The American Experience: The Great San Francisco Earthquake

F. Murray Abraham (Best Actor winner for Amadeus) narrates this absorbing documentary on the "greatest natural disaster in a North American city": the April, 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco that claimed some 3,000 lives. After six previous fires, this exploding metropolis made out of wood was by the turn of the century "a city waiting to burn." In the early dawn hours of April 18th, that is precisely what happened. The program not only recounts the hour by hour series of events that razed the city (often told by survivors), it also discusses the social melting pot that not only survived the trial by fire, but banded together in a single indomitable mission: to rebuild the city. The film closes with footage of a fiercely proud San Francisco hosting the World's Fair in 1915. An excellent documentary with amazing footage and stills, and that rare bear indeed, a literate screenplay. Other titles in the series include: Radio Bikini; Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?; That Rhythm, Those Blues; and The World That Moses Built. Highly recommended. (Available from: PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314-1698;1-800-424-7963.)