Tag Archives: Great

The Depression is a traumatic national experience which shatters US self-confidence and paralyzes foreign policy, leading to further isolationism. The worldwide depression gives rise to national dictators, but the US is so preoccupied with domestic problems that it ignores the threat. President Hoover is not equipped to deal with the national crisis. The London Naval Conference insults Japan and when the Japanese invade Manchuria, a preoccupied United States does nothing. This classic documentary series, The Road to WWII, follows the events that inevitably sparked World War II, capturing the drama, the excitement and the juxtapositions of these crucial years between the end of World War I and Pearl Harbor. Former CBS News correspondent and commentator, Eric Sevareid, one of the world’s most respected figures in journalism, presents this extraordinary series which features stunning original newsreels, soundtracks, and rare archival footage. It was the era of Lucky Lindy, bootleg, Babe Ruth, Valentino and assembly-line Fords. It was also the time of market collapse, Klan meetings, demagogues abroad, red scares at home and bread lines. The best of times, the worst of times, and the times in which the United States reluctantly moved center stage. The Road to WWII is an innovative 16-part series that examines this crucial time as it progressed from the Armistice in 1918 to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. You will see the people who made history, hear their voices, and …

Starring Franka Potente (“The Bourne Identity”, “Blow”, “Run, Lola, Run”) in the lead role, “The Bridge” is a modern remake of Gregor Dorfmeister’s autobiographical novel. The original film, made in the fifties, was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. Only a few weeks before the end of World War II, having escaped the massive bombing taking place throughout Germany, sixteen year-old Albert and his mother finally make their way to the relative safety of a small Bavarian town. Albert soon becomes friends with the slightly older Walter, who is in the midst of a secret affair with his widowed 29-year-old teacher Elfie. Walter’s father, the local chairman of the National Socialist Party, reports Elfie to the police in order to end the love affair. Shortly thereafter, Hitler’s army begins mobilizing their last troops and Albert and his new friends are recruited to help defend the area’s one main bridge. For the group of teenagers, who are proud to be involved in the war effort, the mission represents an exciting adventure. It’s not long, however, before their superiors flee, leaving the bridge’s defense completely in the hands of the young and poorly equipped recruits. What begins as a relatively unimportant operation quickly deteriorates into a life or death battle to survive. In the very first American bombing raid, the idealistic young men are confronted by the brutal reality of war when one in their group, Siegi, is killed. The American forces’ advance is swift …