The Civil War (TV series)
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| The Civil War | |
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| Also known as | "The American Civil War" |
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Starring | Sam Waterston Jason Robards Morgan Freeman Garrison Keillor Arthur Miller |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 608 minutes (9 episode) |
| Production company(s) | American Documentaries Inc. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS |
| Original run | 23 September 1990 – 27 September 1990 |
| Status | Ended |
The Civil War is an acclaimed documentary film created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most watched program ever to air on PBS, to this day remaining one of the most popular shows broadcast by PBS. It is considered to be Ken Burns's magnum opus.
The documentary is 11 hours in length, consists of nine episodes and makes extensive use of more than 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war. These are intermixed with contemporary cinematography, music, narration by David McCullough, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote, historians Barbara J. Fields, Ed Bearss, and Stephen B. Oates, and a chorus of voice acted characters such as Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln, Jason Robards as Ulysses S. Grant, Garrison Keillor as Walt Whitman, and Morgan Freeman as Frederick Douglass, who read quotes from the historic figures of the period. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.
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[edit] Musical theme
The theme song of the documentary, "Ashokan Farewell," which was performed for the film by its composer Jay Ungar, became so closely associated with the war thanks to the film that people frequently and erroneously believe it was written and performed during the Civil War. In fact, it is the only piece in the entire soundtrack which was not from the Civil War period.
[edit] Voices
Described as "voices", a large cast of actors dub correspondences, memoirs, news articles, and the like from the Civil War.
- David McCullough...Narrator
- Sam Waterston...Abraham Lincoln
- Julie Harris...Mary Chesnut
- Jason Robards...Ulysses S. Grant
- Morgan Freeman...Frederick Douglass†
- Paul Roebling...Joshua Chamberlain
- Garrison Keillor...Walt Whitman†
- George Black...Robert E. Lee
- Arthur Miller...William Tecumseh Sherman
- Chris Murney...Elisha Hunt Rhodes
- Charley McDowell...Sam Watkins
- Horton Foote...Jefferson Davis
- George Plimpton...George Templeton Strong
- Philip Bosco...Horace Greeley†
- Terry Courier...George B. McClellan
- Jody Powell...Stonewall Jackson†
- Studs Terkel...Benjamin Butler
- Hoyt Axton...Various
- Colleen Dewhurst...Various
- Shelby Foote...Various
- Ronnie Gilbert...Various
- Jeremy Irons...Various
- Derek Jacobi...Various
- Kurt Vonnegut...Various
- Pamela Reed...Various
†Performer voiced other characters as well
[edit] Episodes
- Episode 1: The Cause (1861)
- Episode 2: A Very Bloody Affair (1862)
- Episode 3: Forever Free (1862)
- Episode 4: Simply Murder (1863)
- Episode 5: The Universe of Battle (1863)
- Episode 6: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1864)
- Episode 7: Most Hallowed Ground (1864)
- Episode 8: War Is All Hell (1865)
- Episode 9: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865)
[edit] External links
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