American Studies Video Library
| Video Title | Length | Description |
| Abandoned: the Betrayal of America's Immigrants | 54:30 min. | |
| Acknowledge the Other One | Diversity at UMass Boston (from 1990) | |
| Africans in America Part 1 | 90 min. | The Terrible Transformation |
| Africans in America Part 2 | 90 min. | Revolution |
| Africans in America Part 3 | 90 min. | Brotherly Love |
| Africans in America Part 4 | 90 min. | Judgment Day |
| All in the Family | TV sitcom, 1970s |
Disc
One: Season One, Episodes 1-4: |
| All in the Family | TV sitcom, 1970s | Disc
Two: Season One, Episodes 5-8: 5. Archie Gives Blood; 6. Gloria's Pregnancy 7. Mike's Hippie Friends Come to Visit 8. Lionel Moves into the Neighborhood |
| All in the Family | TV sitcom, 1970s | Disc
Three: Season One, Episodes 9-13: 9. Edith Has Jury Duty; 10. Archie is Worried About His Job;11. Gloria Discovers Women's Lib; 12. Success Story; 13. The First and Last Supper |
| America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference | 90 min. | American Experience Series |
| American Dream | 98 min. DVD | True story of workers on strike at the Hormel Co. in Austin, Minn. in 1984. |
| American Dream | 98 min. VHS | True story of workers on strike at the Hormel Co. in Austin, Minn. in 1984. |
| Ancient Civilizations of the Americas | ||
| The Anderson Platoon | 65 min. VHS | B&W 1967 footage. Documentary into hte life of an Army platoon in the jungles of Vietnam. |
| Atomic Cafe | 88 min. | 20th Anniversary edition; color. Black comedy about life in the nuclear age of "duck and cover" drills presented through a collage of newreel footage, government archives, military training films, and 50s music. Regarded by critics as the nuclear "reefer madness". |
| Ave Maria: The Story of the Fishermen's Feast | 26 min. | documentary by Beth Harrington, AmSt Grad Program aluma and filmmaker |
| The Big One | 90 min. | Michael Moore's investigation into corporate greed |
| Bill Moyer: The Enemy Within | home copy | |
| Birth of a Nation | 125 min. | Silent classic directed by D.W. Griffith, based upon Thomas Dixon's book, "The Clansman". Stars Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Elmo Lincoln, and Erich von Stroheim. |
| Blood and Oil: The Middle East in WWI | DVD 112 min. | Examines the devastating conflict and Western plitical intrigue that laid the foundation for ward, coups, revolts and military interventions in the Middle East. |
| Bob Dylan | home copy VHS | M. Scorcese |
| Born to Trouble: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | 90 min. | PBS Culture Shock |
| Casablanca | 103 min. | Humphrey Bogart classic |
| The Cheat | 59 min. | 1915 classic about a wayward wife's impulsive discretions |
| Chinese in America | Parts 1 and 2 from PBS 3 part series. Home copy. | |
| Citizen Kane | 119 min. | Orson Welles's classic film based on William Randolph Hearst |
| Color Adjustment | Part 1: 48 min. Part 2: 39 min. | Part 1:
Color Blind TV? Part 2: Coloring the Dream |
| The Corporation | 145 min. | 40 corporate insiders and critics explore the nature and spectacular rise of the most pervasive institution of our time. |
| Cradle Will Rock | 134 min. VHS | A kaleidoscopic look a the extraordinary events of 1930s America. |
| Crossroads: Boyle Heights | 28 min. | Documentary compiled from life histories of Japanese American residents of Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. |
| The Crowd | 104 min. | Silent film by director King Vidor |
| Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam | 84 min. | letters from Vietnam read by actors to original film footage |
| Deadly Deception | video 29 min. | Explores the terrifying human and environmental cost of GE's nuclear weapons development. Shows Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate NY and the "Death Mile" in Hanford, WA/ |
| Do The Right Thing | 120 min. | Spike Lee directed this popular movie |
| Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb | 91 min. | Stanley Kubrick's classic with Peter Sellers and George C. Scott in a black comedy about a group of military men who plan a nuclear apocalypse. |
| Elvis in '56 | home copy | |
| Executive Suite | home copy | |
| The Fifties Greatest Comedies | 3 DVDs: The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Love that Bob, The Jack Benny Program | |
| Flashing on the Sixties | 60 min. | Inside look at music and popular culture of the 1960s |
| Free a Man to Fight | 50 min. | Women in the military in WWII |
| The Fog of War | 107 min. | Robert McNamara with a retrospective analysis on American foreign policy decisions from the 1945 bombing of Tokyo to the Vietnam War. |
| Foot Soldier: Today and the 21st Century | 50 min. | How soldiers are trained for combat; war technology |
| Frontline: Central America | ||
| Four Little Girls | 102 min. | Spike Lee's documentary on the bombing of a Baptist church on Sept. 15, 1963 that killed four young African American girls. |
| Full Metal Jacket | 116 min. | Stanley Kubrick's realistic movie of Marine Corps boot camp and Vietnam |
| Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | 92 min. | 1953 Marilyn Monroe comedy (color) |
| Geronimo and the Apache Resistance | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Ghost World | 111 min. | Two teenage girls come of age in this film starring Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch. (Used in Pop Culture classes) |
| Goin' Back to T-Town | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| The Good German | DVD 108 min. | Deft modern film noir about 1940s Germany. Starring Cate Blanchette and George Clooney. |
| Good Times (DVD) | Television
sitcom. The complete second season. Disc 1: Episodes 1-8 Disc 2: Episodes 9-16 Disc 3: Episodes 17-24 |
|
| Hairspray | 92 min. | Outrageous comedy by John Waters starring Divine, Sonny Bono, Rikki Lake, Debbie Harry, and Jerry Stiller. |
| Half Nelson | DVD 107 min. | Drama about a young teacher whose edgy yet brilliant approach to history inspires his inner-city students to think for themselves. However, his own life spirals out of control with a serious drug habit. |
| History of Colonial Packing House Workers | 29 min. | |
| The Honeymooners Vol. 10 | 30 min. TV shows | "Something Fishy" and "Oh, My Aching Back" |
| The Honeymooners Vol. 12 | 30 min. TV shows | "The Great Jewel Robbery" and "Guest Speaker" |
| The Honeymooners, Lost Episodes Vol. 13 | 30 min. TV shows on DVD | "Hot Dog Stand", "Alice Plays Cupid", "Jellybeans", and "Cottage for Sale" |
| The Honeymooners, Lost Episodes, Vol. 14 | 30 min. TV shows on DVD | "Principle of the Thing", "Alice's Aunt Ethel", "Glow Worm Cleaning", "The Hypnotist" |
| The Honeymooners, Lost Epsodes, Vol. 15 | 30 min. TV shows on DVD | "Two Men on a Horse", "The Check Up", "Hot Tips", and "A Promotion" |
| The Honeymooners, Lost Episodes, Vol. 16 | 30 min. TV shows on DVD | "Boys and Girls Together", "Anniversary Gift", "Pickles", and "This is Your Life" |
| In Search of Bin Laden | 56 min. VHS | PBS Frontline documentary. |
| Indians, Outlaws, and Angie Debo | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Investigative Reports: Women Warriors: The Making of a Marine | 50 min. | Women go through Marine Corps Boot Camp training |
| The Jazz Singer | 89 min. | B&W, first "talkie" with Al Jolson |
| Journey to America | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Kennedy vs. Wallace | 60 min. | Behind the secenes footage of the stand off between JFK and George Wallace |
| Last Stand at Little Big Horn | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Los Mineros | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| I Love Lucy: The Classics | 30 min. TV shows | "Job Switching" and "Lucy and Bob Hope" |
| I Love Lucy: The Classics | 30 min. TV shows | "L.A. at Last" and "The Fashion Show" |
| Little Big Horn | home copy VHS | |
| Imitation of Life 1934 version | 111 min. | 1934 version |
|
Imitation of Life 1959 version |
124 min. | 1959 remake |
| In the White Man's Image (American Experience) | VHS | American Experience episode from PBS |
| The Jeffersons (DVD) | Television
sitcom Disc 1: Episodes 1-8 from Season 1 Disc 2: Episodes 9-13 from Season 1 |
|
| Little Caesar | 79 min. | 1930 classic gangster film- BW |
| LBJ Goes to War | ||
| Mai's America | Vietnamese girl moves to rural Missippi for her senior year in highschool. Encounters with white Pentecostal and black Baptist host families, a local transvestite, and South Vietnamese immigrants challenge her views on America, freedom, her own identity, and Vietnam. | |
| Making Sense of the Sixties, Parts I, II, III | VHS, taped home copy | Part I:
Seeds of the 60s Part II: Civil Rights, Student Movements Part III: Counterculture (starts) |
| Making Sense of the Sixties, Parts III (cont.) & IV | VHS, taped home copy | Part III:
Counterculture (finishes) Part IV: War Protests (starts) |
| Making Sense of the Sixties, Parts IV (cont.) & V | VHS, taped home copy | Part IV:
War Protests (finishes) Part V: After 1959 |
| Mark Twain Tonight! | 90 min. | Hal Holbrook's one man show impersonating Mark Twain |
| The Marines | DVD 90 min. | Examines the unique "war culture" of the smallest but fiercest branch of the U.S. armed services. |
| Matewan | 100 min. VHS | John Sayles film about the bloody Matewan in the coal fields of West Virginia in the 1920s. |
| The Monster That Ate Hollywood (Frontline, PBS, on VHS) | 60 min. | Frontline epsisode examining the corporate mindset of Hollywood film distribution and how business practices have transformed the movie industry with devastating consequences. |
| Mr. Ed | 20 min/episode 105 min. total |
Sitcom from early 1960s about a talking horse. Video has 4 episodes: 1) Premier episode: The First Meeting, 2) Horse Wash, 3) Ed the Pilot, 4) Ed the Stowaway |
| Mr. Sears' Catalog | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| The New Land | 150 min. | Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann in this film about immigration. Dubbed in English. |
| Norma Rae | 118 min. DVD | 1979 drama about one woman's triumph in unionizing factory workers. Sally Fields won an Oscar for her performance as Norma Rae. |
| One Woman, One Vote | 106 min. | Documentary on the history of U.S. women's suffrage |
| Our Contributions: The Italians in America | 90 min. | From Columbus to Ellis Island to today. Stars Tom Lasorda, Robert Loggia, Geraldine Ferraro, Jeno Paulucci, Gay Talese, Jack Scalia, Angelo Dundee, Pat Cooper, Joe Paterno, and Bernadette Castro |
| Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism | Documentary reveals the secrets of former Fox news producers, reporters bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. | |
| Paul Robeson: Here I Stand | From PBS on Feb. 16, 2000. Home copy. | |
| The Perilous Fight | 4 hrs. | America's World War II in Color. Original color footage of America's wartime experience on the battlefield and at home. All original footage with Martin Sheen narrating. |
| Pueblo Peoples: Surviving Columbus | home copy VHS | |
| Public Enemy | 83 min. | 1931 classic gangster film - BW |
| Quinceanera | 91 min. DVD | Fictional drama about the Latina celebration of quinceanera. |
| Roger and Me | 90 min. DVD | Michael Moore's attempts to talk to the men at the top of corporate America. |
| The Quilts of Gee's Bend | 28 min. | Quilts by women who have been quilting for over a century in a small rural black community in Alabama. |
| The Rabbit in the Moon | 87 min. | The story of 120,000 Japanese American who were impisoned in campus curing WWII. |
| Return With Honor | 102 min. | VHS. Story of American fighter pilots shot down over Vietnam and the psychological changes POWs go through. |
| The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, episode 2: Fighting Back 1896-1917 | WGBH series | |
| Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, episode 3: Don't Shoot Too Soon 1918-1940 | WGBH series | |
| Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, episode 4: Terror and Triumph 1940-1954 | WGBH series | |
| The Road to 9/11 | DVD 60 min. | A look at theforces that have shaped the modern Middle East, from terrorism to dictators to the CIA. Spans an entire century. |
| Roger and Me | 91 min. | Michael Moore's attempts to track down GM president Roger Smith |
| A Singing Stream | 60 min. | Black family chronicle about gospel music |
| Sit Down & Fight: Rise of the Auto Workers' Union | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Stagecoach | 97 min. | John Ford movie that made John Wayne famous |
| Star Wars | 124 min. | George Lucas's classic science fiction film originally released in 1977 |
| That Rhythm, Those Blues | 60 min. | American Experience Series |
| Tell Me a Riddle | 94 min. VHS | 1980 production of Tillie Olsen's novella. |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | 130 min. | based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel |
| To The Moon | 120 min. DVD | NOVA production on the story behind JFK's challenge to put a man on the moon. |
| Treasures from American Film Archives Program 1 | DVD | Program 1 of 50 preserved films |
| Treasures from American Film Archives Program 2 | DVD | Program 2 of 50 preserved films |
| Treasures from American Film Archives Program 3 | DVD | Program 3 of 50 preserved films |
| Treasures from American Film Archives Program 4 | DVD | Program 4 of 50 preserved films |
| Two Days in October | 90 min. | American Experience film on two days in October 1967 (focusing on a Viet Cong ambush nearly killing an entire American battalian raises the public's awareness that the war may be unwinnable and a Wisconsin campus student war protest that becomes violent). Based on Pulitzer Prize winning jounalist's book "They Marched into Sunlight". |
| Unchained Memories: Slave Narratives | 90 min. | HBO film, home copy |
| Vietnam Passage: Journeys from War to Peace | The side of the drama you haven't seen before, told by six Vietnamese who lived it. | |
| Welcome to the Club: the Women of Rockabilly | 60 min. | 2002 film by AMST MA alumnae, Beth Harrington. Features Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin, and Lorrie Collins. |
| Wild in the Streets | 97 min. | |
| WWI: Roots of Roe | home copy |