The Fifties

Although popular myth has it that during the '50s returning G.I.'s impregnated their gals with 2.1 children, bought suburban Levittown-style Cape Cod homes, traded in their khakis for gray flannel suits, and lived a Ward Cleaver existence only mildly aggravated by the twin threats of nuclear destruction and Communist infiltration, the reality was…not much different. At least on the surface. In reality, as David Halberstam points out, in this excellent adaptation of his bestselling book The Fifties, the seeds of the social upheaval of the '60s were all sown in the 1950s. As viewers will discover in this fascinating overview of the period, the Beats were turning on and dropping out long before their Hippie offspring, Betty Friedan and others were discovering that they didn't automatically "experience that orgasm throwing the dish powder into the washing machine," and Ralph Ellison, an "invisible man" among an invisible people, was in the vanguard of black writers and activists who challenged America to honor its own creed. Mixing excellent broad coverage and interesting individual details (the impact of Grace Metallious's bombshell book Peyton Place, for instance), this entertaining and instructive romp through the era is packed with superb commentary from a host of social critics (including Friedan, Pete Hamill, the late Allen Ginsburg, and Ralph Nader) and wonderful archival footage (the "duck and cover" footage will surely bring back cringing memories for many). Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)