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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: PBS
EAN: 0841887006385
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Label: PBS (Direct)
Languages: EnglishOriginal Language
Manufacturer: PBS (Direct)
MPN: PBSDAMER605D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: PBS (Direct)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 06, 2006
Running Time: 60 minutes
Studio: PBS (Direct)
Theatrical Release Date: April 18, 2005
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Studio: Pbs Release Date: 05/04/2009 Run time: 60 minutes
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
This is an incredible DVD! I had known that my grandfather died of the "flu" in 1918...but never realized the full impact of this! He was only 29 years old. Now, having a 29 year old son & threat of a pandemic H1H1 flu, I became interested in this mysterious & deadly pandemic of the past.
Although it is very sad & painful to watch in parts, you will be sitting on the edge of your seat watching this. It is amazing that so MANY people are no longer aware of this tragedy. It prompted me to visit my grandfather's grave. I found that his name had never been engraved on the family stone. His brother-in-law had also passed at the same time & was in an unmarked grave as well. I had their names put on the stone last October. Probably never would have been aware or prompted to do this if it weren't for this DVD. Hoping their rest is more peaceful now!
Susan A-C (Boston, Ma)
Rating: -
This documentary gives us an excellent account of the 1918 flu epidemic that came upon us quite mysteriously and always eluded the best efforts of medicine and science to cure people afflicted with it or inoculate those who were still well. The archival footage and the still photos from that era are very, very good; and the interviews with now elderly survivors of the epidemic are so well done that they truly bring this horrible nightmare to vivid life in all its grotesqueness. The story moves along at a very good pace and I was never bored; although this only lasts one hour, they always made it a very human portrayal of the problem and it never felt rushed. The script for the narrators was well written, too.
When the film starts, we see America as it was not too long after the turn of the century; we were a young nation already emerging as a world leader. Our sense of strength and invulnerability was shattered when the flu came upon us seemingly out of nowhere. The film discusses one possibility that the flu epidemic may have started with a few military soldiers in Kansas; but to this day they're not completely certain of that. What we do know is that this strain of the flu killed people who were thought to be most resistant to flu--young people in their 20s although many others, of course, got the flu and did not survive. We also see the flu as it impacted on both sides fighting the First World War in Europe (especially France) and the story is rather grim.
Of course, there's much, much more to this story but I will stop here; I don't want to spoil it for you.
The DVD comes with a link to a teacher's guide in the form of a PDF file; you can access this from a DVD-ROM drive. There's also a link to the PBS website.
Overall, this fine documentary tells the story of a horror that caused the uncontrollable deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. I recommend this for people studying American history, the history of medicine in general; and documentaries about the human experience.
Rating: -
This 50-minute video packs in a lot of facts about this event that keeps one wondering when another pandemic of such a caliber could strike again.
We were a developing country with a lead in science. We had discovered the cure for polio, cholera, diphtheria. We were sure we could fight any other diseases that came our way.
We were wrong.
This strain struck our soldiers at Fort Riley toward the end of WWI. Soldiers were falling ill fast from this virus and doctors had no idea what was killing off our troops. We had troops to send overseas on large, crowded troop transporters, where the air-borne virus would easily spread and infect an entire carrier in a few days. This pandemic killed more Americans than all our wars in the 20th century and over 30 million world-wide, thanks to developing aircraft transportation used for the war effort. Almost every family on the eastern seaboard, especially Philadelphia, was affected. People were literally dropping dead in the streets. Scientists didn't have powerful enough microscopes yet to detect this virus, and thus had no way to develop an anti-virus for this strain. The electron-microscope had not been invented yet.
Interviews with survivors, elderly who lost family members or childhood friends, scientists are interviewed for this poignant production. Scenes of white curtains blowing in gentle window breezes add a touch of suspense to this video; one feels how traumatic the 1918 flu strain was to everyone alive at the time. And this video haunts your brain for days later.
So why, if this was such a traumatic event, did this event fall out of our collective conscienceness? Because, as one scientist explains, this was so traumatic an event that people would prefer to forget about it, although it lingers in the back of everyone's mind.
Do NOT watch this video if you are feeling sick, especially if you have bronchial problems. It may haunt you too much.
Rating: -
Excellent film. Real history of those terrible days both overseas and here at home. This was personal for me because my father was in World War 1 at this time and got the flu in France. He was shipped back home and recuperated in a hospital in New York.
Rating: -
I just previewed this short film and was really taken back at how fascinating the story is behind the Spanish Influenza. I was never taught about it in school or college and I'm a history major, it truly is a forgotten and often overlooked topic. This movie would be great for showing students and is in parts a tear-jerker. Powerful images, poignant music, and a great overview of this influenza. It makes you think about if we are prepared should a new strain arise. Great movie!
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