| Prohibition | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Written by | Geoffrey C. Ward |
| Directed by | Ken Burns Lynn Novick |
| Narrated by | Peter Coyote |
| Composer | Wynton Marsalis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Sarah Botstein Lynn Novick Ken Burns |
| Cinematography | Buddy Squires with: Allen Moore Stephen McCarthy |
| Editors | Tricia Reidy Erik Ewers Ryan Gifford |
| Running time | 5 1/2 hours |
| Production companies | Florentine Films WETA Prohibition Film Project National Endowment for the Humanities |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | October 2 (2011-10-02) – October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04) |
Prohibition is a 2011 Americantelevision documentaryminiseries directed byKen Burns andLynn Novick with narration byPeter Coyote. The series originally aired onPBS between October 2, 2011 and October 4, 2011.[1] It was funded in part by theNational Endowment for the Humanities. It draws heavily from the 2010 bookLast Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition byDaniel Okrent.[2]
Prohibition describes how the consumption and effect ofalcoholic beverages in the United States were connected to many different cultural forces includingimmigration,women's suffrage, and theincome tax. Eventually theTemperance movement led to the passing ofProhibition, the18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Widespread defiance of the law, uneven and unpopularenforcement, and violent crime associated with the illegal trade in alcohol caused increasing dissatisfaction with the amendment, eventually leading to its repeal 13 years later.
| No. | Title [3] | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Nation of Drunkards" | October 2, 2011 (2011-10-02) | |
The episode describes how immigration, alcoholism,women's suffrage and thetemperance movements led up to the passing of the 18th Amendment, Prohibition. Runtime: 96 minutes | |||
| 2 | "A Nation of Scofflaws" | October 3, 2011 (2011-10-03) | |
This episode addresses how the enforcement of Prohibition was inconsistent and causedunintended consequences, including making criminals of a large portion of the population. Runtime: 112 minutes | |||
| 3 | "A Nation of Hypocrites" | October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04) | |
This episode follows the gradual swing towards repeal of Prohibition as theGreat Depression focuses attention on other priorities. Runtime: 106 minutes | |||
The documentary received mostly positive reviews.[4] Neil Genzlinger ofNew York Times wrote that "You can hear history talking directly to the Americans of 2011 all through 'Prohibition,' an absorbing five-and-a-half-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ... Especially now, the story of America's disastrous experiment with banning alcoholic beverages seems made for Santayana's phrase about learning from the past or being condemned to repeat it."[5] Hank Stuever ofWashington Post wrote that "Burns has the similar gift of that rare history professor who can captivate even the most reluctant student by bringing the material to life."[6] Troy Patterson ofSlate wrote that "Prohibition provides a very fine analytic survey of the noble experiment."[7]