American Masters

History Series / 16 Seasons

American Masters, committed to producing comprehensive film biographies about the broad cast of characters who comprise our cultural history.

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Mark Childress on To Kill a Mockingbird

2m 37s

Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama, describes how Harper Lee's protagonist Scout Finch, the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird, was a radical voice of change in the segregated south of his childhood. Harper Lee: Hey Boo airs Monday April 2nd at 10 p.m. (check local listings).

Richard Russo on To Kill a Mockingbird

3m 34s

Novelist Richard Russo describes how he reluctantly read To Kill a Mockingbird as a student in Catholic school. Russo explains how the relationships described in the book influenced him as a writer and provided inspiration for his own characters in his Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Empire Falls. Harper Lee: Hey Boo airs Monday April 2nd at 10 p.m. (check local listings).

Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize Night

3m 25s

Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize in the spring of 1937, to the dismay of some critics and the delight of others. Mitchell received news of the prize by phone, along with multiple requests for interviews. Hating publicity, she fled to a gospel concert at a small black church in Atlanta with her husband and close associates. The press scoured the city but never found her.

The Grand Premiere

4m 50s

The premiere of the blockbuster movie Gone With the Wind took place in Atlanta on December 15, 1939. With crowds swelling to the hundreds of thousands, it was apparent the South had been waiting a long time for this moment. For many, Margaret Mitchell's story of survival helped to redeem the South from decades of pain and suffering experienced after the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Is Gone With The Wind Literature?

3m 40s

Scholars and devoted readers of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 classic novel have been arguing the book's literary merits for decades. Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel premieres nationally on Monday, April 2 from 9-10 p.m.

Maybelle Stephens Mitchell, Southern Suffragist

3m 1s

The most important person in Margaret Mitchell's life was her mother Maybelle Stephens Mitchell. Maybelle was a powerful public figure who fought in the first two decades of the 20th century to get women the right to vote. Mitchell was in awe of her mother and felt she could never live up to her mother's expectations.

Steve Brodner sketches Cab Calloway Part 2

4m 23s

Stever Brodner creates a second sketch of Cab Calloway to Calloway's classic hit "Minnie The Moocher" for the documentary AMERICAN MASTERS Cab Calloway: Sketches, premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (check local listings). Brodner's completed sketch comes alives and dances alongside Matthew Rushing, choreographer/principal dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Chris Calloway Brooks Discuss His Grandfather

3m 42s / TV-PG

Chris Calloway Brooks, musician and current director of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, discusses his grandfather Cab Calloway's accomplishments and style. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Danny Holgate plays Gershwin

26s

Danny Holgate plays a section of George Gershwin's "Ain't Necesarily So" from Porgy and Bess, a song sung by a Cab inspired character, in an outtake from the documentary Cab Calloway: Sketches. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Steve Brodner sketches Cab Calloway Part 1

2m 36s

Watch Steve Brodner create one of the sketches used in the documentary AMERICAN MASTERS Cab Calloway: Sketches to the soundtrack of Cab Calloway's "Everybody Eats When They Come To My House."Cab Calloway: Sketches premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Cab Calloway's Straight Hair

1m 49s

Horn player Gerald Wilson, jazz writer Gary Giddens, and jazz critic/cultural historian Stanley Crouch discuss how Cab's straight hair, unusual in people of African American descent, and his ability to toss it while performing, played into his persona and popularity as an entertainer. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (check local listings).

Cab Calloway vs. Dizzy Gillespie

2m 29s

Jazz writer Gary Giddens and jazz critic/cultural historian Stanley Crouch tell one of the great stories about the rivalry between Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie, both eccentric performers in their own right, when Gillespie played trumpet in Calloway's band. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Cab Calloway: Sketches

30s / TV-14

Calloway was also an ambassador for his race, leading one of the most popular African American big bands during the Harlem Renaissance and jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s. American Masters celebrates "The Hi De Ho Man's" legacy during Black History Month with the documentary Cab Calloway: Sketches premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

The Blues Brothers Band Remembers Cab Calloway

2m 22s

Lou Marini (saxophone), Steve Cropper (guitar), and Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) tell a story about a time when Cab Calloway sang "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess while walking to their respective elevators. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

2m 11s / TV-14

American Masters opens its 26th season with the biography of a conflicted troubadour who, with guitar in hand, stood up for what he believed in and challenged us all to do the same. Three-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kenneth Bowser examines one of America's most iconic folk music heroes in Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune, premiering nationally Monday, January 23 at 10 pm (check local listings).

Interview with Christopher Hitchens

5m 51s

Before his untimely passing on December 15, 2011, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens sat for an interview for Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune, airing January 23 at 10 pm (check local listings). Hitchens offered his viewpoint on the music of Ochs, the United States involvement in Chile, how the modern documentaries have replaced folk music in activism, and more.

Interview with Kenneth Bowser

3m 8s

Emmy Award nominated director Kenneth Bowser explains why he chose to make a documentary about Phil Ochs, why he seems to have been written out of the history of folk music, and the unique way that Ochs' music marries activism and his personal life. Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune premieres Monday, January 23 at 10 pm on PBS (check local listings) and Sunday January 22 at 7:30 pm in New York.

Eames Outtakes: Charles' Uniform

1m 9s / TV-G

Find out about Charles Eames' decision to dress himself in similar clothes every day as a uniform - something he believed saved his energy for decision making at the office. Narrated by James Franco, Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter premieres nationally Monday, December 19 at 10 p.m. (check local listings) as the 25th anniversary season finale of American Masters.

Eames Outtakes: Having Fun

2m 39s / TV-G

In archival footage from "An Eames Celebration," a film for WNET created in 1973, Ray Eames struggles to describe any activities that give her more joy than success in their projects and works. Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter premieres nationally Monday, December 19 at 10 p.m. (check local listings) as the 25th anniversary season finale of American Masters.

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