This is a Ken Burns PBS documentary on Prohibition. I usually review books but I finished watching this over the weekend and it was great. I knew a little about Prohibition but learned a great deal from this documentary.
The pro-income tax people were in cahoots with the Prohibition supporters for one thing. That just goes to show that politics really does make strange bedfellows. This film also details the fascinating story of George Remus, among many others. Remus was a Chicago lawyer turned Ohio bootlegger who had it all figured out, until he didn't anymore. It worth watching just for that story but there is so much more information packed into it. Burns does a great job in telling the story of Prohibition from many perspectives, not just the cops and robbers that we always hear about, but also from the regular people down the street.
If you like this, check out Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent. I don't know if the film was based on the book but Okrent is listed as Senior Creative Consultant in the credits on pbs.org.
Also at PBS.org there is a great section where people can share their own stories about Prohibition.
Also Burns has made many other fine documentaries. Most people know him from his The Civil War and Baseball. I can personally attest that his documentaries on Mark Twain and Jack Johnson are both very well done.
As always feel free to drop me a line at jeffsemonis at yahoo.com or on twitter @jeffsbookcase.
No comments:
Post a Comment