KEN BURNS: PROHIBITION [BLU-RAY]

Details

• Release Year: 2011
• Genre: Documentary
• Plot: Prohibition, a three-part documentary series, is the fascinating story of American idealism, folly, and above all, unintended consequences. In 1920, after a century of debate, the country bans the manufacture and sale of alcohol, and a society founded on individual freedom becomes a nation of scofflaws - and hypocrites. Here are the stories of small-time whiskey-jobbers, big-time bootleggers, and brutal gangsters; flappers dancing the Charleston in elegent speakeasies; and immigrent families stomping grapes in their backyards, as millions of law-abiding citizens become lawbreakers overnight. But beyond the cocktails, this is also a darker tale of fear-mongering, smear campaigns, intolerence and polarization that raises profound questions about the proper role of government, individual rights and responsibilities, and who is and who is not a real American.; ; By the early 1930's, few can deny that Prohibition is a disaster, and with the country in the throes of the Great Depression, Americans come to their senses and repeal the 18th Admendment, bringing the 'Noble Experiment' to an end after 13 years.
• Cast: Adam Arkin, Philip Bosco, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Conway, Peter Coyote, Blythe Danner, Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, John Lithgow, Josh Lucas, Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick, Oliver Platt, Campbell Scott, Frances Sternhagen, Joanne Tucker, Sam Waterston, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, Geoffrey C. Ward
• Director: Ken Burns
• Runtime: 6:00
• Company: PBS Home Video
• Media Format: Series