Just when Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton, is feeling especially frustrated by the lack of excitement in her small town in California, she receives wonderful news: Her uncle and namesake, Charlie Oakley, is coming to visit. However, as secrets about him come to the fore, Charlotte’s admiration turns into suspicion.
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Loner Diane Ford is a truck driver with an 11-year-old son, Peter, whom she never sees, and that's fine with her. But, when Peter's father, Len, falls ill, he asks Diane to take care of their son for a while. Eventually, Diane reluctantly agrees, but she quickly realizes that caring for a child interferes with her independent lifestyle - and Peter isn't all that thrilled with the arrangement, either.
A confessional, cautionary, and occasionally humorous tale of Robbie Robertson's young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music, The Band.
An exploration of the personal and creative struggles behind the music of four-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell.
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.
The music speaks for itself in this performance documentary that highlights some of the biggest names within the country-folk scene in Texas and Tennessee during the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976, eschewing narration and staged interviews.
A portrait of the lives of a disparate group of patrons and employees at an American watering hole today.
Raymond, a maladjusted cart pusher at a dying grocery store, has a brief yet confusing romance with an underage cashier during the final months of a suburban New Jersey summer.
DOWN HOME is a rural drama set in New England and stars Leatrice Joy as Nancy Pelot, daughter of the town drunk. He was once a businessman and still owns a local farm, but Nancy now supports her father and herself with a mysterious job in a nearby town.
Alice (Florence Vidor) is not satisfied with her family's financial situation and tries to convince others that she comes from a wealthy family. In the end she discovers that she is only fooling herself and decides to go to work to help her father's failing business.
A mechanic with terminal cancer has a bizarre secret --- he's had a life-long love-affair with a sex doll. Now his son, a D-list TV actor, must help him find the doll a new home and say goodbye.
Lightnin' and Mary Jones are co-owners of a hotel built right on a state border, used by divorcing wives so they can pretend to be in California while establishing residency in Nevada. When Lightnin' refuses to sell his share of the hotel to a gang of crooks, Mary is coerced into divorcing her husband so that she can sign over the deed herself.
A nostalgic, informative history of drive-in movie theaters, featuring extensive archival photographs and interviews with Leonard Maltin, John Bloom, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Barry Corbin and many others... Drive-In Movie Memories is a film celebration of America's greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner's business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in's birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana.
An intimate portrait of the acclaimed North Carolina band The Avett Brothers, charting their decade-and-a- half rise, while chronicling their present-day collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin on the multi-Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness.”
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short takes a look at the typical American barbershop throughout the years.
Silent Drama
A husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local production. When she begins to neglect him, he decides to retaliate by also going on stage.
This documentary is a journey into our own fascination, a collection of portraits of folk musicians living in New England, and a study of the ground on which their music is founded. We listen to them as they tell their stories and play their music. First and foremost, Behind a Hill is a tribute to these musicians and a rare peep into the house parties and basement jams of New England, in the northwestern corner of the USA, with the vain hope attached that maybe you, the viewer, will grow as fond of the music as we have. When we first encountered these musicians, we were overwhelmed by the quality of their musical output. We were entranced by the melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and tempos and every other element that constitutes a song (or, as is often the case, a piece of abstract drone music, heavy feedback, or someone banging a steel pipe against a bag of dirt while chanting in a yet undiscovered language, or...).
On the 38th anniversary of the seminal music documentary, Heartworn Highways - a film that explored and captured the nascent roots of the Outlaw Country movement in the mid-70s - this followup documentary celebrates the authenticity and expresses the feelings of the legendary original, via a community of contemporary "outlaws" living and creating music in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
A musical adventure series emanating from The Caverns in Tennessee's majestic Cumberland Mountains. Celebrating the diversity of America’s musical heritage with artists from the full spectrum of genres: Bluegrass, yes but also Americana, Country, Soul, Blues, Rock N Roll, Gospel, Folk, and everything between.
Folk musicians from both sides of the Atlantic come together in what have been called “the greatest backporch shows ever.” Collaborative live performances by various leading folk and country musicians playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America.
David Holt plays tunes and talks with modern masters of traditional music in Appalachia, showcasing not just the music but also the countryside that gave it life. Shot entirely on location, the program puts its featured performers in the context of the countryside that nurtured their musical traditions.
In the '90s, TV's stunt-filled "American Gladiators" thrilled fans. This docuseries explores the show's success — and how it almost ended before it began.
Based on the best-selling Scholastic books; Dear America features the rich and spirited stories of young women at various turning points in history.
Lost River Sessions is a television, concert, and radio series launched by WKU PBS and WKU Public Radio out of Bowling Green, KY. The series explores the music scene from the roots up by featuring musical talents in the Folk, Bluegrass, and Americana genres performing intimate live sets in various iconic venues across South Central Kentucky.
Following Folk takes us on a journey to discover the artists who are redefining folk music today. Featuring in-depth interviews and intimate performances, this series is a treat for all music lovers.
In these humorous and affectionate television poems, humorist Jean Shepherd celebrates America in all its richness and diversity -- from cars to candy, baseball to beer, motels to money. Each week a different aspect of our national psyche is explored as Shepherd travels to the Okefenokee Swamp, Death Valley, Milwaukee, the Old South, and other far-flung locations -- using the PCP-90 portable camera.
