It was a nightmare that shocked not only New York, but all of America. The public outcry about the Willowbrook State School for people with developmental disabilities resulted from Geraldo Rivera's expose on WABC after he had entered Willowbrook with a film crew in 1972, using a stolen key.
In 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helens leveled 230 square miles, sent 540 million tons of ash and volcanic rock twelve miles into the air, and blasted one cubic mile of earth from the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range. Illustrates the terrifying fury of the most destructive volcanic disaster in American history through aerial photography and survivors' own words. Shows examples of nature's plant and animal recovery seventeen years later.
Documentary narrated by Paul Winfield, this documentary follows the course of Mahalia Jackson's extraordinary life - from her humble beginnings as a sickly child singing in New Orleans churches to her breakthrough with Columbia Records and her ascendancy to Carnegie Hall and Europe's great stages. Her story's told through archival footage and interviews with those who knew her best.
BBC2 documentary of Eddie Izzard's first foray into world touring. Beginning in her "hometown" of Eastbourne and and culminating in her month long show in the East village of New York, Izzard travels to Paris (her first, unsuccessful French language show,) Copenhagen, Reykjavik, and Stockholm.
This documentary examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation. Building from the grass roots, self-promoted and self-recorded until break-out success of bands like Nirvana brought the record industry to the Pacific Northwest, a phenomenon was born.
On January 24, 1996, at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles, CA, legendary comic Sid Caesar was reunited with nine of his writers from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. The event was taped for release on PBS and BBC in a 1-hour cut, and later on VHS and DVD in its full 2-hour length. Be prepared to laugh non-stop as the panel, made up of head writer Mel Tolkin, Caesar, Carl Reiner, Aaron Ruben, Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Sheldon Keller, and Gary Belkin share stories about their time working on Caesar's shows and offer their insights about writing comedy.
In 1994, New Zealand mountaineer, Mark Whetu, summitted Mt Everest with climbing partner and friend Mike Reinberger. However it was late in the day and after a freezing night on the summit, Whetu was faced with a terrible decision...to leave Reinberger or stay with him forever.
He went from street-wise tough to art-collector liberal-activist, from circus-acrobat hunk to Academy Award winner. Burton Stephen Lancaster — later Burt Lancaster — was one of five children of a New York City postal worker. By eighteen, Burt was 6'2" and blessed with the athletic physique and dynamic good looks that helped make him famous. A stint in the Army introduced Burt to acting and led him to Hollywood where his first release, "The Killers" (1946), propelled him to stardom at age 32. He took control of his own career and seldom faltered.
Capturing the essence of the Australian wilderness and its unique array of fascinating wildlife, Greg Grainger's documentary explores such diverse habitats as eucalpt forests, deserts, rainforests and coral reefs. Featuring action sequences of much loved Aussie icons the Kangaroo, Dingo, Platypus, Koala and Wombat, you'll also thrill to Coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef, nest building Bower birds, mimicking Lyre birds, spiky Echidnas, snarling Tasmainian Devils and more. Natural Australia in a nutshell.
From beautiful but dangerous waterfalls to canyons and underground rivers carved into stone millions of years ago, Wild Australia is a stunning look at our fragile world and how it relates to Earth of ninety million years ago
The stories of the battles that brought together a Polish cavalry officer, a Canadian captain, and a Polish underground member are told by the very same Canadians who survived them.
We Remember Marilyn. Marilyn Monroe transforms from Norma Jean, a cuddly teenager, into the most recognizable face and body in the world in these home movies, photos and film clips which span her early bit parts to her most known roles.
George's Best Stuff is a compilation of Carlin's legendary routines, including "A Place For My Stuff," "Dogs and Cats," Vitamins," "Baseball and Football," "Losing Things," "Al Sleet the Hippie-Dippie Weather Man," the notorious "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," and many more. A great collection of some of the best standup comedy ever performed.
The remains of more than 10,000 Native Americans unearthed at archaeological sites across the U.S. are in the possession of museums such as the Smithsonian. Is the analysis of the bones valid scientific research, or is it a desecration of Native American culture? This program focuses on the tensions between scientists, historians, and museum curators and Native American groups, as the bones take on a central role in a war of alternate perspectives. In examining this debate, the program provides an excellent survey of Native American archaeology in the U.S. A BBC Production.
From the so-called Quiz Show Scandal of the 1950s to a phony biography of Howard Hughes and the accomplished forgeries of a rare documents dealer, this episode of "American Justice" examines some of the most famous hoaxes in recent history. Included is an interview with Herbert Stempel, the contestant on the popular '50s TV game show "Twenty-One" whose revelations of cheating caused nearly all the game shows of the day to be taken off the air.