Movie Review

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Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 86.3 | The History Cooperative

Great American Speeches: 80 Years of Political Oratory. Prod. by Parker Payson. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 1995. 275 mins. (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053)

Narrated by Jody Powell, press secretary for President Jimmy Carter, Great American Speeches is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in twentieth-century political communication. Historians, political scientists, rhetorical critics, journalists—all will profit from this splendidly researched and produced set of six videotapes. Beginning with footage of Theodore Roosevelt, the first American president to be regularly filmed (though not on sound film), the tapes bring mainstream political history to life through the medium of oratory and public address. More than thirty-five speeches are included on the six tapes. Very few are presented in their entirety, but all are adroitly edited to feature the historical and rhetorical highlights. Each is introduced by Powell, who explains the historical context, provides biographical background on the speaker, explicates his or her oratorical techniques, and weaves the speech into the larger narrative of American politics and public discourse that unifies all six tapes. . . .

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