1 comments about Biography - P.T. Barnum.

1. I love A&E's story about this figure in history. P.T. Barnum knew how to draw a crowd, and he said it best, "A sucker is born every minute!"- Diamond Jim Tyler

2 comments about Biography - John Steinbeck: An American Writer.

1. I've never read any of the author's work. Still, I found this informative. Honestly, his life wasn't as interesting as the ones lead by Hemingway or Faulkner. I imagine that this documentary would be great viewing for a high school English course or introductory English course at the college level.
   Like Robert Redford, Steinbeck grew up around many Mexican Americans and included them in his work. Southern gothics and imminent Bostonians to the side, Steinbeck was a West Coaster, like Gertrude Stein. Instead of having cheesy reenactments, this documentary often used Californian landscapes as a backdrop. Like most of the Biography series, the interviewees consisted of men and women, biographers and descendants.
   This work said that his detractors called him a Communist. Many artists in the mid-20th Century faced this accusation. They either were falsely accused or were punished for past membership in the Party. Here, this work never answers whether Steinbeck was a Communist. Yes, maybe he wasn't fazed by such an allegation. However, the Biography series often waters down its subject's leftism and I wonder if they purposely omitted this information in order to make apolitical or conservative viewers comfortable.



2. While the editing and filler video are aesthetically suitable, the content remains superficial. As one of the other reviewers pointed out, the narrator tells us Steinbeck was accused of being a Communist, but fails to answer whether he was or not. Did he think society's problems could be adddressed by more government? Where has that EVER worked successfully? The answer is nowhere. So if that was Steinbeck's solution to the problem of unfairness and poverty, it was an unworkable one and consequently he wasn't as perceptive as the elite assume.
   
   It's rather fascinating that the power structure fawns over bleeding hearts who are looking out for the underdog, while they're the very ones in the power positions. I was just left with too many unanswered questions from this superficial treatment of this writer.

1 comments about Biography - Mickey Rooney.

1. This A&E Biography of the life and times of the reknowned and superb movie actor/comedian Mickey Rooney Rules!!Mickey,You will always be in our hearts forever!!

1 comments about Biography - Theodore Roosevelt: Roughrider to Rushmore.

1. IN A NUTSHELL: A 50 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY THAT HITS THE SALIENT POINTS
   
   This is a good video to watch if you don't feel up to the 4 hour 'AMERICAN EXPERIENCE - TEDDY ROOSEVELT' PBS HOME VIDEO. In fairness to 'Theodore Roosevelt: Roughrider to Rushmore', A&E has packed quite alot of history into 50 minutes. The following topics are touched on;
   
   - THE ROUGH RIDERS
   - THE PANAMA CANAL
   - THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT
   - TR's 'TRUST-BUSTING' LITIGATIONS AGAINST BIG BUSINESS, including J.P. MORGAN
   - NY STATE ASSEMBLY - POLICE COMMISSIONER - GOVERNOR - VP - PRESIDENT, & MORE
   
   It is probably impossible to find out more about T.R. in 50 minutes than through this excellent and historically accurate video. Nevertheless, I would still recommend viewing the 'AMERICAN EXPERIENCE - TEDDY ROOSEVELT' PBS HOME VIDEO, if you want to see more about his early years and family/personal life.
   
   BOTTOM LINE: THE FLAVOR OF T.R. CLEARLY COMES ACROSS
   
   This film imparts one with the sense that T.R. was much more than a carricature. A very decent man, T.R. may have been the first President to actively attempt social reform and universal fairness in a big way and paved the way for others to follow and go further.

5 comments about Rise & Fall of Adolf Hitler (6pc).

1. This video takes a hard look at the charismatic persona of Adolf Hitler, and seeks to explain the oft repeated question of how the German people could be swindled by such a madman. The script writers are careful not to blame all the German people for succumbing to Nazism, but also point out that many did buy into the myth that Hitler created of himself. The video might also be helpful to such young impressionable minds, such as those at Columbine, that still find Hitler appealing due to his power of mass persuasion and destruction. The video poignantly highlights the fact that Hitler ultimately cared nothing for the German people either, that he was a man driven by a demonic ego that found it equally just to have them annihilated at the end of the war,for having failed to fulfill his personal dreams,as he did the Jewish people.



2. Poor picture quality was just the first problem with this documentary. The information is misleading, and in some places, down right incorrect. The quotes are taken out of context to make Hitler seems as evil as possible. Do not buy this video.



3. Though there are some elements of this documentary that are stellar, ultimately it falls flat. The tinny and irritating music which accompanies various Hitler quotes (some of them translated incorrectly) begins to jar on the nerves after episode one. The interviews with various Hitler intimates are interesting, though none of them say anything new.

   The highlight of the entire five hours is great film discovered of Hitler in 1914, standing on the Odeonsplatz in Munich. There is also new film of Hitler marching with the Freicorps in 1919 and some rare footage of him again in Garmisch in 1920. At least the same old dreary stock footage of Hitler is supplemented with some interesting, new footage.

   A note on the film and sound quality in this package: it's substandard. When I've seen the series on the History Channel, the quality is superior to this VHS version.

   This is probably still the best attempt made to document Hitler's life and times, but there is still ample room for improvement in the future.




4. Entirely apart from incorrect facts and dates, this documentary has very poor picture quality and is obviously extremely biased. Whenever Hitler speaks, they put it into slow motion so he sounds like a monster. Do we really need this kind of propaganda? All the quotes are taken out of the context for which they were intended. Much seems to be lost in the translation as well, especially in quotes. Any serious WWII fanactic will hate this box set.



5. The best thing about this series is having the majority of all the best Hitler film footage in one collection. But its not exactly a completely neutral re-telling of the story, so beware. Using a combination of many interviews with elderly Germans who say - in effect with 20/20 hindsight - "we knew he was evil, we just couldn't put our finger on it at the time" - and the technique of slowing Hitler's own recordings down to half speed to make him sound like Satan himself. This is really a piece of propaganda no less than anything Goebbels ever produced.

1 comments about Howard Stern: Exposed Biography.

1. this was an amazing piece of work. howard stern embodies everything american. he truley is the king of all media. then again everybody knows that everything he touches turns to gold. although i am canadian, seeing how big a success howard is makes me wish i were an american. then i would truly have every opportunity. this dvd was a definate inspiration.

No comments about Biography - Joe Di Maggio: The Way It Was.

5 comments about Biography - John Wayne: American Legend.

1. I have completely enjoyed anything that has been shown for John Wayne. Since I was a little boy, my mother would take me to see his movies and it never showed ignorant cussing or sex scenes that would appaul the parents. He showed manhood and decency to us kids. I wish I could spend hours of telling how this man impressed me. And how it helped me become a well educated and successful businessman. May it continue to help children learn how to be somebody.



2. I believe there have been few Americans in the last 50 years who do not recognize John Wayne, and even fewer who have never seen him. The Duke has become a great American legend. But despite all his fame, most people know relatively little about his life. Wayne became so famous that the name "John Wayne" became associated more with a mythical figure than with a real man. This biography attempts to go behind the manly, tough-as-nails American hero and tries to discover the real John Wayne.

   For only being 100 minutes long, the documentary is surprisingly good. It is not easy to chronicle the career of a man who made over 150 films in less than two hours. Despite this, however, I felt that this film overlooked some important elements in Wayne's career, including many of his best-loved films like the Cowboys and El Dorado. Also, the film gives the Duke's film total at 169, while I have seen several other (good) sources which seem to agree on the neighborhood of 153. This is a minor detail, of course, but worth mentioning.

   Despite its shortcomings, this was an enjoyable documentary, certainly worth the time it took to watch it. Any fan of the Duke will enjoy this film, even if for no other reason than a visual chronology of (most of) the highlights of John Wayne's extremely illustrious career.




3. I'm disappointed that Amazon.com listed this item as closed-captioned under format field which is incorrect. I already sent correction to Amazon.com. I also am disappointed with A&E not including caption or subtitle for this biography.
   
   The biography on this DVD runs like VHS, no menus, anything like that except it will go back to the beginning every time you stop playing. Not convenient. Good luck on fast forwarding or rewinding to exact location you are looking for.



4. The 100 cigs a day did the old Duke
   in, in case you wanted me to cut to
   the chase. Great biographical sketch
   about one of USC's early great football
   players, too. Had an affinity for latino
   ladies. But hey; I like hawai'ian ones,
   so...



5. Well, I just saw this on DVD so I'm not sure why it is described as VHS tape only but the DVD definitely exists. Overall, I thought it a solid documentary of the Duke. All of his character traits are discussed and elucidated which allows us to separate the man from the gigantic legend which has been constructed around him. Most pleasing is that Wayne never took himself too seriously as evidenced by his appearance at Harvard and the making of True Grit. His range as an actor has totally been underappreciated. Ron Howard points out that no leading man in Hollywood today would have taken his role in The Searchers as it's far too complex and nuance filled for our modern times, but not for John Wayne. He had his own times. John Wayne was and is an American legend, and, although it's a cliché, I wish we had more men like him today. As an aside, without commercials many of these biographies are a slim and brisk 90 minutes which makes you wonder why we ever agreed to watch TV in the first place.

1 comments about Biography - Senator Joseph Mccarthy.

1. On this tape, you will see democracy at its' best and worst. It also demonstrates how paranoid the United States was in the early fifties. Communism was perceived as the great evil and fear won out over reason. It is very sad to realize how people with the stature of Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Taft chose to keep silent over the cancer growing in their midst. Eisenhower's refusal to stand up for his friend and mentor General George Marshall when he was attacked by McCarthy will forever be a blot on his record.
   It is amazing that despite all his ranting and the many informants who passed him information, McCarthy did not unearth a single communist or communist spy. The spies did exist, as it is now well-known that the Soviet nuclear weapons program was given an able assist by spies in the United States. In fact, the tactics employed by McCarthy probably aided the spies by deflecting attention elsewhere. Watching this tape, one finds it difficult to understand how anyone took him seriously. I can account for it only by appealing to two of the tactics used by Adolf Hitler in his rise to power in Germany. Whip up a powerful fear of an international, yet internal enemy and employ the big lie. The big lie is where you state something so outlandish and repeat it so often that people start to believe you.
   The fundamental strength of democracy finally asserted itself and McCarthy was quickly relegated to an asterisk, even though he retained his seat in the senate. He died shortly after he fell out of favor, a man who basically got what he deserved. At the end of the tape, the pictures show a man who was truly beaten, with no friends and no prospect of getting any. Unfortunately, the man who helped him the most and was even more ruthless, Roy Cohn, somehow emerged relatively unscathed. Cohn is described accurately on the tape as a man with even less scruples than McCarthy, which is not an easy thing to do. I remember watching Cohn being interviewed on television in the eighties and nothing about him had changed. He was a liar in the fifties and he remained one to his death.
   The two greatest threats to the U.S. constitution in the twentieth century were Huey Long and Joseph McCarthy. Both were demagogues, very intelligent, early successes and both died young as a consequence of their excesses. It is hard to argue against the statement that the country was better off without them. William F. Buckley says it best when he states on the tape, "As a fervent anti-communist I often wish Joe McCarthy had never existed."

No comments about Biography - Jean Harlow.