The Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio; A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America

A rather dry and academic public television-aired documentary examining the difficulties health workers face in trying to stem polio outbreaks in Third World nations, Scott Thigpen's The Last Child provides a primer on the paralyzing disease and its history, but mainly follows doctors as they travel village to village in susceptible areas, trying to convince superstitious or mistrusting populations to accept modern medicine, while also coping with the challenges of wars and warlords, facing confrontations from local elders frustrated with selective treatments ("Just polio!", one man complains, "always just polio!"), and tracking each outbreak to its source through genetic testing. An informative program that successfully spotlights some of the heroes of the battle against a disease that has proven to be a more formidable foe than once thought, the DVD release includes three bonus videos, an historical timeline, and photo galleries. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (R. Blackwelder) Debuting on DVD, Nina Gilden Seavey's remarkable award-winning 1998 documentary A Paralyzing Fear offers a fascinating chronicle of the war on a crippling disease that arrived in America circa 1916 and rose to epidemic proportions in the 1940s and '50s. The combination of a fearful citizenry and a president (Franklin D. Roosevelt) personally stricken by polio led to a full-out campaign to eradicate the illness, which ultimately resulted in Jonas Salk's lifesaving vaccine. Narrated by Olympia Dukakis, the film interweaves interviews with polio survivors and their family members, as well as doctors, officials, and others who remember the days of sugar-cube vaccines, together with archival footage (including clips from the March of Dimes) and stills, to limn a gripping story of a time when Americans had faith in the confluence of science and leadership. DVD extras include three mini-documentaries on epidemic disease, a historical timeline, and an archival photo gallery. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)