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Influenza 1918: The American Experience [VHS]
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Influenza 1918: The American Experience [VHS] | VHS Tape

Starring: David McCullough, David Ogden Stiers, Joe Morton, Linda Hunt, Will Lyman
Also With: Katy Mostoller (Producer), Michael Rossi (Producer), Rocky Collins (Producer), Rocky Collins (Writer), Tracy Heather Strain (Producer), Henry Hampton (Writer)

List Price: $19.98  

Binding:  VHS Tape
Rating:  Unrated
Run Time:  60 minutes
Format:  NTSC
Studio:  Pbs (Direct)
Number of Discs:  1
Release Date:  April 14, 1998
Sales Rank:  16,075th


EDITORIAL REVIEWS


Description
In the spring of 1918, as the nation mobilized for war, Private Albert Gitchell reported to an Army hospital in Kansas. He was diagnosed with the flu, a disease doctors knew little about. Before the year ended, America was ravaged by a flu epidemic that killed 675,000 people, young and old, more than in all the wars of this century combined. The disease then disappeared as mysteriously as it began.


CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 4 reviews)

Interesting and Imformative. My students were enthralled. by Bob Speeter, Cheboygan Middle School (Cheboygan, Michigan) 4 Stars
December 31, 2004
I am afraid that I must disagree with the other reviewers. Comparing a video to a book is unfair. An hour video can not be expected cover the length and breadth of such a topic as well as a four hundred page book. The movie does an excellent job of introducing the uninformed to the terrible experiences of families struck by the flu in 1918. It puts the virus in historical context and shares sad but fascinating interviews with those that lived through it. My students learned a great deal about this virus and the link between history and infectious disease. Viewing this video lead to many interesting discussions. My only complaint is that the editors, obviously pressed to fit everything in, left out the link between this virus and literature. One of the main characters in this video is Katherine Anne Porter. They share her experience with the virus and how she recovers only to find that the soldier boyfriend that helped her through it , has died of the flu. Very touching but they never mention that she went on to become one of the finest American short story writers. Porter won the Pulitzer prize for literature in 1966 for her collected works. One of her stories, titled Pale Horse, Pale Rider, tells a fictional but semi-autobiographical tale of characters in 1918 and their experience with the flu. The video quotes from this story but does not mention that Porter shared her experiences in this fine short story. My students enjoyed the show, learned a great deal and it lead to excellent discussions.

read "The Great Influenza" instead by jason (washignton dc) 2 Stars
October 22, 2004
like the other reviewers here, I found this a major disappointment. The good news is, a truly oustanding book came out this year (2004) "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History" by Barry will tell you all you wnat to know about this, and it will also give you some terrific history besides, that you would not ordinarily connect with disease (politics, war, the press, etc). An older review here, written apparently before this book was published, mentioned 2 other books. Alfred Crosby's "America's forgotten Epidemic" is also a very good book, tho not nearly as good as Barry's. It is however shorter. Gina Kolata's book-- skip it. It has little to do with events of 1918; it's really about now-dated current scientists digging up bodies lookign for the virus. Barry gives you a far better understanding of both science and the virus.

Very Interesting, Although . . . by Deborah A. Woehr (San Jose, CA USA) 3 Stars
January 07, 2002
I saw this documentary when it came out on PBS several years ago. The individual accounts of the virus and its rapid spread were quite unsettling. I got a good sense of the public's panic as friends and relatives started dying. However, if you want a thorough account of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, I would suggest reading Gina Kolata's "Flu" and "The Forgotten Pandemic" (can't remember the author--sorry). There are other books out there as well.Overall, I liked this documentary because it takes you back to a time when doctors and scientists were new to viruses. Recommended.

Disappointing 2 Stars
October 05, 2001
After much research on the influenza outbreak of 1918, I was looking forward to a nicely done synopsis (which is what the American experience usually does). This wasn't it. The video states as fact items that are not fact and ends the program in October, after the first wave of the flu, when a second wave came in late Nov/ early December. The personal narratives were wonderful, but I would reccomend viewing this video only AFTER gaining a broad knowledge of the epidemic, otherwise, it is doing a great disservice.
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