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  • Prohibition A Nation of Scofflaws (Season 1, Episode 2)
  • TV-PG
    TV Episode | 111 min | Documentary, History

Prohibition

A Nation of Scofflaws (Season 1, Episode 2)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 111 min | Documentary, History

With the passing of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the federal government now passes legislation to enforce it. Known as the Volstead Act, the legislation forbids not only hard liquor but also beer and light wine which many ...See moreWith the passing of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the federal government now passes legislation to enforce it. Known as the Volstead Act, the legislation forbids not only hard liquor but also beer and light wine which many legislators assumed would be exempted. Penalties as well were far harsher than many had expected. The ban on alcoholic beverages could not be complete as alcohol was required by many industrial processes. There were also exemptions for religious observances and for medicinal purposes. In fact, from the day the ban went into into effect,entrepreneurs found ways, some legal, most not - to get around the law. Some States had no legislation to implement the new amendment to the constitution and for the most part, the Federal government was left on its own to enforce it. Rum running. became big business with schooners plying their trade on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the U.S. By the mid-1920s many people had come to the conclusion that prohibition was a mistake. Those who drank were drinking more and with no way for government to regulate the illegal industry, they were also drinking bad liquor. Criminal gangs sprang up across the country but Chicago became synonymous with vice and booze. Written by garykmcd See less
Read more: Plot summary
Directors
Writer
Geoffrey C. Ward (written by)
Composer
Cinematographer
Status
Edit Released
Updated Oct 3, 2011

Release date
Oct 3, 2011 (United States)

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Cast

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61 cast members
Name Known for
Peter Coyote
Self - Narrator (voice) Self - Narrator (voice)   See fewer
Donald Ward
Self - Resident of Washington, D.C. Self - Resident of Washington, D.C.   See fewer
Noah Feldman
Self - Legal Scholar Self - Legal Scholar   See fewer
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Self - Historian Self - Historian   See fewer
Daniel Okrent
Self - Writer Self - Writer   See fewer
Freddie Johnson
Self - Historian Self - Historian   See fewer
Pete Hamill
Self - Writer Self - Writer   See fewer
John Paul Stevens
Self - Resident of Chicago (as Justice John Paul Stevens) Self - Resident of Chicago (as Justice John Paul Stevens)   See fewer
Edwin T. Hunt Jr.
Self - Son of Edwin Hunt Self - Son of Edwin Hunt   See fewer
Zeke Alpern
Self - Resident of New York City Self - Resident of New York City   See fewer
Michael Lerner
Self - Historian Self - Historian   See fewer
Dorothea Brown
Self - Resident of Maine Self - Resident of Maine   See fewer
Sylvester Mather
Self - Resident of Kentucky Self - Resident of Kentucky   See fewer
Margot Loines Wilkie
Self - Resident of Massachusetts Self - Resident of Massachusetts   See fewer
Jack Clarke
Self - Resident of Chicago Self - Resident of Chicago   See fewer
Jonathan Eig
Self - Writer Self - Writer   See fewer
Roger Angell
Self - Resident of New York Self - Resident of New York   See fewer
Ruth Proskauer Smith
Self - Resident of New York Self - Resident of New York   See fewer
Jack Roche
Self - Resident of Chicago Self - Resident of Chicago   See fewer
John Caldwell
Self - Resident of Kentucky (as Reverend John Caldwell) Self - Resident of Kentucky (as Reverend John Caldwell)   See fewer
William Leuchtenburg
Self - Historian Self - Historian   See fewer
Joshua Zeitz
Self - Historian Self - Historian   See fewer
Patricia Olmstead McFarlane
Self - Daughter of Roy Olmstead Self - Daughter of Roy Olmstead   See fewer
Patricia Clarkson
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
Kevin Conway
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
Paul Giamatti
George Remus (voice) George Remus (voice)   See fewer
Tom Hanks
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
John Lithgow
H.L. Mencken (voice) H.L. Mencken (voice)   See fewer
Josh Lucas
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
Campbell Scott
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
Sam Waterston
Reader (voice) Reader (voice)   See fewer
Louis D. Brandeis
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Al Capone
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Frank Capone
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Winston Churchill
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Calvin Coolidge
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Frank Costello
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Harry Daugherty
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
John W. Davis
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Franklin Dodge
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Izzy Einstein
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Warren G. Harding
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Imogene Holmes
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Bertha Knight Landes
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Kenesaw M. Landis
Self (archive footage) (as Kennesaw Mountain Landis) Self (archive footage) (as Kennesaw Mountain Landis)   See fewer
Lucky Luciano
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
William McCoy
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Charles Dion O'Bannion
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Roy Olmstead
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
George Remus
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Arnold Rothstein
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Joseph Saltis
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Dutch Schultz
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Al Smith
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Jess Smith
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
William Hale Thompson
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Johnny Torrio
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Andrew Volstead
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Mabel Willebrandt
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
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