''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 ...

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 Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

and Lynn Novick with narration by

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...

. 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 that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

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, a ...

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, 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 gran ...

, 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. Tax ...

. Eventually the

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

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 alcoholic ...

, 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 movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

s 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 consequence In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularised in the twentieth century by Ameri ...

s, 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 focuses attention on other priorities.

Cast

Voice actors

* Adam Arkin *

Philip Bosco Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of ''Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 fi ...

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 inc ...

( Carrie Nation) * Kevin Conway *

(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 a ...

* Paul Giamatti (

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 187 ...

) *

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, sport ...

, Roy Olmstead) *

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre p ...

* 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 * Amy Madigan * Carolyn McCormick * Oliver Platt (

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

) * Campbell Scott (

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

) * Frances Sternhagen * Joanne Tucker *

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has recei ...

(newspaper)

Interviewed consultants

*Zeke Alpern * Jonathan Eig * Noah Feldman * Pete Hamill *Edwin T. Hunt Jr *Michael Lerner * William Leuchtenburg * Martin E. Marty *

Catherine Gilbert Murdock Catherine Gilbert Murdock is an American author. Early life and education Catherine Gilbert Murdock was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1967. Her father was a chemical engineer, her mother a nurse. Along with her only sibling, novelist El ...

* Daniel Okrent *

Ruth P. Smith Ruth Proskauer Smith (August 14, 1907 – January 22, 2010) was an American advocate for reproductive rights. Personal life Smith was born Ruth Proskauer on August 14, 1907, in Deal, New Jersey, to Joseph M. Proskauer and Alice Naumburg and grew ...

John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-olde ...

*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