Ken Burns Movies
After earning his BA at Hampshire College, Brooklyn-born Ken Burns pursued a career as a documentary filmmaker. At age 22, he formed Florentine Films in his home base of Walpole, New Hampshire. Dissatisfied with dry, scholarly historical documentaries, Burns wanted his films to "live," and to that end adopted the technique of cutting rapidly from one still picture to another in a fluid, linear fashion. He then pepped up the visuals with "first hand" narration gleaned from contemporary writings and recited by top stage and screen actors. Burns' first successful venture was the award-winning documentary The Brooklyn Bridge, which ran on public television in 1981. While he was Oscar-nominated for his 1985 theatrical release The Statue of Liberty, Burns' work has enjoyed its widest exposure on television: such films as Huey Long (1985), Thomas Hart Benton (1986) and Empire of the Air (1991) (a bouquet to the pioneers of commercial radio) have become staples of local PBS stations' seasonal fund drives. In 1990, Burns completed what many consider his "chef d'oeuvre": the eleven-hour The Civil War, which earned an Emmy (among several other honors) and became the highest-rated miniseries in the history of public television. Civil War was the apotheosis of Burns' master mixture of still photos, freshly shot film footage, period music, evocative "celebrity" narration and authentic sound effects. In 1994, Ken Burns released his long-awaited Baseball, an 18-hour saga which, like The Civil War, was telecast at the same time as the publication of a companion coffee-table book. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- Add Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery to QueueAdd Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery to top of Queue
This Ken Burns documentary, narrated by Hal Holbrook, chronologically traces the well-documented 1804-06 military expedition of Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and Lt. William Clark (1770-1838) to survey newly acquired lands and seek a Northwest Passage. Ordered by Thomas Jefferson (who labeled it the Corps of Discovery), the expedition was approved by Congress in 1803, and several dozen men were trained in Illinois in the winter of 1803-04. On May 14, 1804, the explorers departed from St. Louis, heading up the Missouri River by keelboat and continuing westward over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Ken Burns spent almost four years on this project, retracing the route with cameras capturing mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and forests at the same time of year as first seen by Lewis and Clark. Traditional and Native American music provides an accompaniment to the grandeur of these vast vistas, while Stephen Ambrose and other historians offer illuminating anecdotes. Paintings and maps are intercut, but unlike other Burns documentaries, few archival photos are included (since photography was not invented until decades later). Reenactments, seen at a distance, are also kept at a bare minimum. The four-hour film premiered as a PBS two-parter on November 4-5, 1997. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Arkins, Murphy Guyer, (more)
- 1997
Join acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns as he follows artist and philosopher William Segal to the breathtaking French basilica at Vezelay. A destination for spiritual seekers the world over, Vezelay serves as a metaphor for the apparently universal human impulse to search for meaning. Burns' cinematography provides a glorious look at this marvel of devotional architecture, taking the viewer inside to see some of the ritual that takes place there. Also included is a short film Burns made documenting Segal in his studio, as he waxes on inspiration, discipline, and the meaning of art. ~ Sean Hurley, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Episode Four of director Stephen Ives' epic series covers the period from 1856 to 1868 -- during which the new communities of the West found themselves racked by divisive hatreds and social unrest. The boom was far outpacing any government attempts to regulate the new territories from Washington, so the outlaw justice that would fuel so much of our mythology about the West reigned. Local leaders fought bitterly over the issue of slavery -- which would also be an important contributor to the civil war exploding back east -- and self-governing communities obsessed with maintaining their land and their absolute freedom were at each other's throats. Specific topics include: the Civil War battle at Glorietta Pass, the Mountain Meadows massacre in Utah, the 1864 massacre of a Cheyenne camp by Colonel John Chivington, Juan Cortina's attempted revolt against American power in Texas, a young Samuel Clemens' infatuation with the Western landscape, and the beginning of Custer's campaign against Native American warriors. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In the tumultuous history of the American West, gloriously chronicled by this epic nine-part series, there are many events that "changed everything." Episode five, covering the years from 1868 to 1874, explores what is undoubtedly the biggest of these big events -- the building of the Pacific railroad. Stretching from Omaha to Sacramento, this incredible feat of engineering and hubris utterly transformed the lands it connected -- previously remote prairies, suddenly there for the taking, attracted peasant farmers who began to plant wheat; cattle ranchers transported their vast herds to markets in the east; swaggering buffalo hunters pillaged native lands; Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge became boom towns. Furthermore, thanks to the increased pace of commerce and the easy accessibility between coasts, the United States became a real contender for world power. Specific topics in this volume include: the politics of funding and commissioning the railroad project, the recruitment of Chinese labor and the appalling death toll, Charles Goodnight and the birth of the cattle-driving industry, the national celebration at the driving in of the final stake, Emmeline Wells and the winning of women's suffrage in Utah, the loneliness and determination of foreign immigrants, and of course, cowboys. The documentary features firsthand accounts such as diaries and letters, as well as interviews with historians and cultural experts, and stunning cinematography of the still-untamed West. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Episode Six in producer Ken Burns' epic series chronicles the short and tragic period from 1874 through 1877, when the reality of a centralized federal power began to collide with the dream of a wild Western freedom. Regulators in Washington, possessed of formidable armies, cracked down harshly on the Lakota and Cheyenne in the Black Hills, the Nez Perce in modern-day Idaho and Oregon, and the Mormons in Utah -- all at a time when the country was celebrating 100 years of independence from British oppression. Specific topics include: Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka) and his rallying of Native American forces, America's betrayal of the Fort Laramie Treaty, the daily life of an army soldier charged with patrolling and defending the West, the Battle of Little Bighorn, the execution of John D. Lee, and the forced exile of Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Episode Seven of director Stephen Ives' nine-part series on the West chronicles a decade with equal measures of hope and hardship. By 1877, the continent seemed firmly conquered -- whites outnumbered Native Americans 40 to 1, and several seasons of unusually heavy rainfall made it seem as though industrious farmers had actually turned "the Great American desert" into arable farmland. Former slaves, calling themselves "Exodusters," migrated en masse to Kansas amidst refrains about the promised land. But in the early 1880's, economic depression led to increasing tension between differing racial and religious groups. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited immigration from China for the next ten years. That same year, polygamy was declared a federal crime -- a calculated blow to the powerful Mormon community in Utah. Race riots broke out in California, Wyoming, and Washington state. Native American children were shipped off to eastern boarding schools, forbidden to speak their own tongue, and taught to think and act like whites. In the midst of this shameful era, however, Geography of Hope also catalogues the enduring seductiveness and ever-growing myth of the West by profiling swashbucklers like Teddy Roosevelt and William F. Cody -- better known as Buffalo Bill. Like every period in this colorful history, the decade from 1877-1887 tells a tale of human victory, human cruelty and self-defeat, and surprising flashes of humor and spirit. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The ninth volume of Ken Burns and Stephen Ives' The West covers the years from 1887 to 1914. At the dawn of a new century, after having seen earthshaking changes and terrible strife, the American West was more or less settled -- only five generations had passed since the Louisiana Purchase, and already the lands beyond the Mississippi were dotted with industrialized towns, prosperous farms, and vast herds of cattle. The West still had many surprises up its sleeve, but its fate was now inextricably tied to that of the Eastern states -- the United States had finally become one nation. Specific topics include: the Oklahoma land rush; the Dawes Act and the legal divvying up of Indian land; turn-of-the-century life in towns like Guthrie, Oklahoma and Butte, Montana; Sitting Bull's murder and the massacre of the Lakota; the Columbian Exposition of 1893; the courtship and marriage of homesteaders John G. Love and Ethel Waxham; William Mulholland's aqueduct and the Los Angeles water supply; Mariano Vallejo and his fight to preserve the Mexican legacy in California; Charles Goodnight and the problem of how to record the West's history on film; and the labored process of adaptation and forgiveness among native peoples. Told through first-hand accounts as well as moving testimony from the descendents of the West's greatest figures, this tribute to the dreams and the eternal promise of a nation is both a landmark documentary and an invaluable tool for the teaching of balanced and relevant history. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The West, a nine-part documentary created for public television, was more than five years in the making. From acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns and award-winning documentarian Stephen Ives, this comprehensive series takes an honest look at the taming of the land by unveiling its myths, inequities, and exploitations, while still embracing the heroics and adventures of this momentous period in American history. The West: Ghost Dance, Vol. 8 covers the years 1887 to 1914 when the West was rapidly developing its industrial forces. The episode traces events from the Oklahoma Land Rush to the rise of mining towns such as Butte, Montana. It examines the displacement of the Native American people, and includes a segment on the horrific 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee. Ghost Dance takes its title from a ceremonial ritual that Native Americans performed during this period in hopes of restoring the lost era of the buffalo. Other tapes in the series include The People, Empire Upon the Trails, Speck of the Future, Death Runs Riots, The Grandest Enterprise Under God, Fight No More Forever, The Geography of Hope and One Sky Above Us. ~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide
Ken Burns, America's most popular and successful documentarian of history, has called Thomas Jefferson "the most important human being born in the last 500 years." It is with this passionate admiration, tempered as always by a blunt acknowledgement of Jefferson's flaws, that Burns approaches his subject. Following the brilliant, fiery young revolutionary from his writing of the Declaration of Independence to his love affair with France and his extraordinary political career, this compelling film delves into the classic Burns-ian themes: unquenchable hope, agonizing loss, and how men and women throughout history have negotiated the two in creating the quintessential American experience. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
By 1848 the United States had -- through negotiations, border skirmishes, full-blown war, and an intimidating belief in Manifest Destiny -- seized the West and became a continental nation, at least on paper. Then the word came that men in California had discovered gold. The Speck of the Future, Episode Three in director Stephen Ives's nine-part epic, covers the years from 1848 to 1856, when the American West quickly became the world's destination spot. Under greed's intoxicating influence, everyone from Chinese peasants and Mexican laborers to Latin American aristocrats and New York's boy next door fled westward and established a new kind of American community -- based on exploitation as much as mutual need. Ives has gathered archival photos, diaries, letters, and interviews with expert scholars to explore the myriad ways in which the Gold Rush forever altered the course of our history. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Episode Two of director Stephen Ives' ambitious documentary covers the years from 1806 to 1848. Once Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery had mapped the unknown regions between the Mississippi and the Pacific, droves of fur trappers, itinerant adventurers, and experimental communities took to the trails and headed west. Empire Upon the Trails explores this archetypal American journey, and carefully examines the facts and personal stories behind such mythic events as the Trail of Tears, the defending of the Alamo, the Mormons' flight to Utah under Brigham Young, and the bloody Mexican-American War. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This first episode in filmmakers Ken Burns and Stephen Ives' epic nine-part series focuses on the various peoples who inhabited or desired the lands of the West prior to 1806. From the natives whose identity and culture were continuous with the vast, rugged landscapes -- the Comanches, the Hidatsas, the Zunis, the Kiowa -- to the explorers coming in search of glory for God and country, these are tales of origin, myth, ownership, and the collision of worlds. Director Ives uses memoirs, journals, letters, and breathtaking live cinematography to recreate the spirit and tumult of a time when the seductive freedom and wilderness of the Western landscape -- not to mention the souls of its people -- were put up for grabs. A startling glimpse into America's rocky past and an invaluable tool for educators. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The classic black-and-white newsreel clips and old photographs that dominated the first seven innings of Ken Burns' documentary tribute to America's pastime now give way to color clips as baseball enters the '60s in Ken Burns' Baseball: Inning 8 -- A Whole New Ballgame. In this decade, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris tried to overtake Babe Ruth's home run record, Sandy Koufax made a name for himself, and Bob Gibson and Denny McLain had MVP pitching seasons. In other highlights, fans said goodbye to Ted Williams, welcomed the New York Mets, and Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause as institutional slavery when he refused to be traded from the Cardinals to the Phillies. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
New York held sway in the world of baseball from 1950-1960, and the seventh episode -- or "inning" -- of Ken Burns' documentary series focuses on the dominating forces of the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. At least one of these teams played in every World Series between 1949 and 1958, and six of those series saw the Yankees pitted against either the Dodgers or the Giants. Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella of the Dodgers, as well as Willie Mays and Bobby Thompson of the Giants are just some of the legendary players who lit up the newsreel clips and increasingly popular TV screens. It was a decade of moving franchises, as the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, the Giants to San Francisco, and the Braves to Milwaukee. But in the seventh inning, the game is far from over. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Ken Burns' celebrated baseball documentary has come full circle, from the black-and-white images of the game's beginnings to the full color of the modern era. Ken Burns' Baseball: Inning 9 -- Home, the final episode, deals with such threats to our national pastime as drug use by players, the egos of players and owners such as Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner, sky-rocketing salaries, and Pete Rose's banishment for gambling. But it also relives such moments as Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home run record, Carlton Fisk keeping the ball fair at Fenway with his body language, and Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hitting back-to-back home runs in a game. Jackie Robinson's funeral is also covered in this episode, as Burns continues to pay tribute to the man who broke baseball's color barrier. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Baseball has been part of the fabric of America for over 200 years, and no other sport quite matches the traditions it's built up over time. In the ambitious and critically acclaimed 1994 film Making of Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns, the game and all that it entails is examined in great detail. Burns has left little out of this project, which features all the heroes, legends, scandals, and the grand events that make up the history of baseball. He captures the emotion that is such an important part of the sport, and gives a unique overview of this All-American pastime. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Negro League Baseball, in all of its triumphs and tragedies, is captured in inning five of Ken Burns' classic baseball documentary. The stories of great Negro League players such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, and Buck Leonard help set the stage for the history-making moment in 1942 when Jackie Robinson walked onto Ebbet's Field for the first time. Back in the Major Leagues, the program focuses on Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, the Yankees' challenge to Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang St. Louis Cardinals, and the impact of the Great Depression as inspiration for the first All-Star game. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The previous five "innings" of Ken Burns' sweeping baseball documentary set the stage for the triumphant moment in this sixth episode when Jackie Robinson takes the field in his first Major League game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942, an event of enormous personal and social significance. Other personal achievements of the decade included Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams' .406 batting average in 1941. Burns also highlights the state of baseball during World War II, rescued, in part, by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The decade ended with the death of the legendary Babe Ruth. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
At the turn of the 20th century, Ken Burns' documentary homage to baseball history enters its "second inning." Baseball's first decade in the new century began with the creation of a new league, as "Ban" Johnson's unbending will -- along with the 500-dollar bonus he offered National League players to switch allegiances -- forced the American League into being. Detroit's Ty Cobb ruled the decade on the field while the Pirates' Honus Wagner, another possible contender for best player, was pushed to the sidelines. Other highlights of volume two in this nine-part series include the development of independent professional Negro teams, as well as the story of female semi-pro pitcher Alta Weiss. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The third inning of Ken Burns' nine-inning documentary leads us into the Roaring '20s, but not before hitting the sport's stumbling block that was the Black Sox World Series scandal of 1919. Charles Comisky's stingy handling of the Chicago White Sox, who would eventually throw the series against the Reds, was tempered by the success of the Athletics under Connie Mack. Kenesaw Mountain Landis became baseball's first Commissioner, making headlines both by banning the Black Sox for life, and by approving the sale of George H. Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees for 125,000 dollars. The dark cloud of scandal was about to be cleared away by a new hero. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
In a decade dominated by the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth became the nation's "heirloom." Inning four of Ken Burns' sweeping nine-part documentary series focuses on the years 1920-1930, when baseball's black mark left by the Black Sox scandal of 1919 was erased by the legend of Babe Ruth. His impact on the game far overshadowed the previous achievements of the beloved Ty Cobb. This episode also highlights other great players of the decade such as Rogers Hornsby and Walter Johnson, the organization by Rube Foster of the Negro Leagues, and the barnstorming of the country by the House of David. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The first episode in Ken Burns' spectacular documentary of America's favorite pastime takes us from baseball's origins in the 1840s to the dawning of a new century, when glorious moments were captured in still photos rather than newsreel footage. Learn about the valuable contributions of Albert Goodwill Spaulding and Harry Wright, and recall some of the century's great players such as King Kelly, Cap Anson, and Cy Young. Burns highlights great teams like the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Baltimore Orioles, and provides the background of those less glorious moments, when Moses Fleetwood Walker and all other Negroes were expelled from the major leagues. Also told is the story of John Montgomery Ward's efforts to establish a players' union. Ken Burns' Baseball: Inning 1 -- Our Game is a powerful and informative first inning for this classic baseball series. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara becomes this sprawling historical epic. As in Shaara's novel, director Ronald Maxwell focuses on a handful of major players to dramatize the events of July 1863, when the armies of the Union and Confederacy clash at the small Pennsylvania town of the title. Among them are Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee, who disagrees with his top advisor, General James Longstreet (Tom Berenger) over battle strategy, and Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a college professor whose unorthodox techniques save the day (and possibly the war) for his beleaguered army. Other cast standouts include Richard Jordan in his final film appearance as the ill-fated General Lewis Armistead, and cameo roles for Civil War buff Ken Burns and media mogul producer Ted Turner. Filmed on-location at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg was shot as a television miniseries for Turner's TNT cable channel, but earned a limited theatrical release. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Jeff Daniels, (more)
