Safe Harbor

The Underground Railroad--a network of abolitionists that aided Southern slaves to flee to the North (and often, especially in the later years, to Canada) from the 1830s through the end of the Civil War--is the subject of this hour-long documentary (made in association with Pennsylvania Public Broadcasting), which approaches the subject from a broad perspective, portraying it as “the first civil rights movement in American history." Understandably, given its source, the film concentrates on activity in Pennsylvania (particularly the area around Erie), a state that had passed a graduated anti-slavery law and whose long southern border coincided with the Mason-Dixon line, which fugitives crossed in their bid for freedom. Narrated with passion by Philadelphia storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston, the film takes a more impressionistic approach, eschewing a strictly chronological organization for a more topic-oriented one (a segment on the influence of plantation songs is typical). Still, while the structure sometimes seems haphazard, the handsomely-produced Safe Harbor compensates for an occasional lack of focus with striking portraits of individuals (some of them famous, like John Brown) and exciting descriptions of dramatic episodes. DVD extras include bonus interview footage. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)