''Prohibition'' is a 2011 American

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

directed by Ken Burns and

Lynn Novick Lynn Novick is an American director and producer of documentary films, widely known for her work with Ken Burns. Early life Novick was born in 1962, raised in New York City, and graduated from Horace Mann School in 1979. She graduated magna cum ...

with narration by Peter Coyote. The series originally aired on PBS between October 2, 2011 and October 4, 2011. It was funded in part by the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. It draws heavily from the 2010 book ''Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition'' by Daniel Okrent.

Synopsis

''Prohibition'' describes how the consumption and effect of

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol that acts Alcohol (drug), as a drug and is produced by Ethanol fermentation, fermentat ...

s in the United States were connected to many different cultural forces including

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, and the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

. Eventually the Temperance movement led to the passing of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Widespread defiance of the law, uneven and unpopular

enforcement Enforcement is the proper execution of the process of ensuring compliance with laws, regulations, rules, standards, and social norms. Governments attempt to effectuate successful implementation of policies by enforcing laws and regulations. E ...

, and violent crime associated with the illegal trade in alcohol caused increasing dissatisfaction with the amendment, eventually leading to its repeal 13 years later.

Episodes

# "A Nation of Drunkards" (1 hr 34 min) describes how immigration, alcoholism,

and the temperance movements led up to the passing of the 18th Amendment, Prohibition. # "A Nation of Scofflaws" (1 hr 50 min) addresses how the enforcement of Prohibition was inconsistent and caused unintended consequences, including making criminals of a large portion of the population. # "A Nation of Hypocrites" (1 hr 45 min) follows the gradual swing towards repeal of Prohibition as the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

focuses attention on other priorities.

Cast

Voice actors

* Adam Arkin * Philip Bosco *

Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades in ...

( Carrie Nation) * Kevin Conway * Peter Coyote (narrator) *

Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on '' Huff'' (2004–2006), and ...

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

(

George Remus George Remus (November 13, 1878 – January 20, 1952) was a German-born American lawyer who was a bootlegger during the early days of Prohibition, and later murdered his wife Imogene. Early life Remus was born in Landsberg, Germany, in 18 ...

) *

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

(

Newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

Roy Olmstead Roy Olmstead (September 18, 1886 – April 30, 1966) was one of the most successful and best-known bootleggers in the Pacific Northwest region during American Prohibition. A former lieutenant in the Seattle Police Department, he began smug ...

) * Jeremy Irons * Samuel L. Jackson *

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

( H. L. Mencken) *

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (200 ...

Amy Madigan Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film '' Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include '' Love Child'' (1982), ''Places ...

Carolyn McCormick Carolyn Inez McCormick (born September 19, 1959) is an American actress who played Dr. Elizabeth Olivet in the ''Law & Order'' franchise. Life and career McCormick was born and raised in Midland, Texas, and graduated first in her class from ...

* Oliver Platt ( Al Capone) * Campbell Scott ( F. Scott Fitzgerald) * Frances Sternhagen * Joanne Tucker * Sam Waterston (newspaper)

Interviewed consultants

*Zeke Alpern * Jonathan Eig * Noah Feldman *

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture ...

*Edwin T. Hunt Jr *Michael Lerner * William Leuchtenburg *

Martin E. Marty Martin Emil Marty (born on February 5, 1928) is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on religion in the United States. Early life and education Marty was born on February 5, 1928, in West Point, Nebraska, and raised i ...

* Catherine Gilbert Murdock * Daniel Okrent * Ruth P. Smith * John Paul Stevens *Margot Loines Wilkie *

Joshua M. Zeitz Joshua Michael Zeitz (born 1974) is an American historian. He is the author of several books on American political and social history and has written for the ''New York Times'', '' Washington Post'', ''Los Angeles Times'', '' The New Republic'', ...

Critical response

*"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."Neil Genzlinger, ''New York Times'' *"Burns has the similar gift of that rare history professor who can captivate even the most reluctant student by bringing the material to life."Hank Stuever, ''Washington Post'' *"''Prohibition'' provides a very fine analytic survey of the noble experiment."Troy Patterson, ''Slate'' *"Another piece of wonder by Ken Burns."Tim Goodman, ''Hollywood Reporter''

References

External links

PBS: ''Prohibition''Florentine Films
* {{Prohibition 2011 in American television 2010s American documentary television series 2010s American television miniseries PBS original programming Works about prohibition in the United States