DAVID HALBERSTAM'S THE FIFTIES - (HISTORY CHANNEL 1997-98) VERY RARE!!! Edward Herrmann

Archival footage and interviews with historians mark this fascinating documentary on the 1950s, based on David Halberstam's bestseller. Among the subjects covered: work and the family; the impact of TV; the Cold War; and the beginnings of the civil-rights movement and the sexual revolution. Narrator: Edward Herrmann.

Episode 1: The Fear and the Dream (Sun, Nov 30, 1997) - Part one looks at postwar America. Included: the "new phenomenon" of suburbia; the Korean War and the Cold War; Eisenhower's 1952 election. Also: the H-bomb; Mickey Spillane; and Joseph McCarthy.

Episode 2: Selling the American Way (Sun, Dec 7, 1997) - The impact of television and advertising on middle-class Americans during the decade, including how it changed family life and eating habits and made consumers feel "better and better about buying more and more." Also: the Nixon "Checkers" speech; and "sentimental imperialism" in Central America.

Episode 3: Let's Play House (Sun, Dec 14, 1997) - A look at marriage and family life during the decade, as women's magazines "suggested that homemaking should fulfill all of a woman's hopes and dreams" and "a certain desperation lingered behind the new affluence," says narrator Edward Herrmann. Also: the impact of "Peyton Place" and "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit."

Episode 4: A Burning Desire (Sun, Dec 21, 1997) - A sexual revolution takes root as the work of Alfred Kinsey reveals "America's unknown sexual territory" and its underground gay culture. Also: segments on Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner and Margaret Sanger. 

Episode 5: The Rage Within (Sun, Jan 4, 1998) - "The Rage Within" chronicles the birth of the civil-rights movement. Included: the murder of Emmett Till and the arrest of Rosa Parks. Also: segments on Little Rock, Ark., Medger Evers and basketball great Bill Russell.

Episode 6: The Beat (Sun, Dec 28, 1997) - "The Beat" chronicles the effect of two pop-culture icons: Jack Kerouac and Elvis Presley. Interviewees include Allen Ginsberg and Sam Phillips.

Episode 7: The Road to the Sixties (Sun, Jan 11, 1998) - Americans are on the move toward the end of the decade, as car sales and road construction soar, along with drive-in everything. Also: Sputnik, the Edsel and the 1960 Presidential election. 

Interested in more Fifties fun? Be sure to check out the 1960 CBS special The Fabulous Fifties.

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Number of DVDs: 7

Number of Episodes: 7

Quality: 9/10 - Recorded from VHS

Running Time: 6 hr 30 min (approx)

Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen 1.33:1

NOTES: This is a fan-made DVD set. Not a studio release. The episodes are presented as shown in the original broadcast order.