8.0107 minSeason 1 • Episode 3
LatestThe factors that led to the end of Prohibition. The criminalizing of alcohol feeds large profits into the coffers of criminal organizations and turns such gangsters as Al Capone into celebrities. Wealthy Pauline Sabin encourages the repeal of the 18th Amendment; and brings together women from all classes who support her position. The 21st Amendment, which repeals the 18th, is adopted after Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 election and by late 1933 people can again legally buy drinks.
The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.
Direction
Ken Burns' signature pan-and-zoom hypnotism.
Writing
Narration that makes constitutional amendments spicy.
Editing
Archival footage assembled like a heist montage.
Creators
Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
Peter Coyote
Self - Narrator (voice)
Daniel Okrent
Self - Author
Pete Hamill
Self - Historian
Noah Feldman
Self - Legal Scholar
Adam Arkin
Reader (voice)
Philip Bosco
Reader (voice)
Patricia Clarkson
Reader / Carrie Nation (voice)
Kevin Conway
Reader (voice)
Blythe Danner
Reader (voice)
Paul Giamatti
Reader / George Remus (voice)
Tom Hanks
Reader / Roy Olmstead (voice)
Jeremy Irons
Reader (voice)
Samuel L. Jackson
Reader (voice)
John Lithgow
Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
Josh Lucas
Reader (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'noble experiment' directly created the modern American car culture—Detroit built cars, Chicago gangs modified them for smuggling.
Ken Burns spent $15 million on this series, making it one of PBS's most expensive documentaries ever—and yes, that includes the booze budget for research.
US
