These Thirty Years

• Watchlist

At the turn-of-the-century, Dave Haines, the son of a farmer, becomes infatuated with Henry T. Ford's "horseless carriage" and, filled with ambition, goes to Detroit to acquire a permit to sell the new contraption. Dave convinces his skeptical small town neighbors about the promising future of the automobile, and together they open the first car dealership in the area. Many years later, Dave, whose dealership has grown and prospered with the times, has to go abroad for health reasons. Before leaving, he entrusts his son Robert to watch over his interest in the dealership, but Robert, filled with disdain for the car business, invests all of his father's money, including the mortgage on the family farm, playing the stock market. When the stock market crashes in 1929, Robert, who is in love with Mae Lercombe, a banker's daughter, discovers that he has lost everything. Fortunately, Jed Travers, his father's longtime partner, learns of Robert's plight and helps him to recoup his losses and save the dealership and the farm. In the end, Robert, having learned that happiness comes only from hard work and sacrifice, returns to his father and the car business.