AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, THE: THE RADIO PRIEST (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. This documentary profiles Father Charles E. Coughlin, the Depression era's popular and controversial "radio priest," whose rhetoric attracted a huge and ever-growing following of radio listeners. After a short introduction by host David McCullough, the program begins with a clip of Coughlin addressing a sold-out Madison Square Garden in 1935. The documentary recalls Coughlin's decline in popularity toward the end of the Depression, in part a result of his anti-Semitism and extremist sentiments. The program draws parallels between Coughlin and other fringe leaders of the 1930s, including Fritz Kuhn of the American Nazi Party and Earl Browder of the American Communist Party (both shown in clips), and includes a dramatization of Coughlin's fight with the Ku Klux Klan, originally prepared for the "March of Time" newsreel series. Those interviewed include Neal Shine, senior editor of the Detroit Free Press; author Wallace Stegner; Monsignor Edward Hickey, retired chancellor of the Detroit Archdiocese; and some of Coughlin's followers from his parish, Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan. The program concludes with a clip of Coughlin speaking in Cleveland Municipal Stadium during the height of his fame. McCullough makes closing remarks.
Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WGBH Boston, MA
- DATE: December 13, 1988 Tuesday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:52
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T91:0112
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: American Communist Party; American Nazi Party; Biography; Ku Klux Klan; She Made It Collection (Judy Crichton)
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1988-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Judy Crichton … Executive Producer
- Margaret Drain … Senior Producer
- Janet McFadden … Coordinating Producer
- Irv Drasnin … Producer, Writer, Narrator
- Mary Drayne … Associate Producer
- Charles Kuskin … Theme Music by
- David McCullough … Host
- Earl Browder
- Charles E. Coughlin
- Edward Hickey
- Fritz Kuhn
- Neal Shine
- Wallace Stegner