Prohibition (2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prohibition is a documentary film in three parts which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2011.

 

The topic is an important chapter in the history of the United States: the time when alcohol was an illegal substance in the US. 

 

The ban was introduced in 1920 and repealed in 1933. It lasted for 13 years, 10 months and 18 days.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

** Written by Geoffrey C. Ward

** Narrated by Peter Coyote

** Original music written by Wynton Marsalis and David Cieri

** Creative consultant: Daniel Okrent

** Released on DVD in 2011(US) and 2012 (UK)

** Run time = 5 H 30 M

  

As stated above, the film is divided into three parts.

 

Here are the headlines:

 

# 1. A Nation of Drunkards = 95 minutes

# 2. A Nation of Scofflaws = 110 minutes

# 3. A Nation of Hypocrites = 105 minutes

 

The participants

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Some are scholars and authors who have an academic interest in the topic. Others are citizens who can remember what happened in the 1920s or 1930s.

 

In many cases, the person interviewed is a son or a daughter of someone who was involved in bootlegging or law enforcement. 

 

Here are the names of the participants (listed in the order of appearance):

 

** Michael Lerner, historian, author of Dry Manhattan (2007) (2008)

** Daniel Okrent, writer, author of Last Call (2010) (2011)

** Pater Hamill, writer, author of A Drinking Life: A Memoir (1994) (1995)

** Catherine Gilbert Murdock, historian, author of Domesticating Drink (1998) (2001)

** Martin Marty, theologian

 

** Noah Feldman, legal scholar

** Jack Roche, resident of Chicago

** William E. Leuchtenburg, historian (born 1922)

** Donald Ward, resident of Washington, DC, son of a bootlegger

** Freddie Johnson, historian

 

** Justice John Paul Stevens, associate justice of the US Supreme Court 1975-2010

** Edwin T. Hunt, Jr., son of a bootlegger

** Zeke Alpert, resident of New York City

** Dorothea Brown, resident of Maine

** Sylvester Mather, resident of Kentucky, son a federal agent

 

** Margot Loines Wilkie, resident of Massachusetts

** Jack Clarke, resident of Chicago

** Jonathan Eig, writer, author of Get Capone (2010) (2011)

** Roger Angell, resident of New York

** Ruth Proskauer Smith, resident of New York

 

** Reverend John Caldwell, Kentucky

** Joshua Zeitz, writer, author of Flapper (2007)

** Patricia Olmstead McFarlane, daughter of a bootlegger

** Pauline Sabin Smith Willis, granddaughter of Pauline Sabin (1887-1955)

** Studs Terkel, writer (1912-2008)

 

The story of prohibition

In a trailer for the film, narrator Peter Coyote explains what prohibition was all about:

 

“It was exactly what America wanted, and it caught us completely by surprise. It turned citizens into criminals and criminals into kings. It changed the very nature of our democracy – twice: prohibition.”

 

Directors Burns and Novick offer a quotation from Mark Twain that fits the topic very well:

 

“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky: it is the prohibition that makes anything precious.”

 

The film follows a chronological line that runs from 1826 to 1933. In other words: Burns and Novick cover more than a century of American history.

 

While the focus is on alcohol, the topic is always placed in a political, economic, and social context.

 

Prohibition is a documentary film in the best sense of the word. The directors do not talk about a “general movement” or a “tendency” in some direction. 

 

They do not work in this way. Instead, they give us the name of a person, the name of a place, and a date, and then they tell us what happened. We learn who did what. Where they did it, why they did it, and what the consequences were.

 

Every scene is documented with statements from and pictures of the protagonist that is being presented. They are very specific. And they always remember the visual aspect. This is a great way of presenting history.

 

Are Burns and Novick in favour of prohibition? Of course, they are not. Today it would be difficult to find anyone who will speak in favour of this policy. But the directors do not just tell us how misguided this policy was. They simply tell us what happened, step by step.

 

They are so good at telling the story that we can understand why the supporters of the temperance movement - later the prohibition movement - did what they did.

 

We can understand why the movement was able to win and to introduce the ban on alcohol that went into effect in 1920. This is what we learn in episode 1.

 

In episode 2, the directors document the “unintended consequences” of the ban, which is known as the 18th amendment to the US constitution.

 

The supporters of prohibition had good intentions, but good intentions do not guarantee good results. 

 

In this case, the positive results were limited, while the negative results were devastating.

 

In episode 3, Burns and Novick show us how the critics of the ban united and how they were finally able to have it repealed. The twenty-first amendment to the constitution cancelled the 18th amendment.

 

The role of taxation

It is interesting to learn that the laws of taxation played an important (perhaps a decisive) role, not only when the ban was introduced in 1920, but also when it was repealed in 1933.

 

For many years, the US federal government had relied on taxes on alcohol. That is why the owners of the big breweries were confident that the prohibition movement was never going to win.

 

The leaders of the prohibition movement realised that this was a stumbling block, so they made sure it was removed when they supported the introduction of income tax in 1913.

 

Now the federal government did not have to rely on taxes on alcohol. This is one reason why the ban could be introduced. The government did not need the tax-money on alcohol anymore.

 

When they stock-market crashed in 1929, millions lost their jobs, which meant that they no longer paid any income tax.

 

Now the federal government was in trouble. Critics of prohibition pointed out that if the ban was repealed, if drinking was legal again, it would create millions of jobs and millions of workers would pay income tax.

 

The government needed tax-money to carry out its policy, which is known as the New Deal. But there was no money to pay for it. If the ban was repealed, everything would change. This is one reason why the ban was repealed. The government could not afford to keep it.

 

In 1919-1920, the tax situation paved the way for prohibition. About ten years later, in 1932-1933, the tax situation paved the way for its abolition. How things can change in the world of politics in just over a decade!

 

The gender issue

The women’s movement is an important element in the story about prohibition, as this film demonstrates. Women started the temperance movement, because they wanted to save their families. It was a noble ambition. But the means chosen – a total ban on alcohol – did not bring about the desired end.

 

When the ban was finally repealed, women were also a powerful force. A former member of the Republican Party, Pauline Sabin, who became a Democrat, organised a nation-wide movement to repeal the ban, and most of her supporters were women.

 

A modern parallel

Prohibition, the war on alcohol, was a “noble social experiment” which failed. 

 

Today, the US government and governments around the world are waging a long-running and costly war on drugs which has failed.

 

But no government wants to admit it.

 

The parallel between prohibition 1920-1933 and the current war on drugs is obvious, but this fact is not mentioned anywhere in the film.

 

Perhaps the directors want the viewers to draw this conclusion by themselves?

 

Conclusion

Prohibition is an excellent documentary film. I am not surprised: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have much experience in this field. Examples are:

 

** The Civil War (1990)

** Baseball (1994)

** Jazz (2001)

** The Roosevelts (2014)

** Country Music (2019)

 

All these works have been praised not only by professional critics but also by the general public.

 

As far as I can see, Prohibition lives up to the high standard that has come to be expected from Burns and Novick.

 

It is highly recommended.

 

REFERENCES

 

Prohibition:

Thirteen Years That Changed America

By Edward Behr

(1996)

 

Dry Manhattan:

Prohibition in New York City

By Michael A. Lerner

(2007)

 

Last Call:

The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

By Daniel Okrent

(2010)

 

Bootleg:

Murder, Moonshine, and the

Lawless Years of Prohibition

By Karen Blumenthal

(2011)

 

The War on Alcohol:

Prohibition and the Rise of the American State

By Lisa McGirr

(2015)

 

*****

A famous scene from the time of prohibition:

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner

John A. Leach, on the right, 

watches agents pouring alcohol into a sewer 

following a raid during the height of prohibition

 

*****