Eleanor Roosevelt (PBS/American Experience)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Documentary: B+
PBS Home Video has issued the 150 minutes-long American
Experience installment on Eleanor Roosevelt to DVD to go with the
DVD on Franklin Roosevelt being issued at the same time. Sold separately, this is an impressive show
all on its own, starting with her birth, awkward childhood which was lonely,
even when money came into it. She went
on to become one of the most important figures of 20th Century life,
one of the all-time great Americans and one of the most important, innovative
and groundbreaking women in history.
Narrated by Alfie Woodard, it manages to tell her story
from beginning to end, something that is more valuable than ever considering how
the current media is purposely ignoring her achievements and how some darker
powers that be are trying to dismantle everything her husband achieved, the
great four-time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Eleanor struggled with pain and loneliness all her life and when
she got sick and tired of her struggles and the dark side of the human
condition (especially for women) began to meet the right kind of supportive
people and redefined almost everything she became involved with.
When women getting the vote in 1920 was thought by some to
be the end of women’s struggles, she knew better and fought for more and the
fulfillment of its promises. She was
involved with anything she believed in, whether husband Franklin was in
political power or not. When he became
president, she redefined the role of First Lady that so upset conservatives and
misogynists that they are still complaining three-quarters of a century
later. She battled for social justice
and against terrorism, foreign and domestic.
She helped Franklin in the ideological part of his battle against the
original Axis Of Evil and championed The United States and the best it could be
against communism and socialism. After
his passing, she became the driving force that made The United Nations possible
and may have saved the world from Soviet domination as much as any American in
the process.
At the time this program was made, political changes
turned out to be underway that would see new politicians trying to trash this
legacy and offer a revised version of The United States that does not exist,
never existed and should never exist.
The country was the big driving force of the free world in the 20th
Century because of people like Eleanor, who took risks and would not back down
from anyone, any organization or anything else because she knew she was doing
the right thing. She was not always
right and sometimes, her plans and hopes did not work out. However, much more did work out than not and
she represents the real America that needs a comeback more than ever before,
especially in such dark hours as the country now faces. This Eleanor Roosevelt program is
strongly recommended, especially if you know little about her except brief
revisionist write-offs of her. The way
a free country stays free is to know its real history, after all.
The 1.33 X 1 image is from 2000 and looks good for its
age, composed of new interviews, hundreds of vital stills and a diverse share
of film footage. That includes silent
footage shot at a lower frame rate.
Much of this is in black and white, but it looks good for the most
part. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has
no surround information, but is nicely recorded, clean and clear. There are no extras, though the obligatory
weblink is included.
- Nicholas Sheffo
