![David Halberstam's the Fifties [VHS]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Q2617JPPL.jpg)
Product Description It was America's coming-out party a decade-long celebration of growth and power, fueled by the victory in WWII. Based on Pulitzer Prize winner David Halbertstam's bestselling book, this lively series casts a nostalgic eye back on the years of Ozzie and Harriet and the Hula Hoop, years which nonetheless paved the way for the tumult of the decades to follow. From Sputnik to Elvis, bobby-socks to the Kinsey Report, DAVID HALBERTSTAM'S THE FIFTIES is a breathtaking collage of the people, music, memories, fads and issues that sent the first Baby Boomers on their way. Countless interviews, clips from landmark TV shows and movies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and specially-produced music videos set to original '50s hits capture the intense tapestry of optimism and fear, repression and discovery that was THE FIFTIES. .com The 1950s are fast becoming what the 1960s were not all that long ago. Which is to say that the era that set the stage for the obviously upheaval-heavy '60s is getting its own undressing, and the interlocutors are finding all sorts of fascinating stuff. Historian David Halberstam, who logged time in the era as a journalist and civil rights struggle participant, helped nudge the era's current popularity with his book, which gives this exhaustive six-tape series its name. And given art historian Karal Ann Marling's consideration of the era as the dawn of "visual culture" in her own book on the 1950s, it's fitting that this set is so geared towards the visual. From its coverage of the McCarthy era and the baby boom to its study of the growth of affluence as a national ideal, the set roots many of its themes through the ways 1950s culture came together as a visual spectacle. First there is television ad-mogul Rosser Reeves and the leveraging of the television as a sales machine, then there's Richard Nixon's first career salvage job via television, then there are the running visual (and literary) constructions and interrogations of domesticity, and much more. Also prevalent in the set, though, is the concurrent rise of the "men's magazine" (i.e., Playboy), the then-alluring first edition of the Kinsey Report, and the spread of a manifest culture of desire--which in writing sounds amply intellectual but in viewing is fast-paced, compelling, and easy to engage for long periods of time. Probably most compelling in the set is the way the era's visuals changed society irrevocably--and swiftly. The civil rights era's catapult was due in large part to general citizenry witnessing fire hoses and police dogs trained on children and the astonishing power of Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent resistance. On another level, the visuals also created both a dizzying array of styles, captured here in regard to automobile manufacturers, and the flattening of one style into a de facto standard, captured here in the spreading communist fear, the rise of McDonald's restaurants, and even Elvis Presley. This series is the best up-close focus on the 1950s, making it essential to students of American culture, general history fans, and anyone curious about the tendrils of culture in the United States. --Andrew Bartlett
R**D
American Histories...MISSING-LINK.
It's a information tragedy of biblical proportions that this set wasn't (isn't) transfered to DVD. For a real "boomer"...(I was born 9 months and 15 minutes after VE Day)...David Halberstams: THE FIFTIES is literally a time machine back to the Golden Decade of America. H.G. Wells would turn green with envy! If President Trump wants to return the United States to it's former greatness...this is where you go!!
S**S
like mcdonalds, and others
this is not the entire series or complete episodes as originally shown by the history channel in the nineties. I remember episodes on the origination of the franchise, like mcdonalds, and others. the history channel should market the complete series of "The Fifties" because most of the revolutions that transpired for decades after the fifties had their roots in the fifties and the complete series is very clear at revealing the phenomena of the fifties.
M**N
Uneven portrayal of 1950s
I lived in the 1950s and it was just great. This show presented too many stuff from a 90s leftist perspective. At the outset, however, there is SOME good to be found in this miniseries: the descriptions of the civil rights movement, suburbanization, the beatniks, television, the fall of Cuba to Castro and the rise of rock and roll are quite accurate, even if you can get by the "teens are rebels" slant.That, unfortunately, is all the good to be found in this seemingly endless procession of leftist viewpoints. Having portrayed the usual happy image of the decade, the producers seem willing to declare war on this, and they do. They fling us from the frying pan of rock and roll straight into the fire of total liberalism. The producers' goal is clear from the beginning: to portray the 1950s as a horrible decade where everyone was afraid, where people refused to speak out, and where society hated certain things (i.e. sex) that they didn't want others to do when in fact THEY and all their friends were doing it.The charges that Joe McCarthy created paranoia when there really was no real Communist threat is presented like it always is, even though the Venona Project confirms that there were Soviet spies in the highest branches of the U.S. government who were giving atomic secrets to Stalin. Portrayals of feminism, the birth of the birth control pill and glorification of the Communist idiot Betty Friedan are presented in legthy detail. It doesn't stop there: it gets worse.(...)Hugh Hefner, Alfred Kinsey, Betty Friedan and Julius Rosenberg are presented as the real 1950s icons, NOT Dwight Eisenhower, Jonas Salk, Joseph McCarthy or Guy Mitchell when in fact THEY were the real 1950s icons. Steer completely away from this and instead seek out other resources. I might start working on a 50s documentary to show things the way they REALLY were.
A**R
This is the best documentary on the 1950s I'v seen
This is the best documentary on the 1950s I'v seen. I recommend to all those who love history to purchase this. If you want to see more I suggest buying CNN's The Sixties
T**4
David Halberstam's the Fifties (VHS)
Insightful as to how we got to now from then: the precursers; the aftermath. A multi-faceted approach serves to clarify some of the more confusing aspects of our near-past history. Entertaining and informing.
E**Y
Why no DVD of The Fifties?
This is an excellent documentary. It brings back many memories and teaches me things I did not know. Only one problem with this production. It is not available on DVD. I have not been able to get an answer as to why. I even contacted the distributor, and the producers, and no one knew why it has not been made into a DVD. There is no excuse I can think of other than possible legal entanglements. Same reason you cannot find the movie "Porgy and Bess" on video of any type.If someone knows why "The Fifties" is not in DVD and whether it could be in the future, please let me know at [email protected],Ed ClancyNew Orleans
H**N
The American Dream Unfolds
I've always had a special interest in the decade in which I was born and this six-part video collection from The History Channel, along with the more extensive book upon which it is based, provides an excellent overview of some of the more significant political and social events which defined this post-war decade. It is a marvelous journey back to a pivotal time in 20th Century American history.In 300+ minutes, it examines topics as widely diverse as the Cold War and Senator McCarthy's Communist witch hunts to the founding of Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire and the Grace Metallious penned ground-breaking novel, Peyton Place.I highly recommend this wonderful boxed set as a minor course in 1950's history or just for the pure enjoyment of seeing the American Dream unfold.
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