Since the beginning, Hollywood has produced films depicting the hardships and tragedies of working people. These films were generally successful because they told a universal story: the human experience. The films were not always perfect and pretty; they were often depressing and painful. The effective films were searing in their depiction of working people who felt they were ignored, shoved aside, or simply not respected as human beings.

And so, on this Labor Day Weekend, let us reflect on all this. A great way, of course, is to stream one (or maybe all) of the films I’m recommending:

Well, looking for something more cheerful? Try streaming these two:

Coming Soon, Can’t Wait

Witty and Wise Quotes About Labor

It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)…The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one (Oscar Wilde)…The only thing that sat its way to success was a hen (Sarah Brown)…The problem with doing nothing is that you never know when you’re finished (Groucho Marx)…People are still willing to do an honest day’s work. The problem is they want a week’s pay for it (Joey Adams)…My boss told me to start every presentation with a joke. The first slide was my paycheck (Anonymous)…I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need if I die before four o’clock (Henny Youngman)…Where people are not having fun they seldom produce good work (David Ogilvy)…By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be the boss and work twelve hours a day (Robert Frost)…Behind every successful man is a woman and behind  her is his wife (Groucho Marx).