ominous strains of violins when The Devil speaks.Looking back at this short film through the intervening years of history (after all the public exposures of government mismanagement and corruption)is interesting. Of course people today still fall victim to empty government promises and its foolish propaganda, especially during war or conflict (remember Freedom Fries? how about the way Mohammad Ali was condemned for following his conscience?) FDR starts with a short and accurate view of wartime realities: military buying produces scarcity in supplies which increases prices. His prescriptions for these economic consequences are sweeping and pervasive (price fixing, taxation, rationing, etc.). Too bad they couldn't rely upon reasoning to convince people. By tweaking the heartstrings of patriotism and invoking a diabolic metaphor, they sell U.S. citizens short. And they do it very well.

I'm not usually up at 05:30 but this morning [27aug2011] I am and "Inflation" came on. Took me a while to find where it is documented but once I began looking I wasn't ready to give up. Due to the star and subject matter I was sure that someone would have entered something and, sure enough, I finally found it. I started opening titles in the filmography but it just wasn't there. I was about to give up when I read the biography. Its not high art by any means but Edward Arnold is a favorite actor of mine and I'm so glad I had the chance to see this short. I thoroughly enjoyed it, a very well done short on a very timely subject. No spoilers, just a recommendation.

Does anyone know if "Inflation" is available as a DVD supplement? I watched this short anti-Nazi propaganda newsreel piece at the 1940s movie music movie group I attend several years ago, and thought the idea of the devil encouraging people to make goods and thus raise the inflation level of the USA quite ingenious. I believe the music was quite interesting used within it, and it was quite novel to see how greedy people were after the devil encouraged them through his own style of propaganda to buy to excess with his cunning plan to send the world into Depression and obtain enjoyment out of people's misfortune and personal misery. From memory the cinematography of this piece was quite interesting coupled with the devil's overacting entrenched this piece in my brain, even though it is really quite minor when you consider it in the aspect of short newsreel history. It is my belief that people remember the comic overacting devil, and this is why "Inflation" has found a warm place in most people's minds from the older generation. I am 35, so younger people might have also found this interesting short newsreel as well. I give this 7/10 for the novelty factor although it's possibly only worth a 5-6/10 at most for it's overall content.

Early, heavy, war-time propaganda short urging people to be careful with their spending practices, in effort to prevent any runaway inflation.Using scare, guilt and patriotic jingoistic rhetoric, which was normal for the time, the government was concern that the sudden war-time production and therefore wage increase and subsequent spending practices if not checked could cause serious problems during and after the war.It truly is a window into the past, historically and culturally.