Prohibition 

The story of the American activist struggle against the influence of alcohol, climaxing in the failed early 20th century nationwide era when it was banned.

Stars:

Peter Coyote, Pete Hamill, Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Peter Coyote	...	Self - Narrator 3 episodes, 2011
Pete Hamill	...	Self - Writer 3 episodes, 2011
Catherine Gilbert Murdock	...	Self - Historian 3 episodes, 2011
Michael Lerner	...	Self - Historian 3 episodes, 2011
Daniel Okrent	...	Self - Writer 3 episodes, 2011
Noah Feldman	...	Self - Legal Scholar 3 episodes, 2011
Jack Roche	...	Self - Resident of Chicago 3 episodes, 2011
William Leuchtenburg	...	Self - Historian 3 episodes, 2011
Patricia Clarkson	...	Reader / ... 3 episodes, 2011
John Lithgow	...	Reader / ... 3 episodes, 2011
Campbell Scott	...	Reader 3 episodes, 2011
Sam Waterston	...	Reader 3 episodes, 2011
John Paul Stevens	...	Self - Resident of Chicago 2 episodes, 2011
Jonathan Eig	...	Self - Writer 2 episodes, 2011
Margot Loines Wilkie	...	Self - Resident of Massachusetts 2 episodes, 2011
Martin Marty	...	Self - Theologian 2 episodes, 2011
Jack Clarke	...	Self - Resident of Chicago 2 episodes, 2011
Ruth Proskauer Smith	...	Self - Resident of New York 2 episodes, 2011
Edwin T. Hunt Jr.	...	Self - Resident of Seattle / ... 2 episodes, 2011
Joshua Zeitz	...	Self - Historian 2 episodes, 2011
Philip Bosco	...	Reader 2 episodes, 2011
Kevin Conway	...	Reader 2 episodes, 2011
Tom Hanks	...	Reader 2 episodes, 2011
Josh Lucas	...	Reader 2 episodes, 2011

Storyline

Throughout American history, heavy alcohol consumption has been a pervasive part of its national social character. However in the 1800s, a growing Temperance movement arose determined to oppose the destructive habit by any means necessary. This series tells the story of this crusade until it achieved its ultimate goal of passing the 18th Amendment of the US Constitution which imposed prohibition. After that victory, the series covers this social reform's disastrous unintended consequences that encouraged clandestine drinking and organized crime while undermining civil liberties and society's respect for the law in ways that still reverberate today.

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Plot Keywords:

alcohol | unintended consequences | organized crime | drinking | civil liberties | 

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Taglines:

How did a nation founded on rights ever go so wrong?

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prohibition

Company Credits

Production Co:

Florentine Films, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), WETA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

360 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Lithgow and Amy Madigan, readers in this film, both appeared in the nuclear holocaust movie the Day After 1983.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #28.10 (2011)

User Reviews

Very Interesting, as expected

I watched this several years after it had been first aired at my local library. It was a nice situation to see it in. Some of the library patrons who were also attending had relatives and such who were involved in the "industry" during the featured years.

The librarian had to make sure that we were sickened, or at least spooked by pointing out that all of the photographs of dead people were of real dead people and not staged.

Some of the prohibition people were just simply nuts.

Nothing makes crime like the de-legalization of something that most people can handle or will handle anyways.