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Category:    Home > Reviews > Documentary > World History > Politics > Biography > Eleanor Roosevelt (American Experience)

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


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