On The Road With Charles Kuralt - Set 1 (Acorn Media DVD)
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: B
Episodes: A+
In a time of tumult and acrimony, Charles Kuralt brought what was still great
about America
into people's homes, reminding people that the country had not completely lost
its way. The late 1960's and early
1970's marked a time of political and social strife in America, but Charles Kuralt's On the Road chose to tell stories of small-town America.
They were positive stories about the
sort of people, characters really, you might meet at the local diner, or your
church, or anywhere the limelight wasn't.
The episodes in this set present the stories of men and women who help others,
and watching them can't help but make you feel good about being human. Kuralt himself masterfully interviews these
folksy souls, sometimes coaxing out of them their reasons for their good deeds,
and in other instances revealing a bit of small-town quaintness that makes them
all the more endearing. The piece on the
Golden Gate Bridge workers reveals a ready courage
in the men who dared so much to build what some called impossible, but also
shows the fear and desperation of the Depression-era economic times the
structure was built under. Those who
made the bridge had to be courageous; if their nerve failed hundreds stood
ready to take their place. Perhaps less
grandiose was the piece on the 80-year-old cook who made free and low-cost
meals for anyone in need. Kuralt's
gently probing questions reveal a woman who takes tremendous joy in helping
others, and asks nothing in return.
Eighteen warm-hearted, quirky episodes grace this boxed set, each one filled
with the kind of characters who might have stepped right out of a Norman
Rockwell painting, their stories made all the more touching because they are
real. Although the picture and sound
clarity both lack the chops of a top-flight production, the quality of this
wonderful show still shines through. Extras include a biography of Kuralt, updates
on some of the stories covered by the show, and a special feature entitled
"About On the Road."
Whether he's exploring old trains, road-side retreats, or the story of a humble
old man who supplies bicycles to needy kids, Kuralt approaches his interviews,
and each story, with the same care and concern. He was the poet-laureate of itinerant
journalists, a complex man whose own personal demons never got in the way of
telling the wonderful stories he and his crew encountered while On the Road.
- Scott Pyle
