A chronicle of the clash between two film-making legends when they tried to work together in the 1940s.

A presentation of the award-winning PBS series American Masters, Norman Rockwell: Painting America etches a warm and indelible portrait of one of America's most beloved artists. Insightful commentary by art experts and historians enhances one's appreciation of Rockwell's deceptively simple work. To look at Rockwell's paintings, one observer notes, is to enter "a mythical land of childhood innocence and exuberance." Director Steven Spielberg, who paid homage to a Rockwell tableau in his film Empire of the Sun, adds, "He dealt with every touchstone in life and made a meal out of it.... He captured us in the blink of an artistic eye." Norman Rockwell: Painting America traces the artist's life and career. One might be surprised, for example, that Rockwell was not born and raised in a small town but in cosmopolitan New York City. We also get a privileged look inside Rockwell's studio for a glimpse into how he created his masterworks. One of his daughters relates an anecdote with the same impish smile her father so wonderfully captured in a famous painting depicting a disheveled schoolgirl sitting outside the principal's office, the victor in a playground tussle with a boy. Rockwell's paintings captured the way we were and how we should be. His legacy and spirit can be seen, for example, in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. "He told us we were good," one historian states. Seen in a Person to Person broadcast with host Edward R. Murrow, Rockwell himself remarks, "I paint life as I would like it to be." --Donald Liebenson

Narrated by Tony Bennett, the first comprehensive documentary portrait of legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald movingly tells the dramatic but true story of an ambitious girl who raised herself out of poverty to become the most accomplished vocalist of all time. This definitive look at "The First Lady of Song" chronicles Ella's entire career, from her amateur night appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York to her unparalleled success on the stage and screen. The film includes never-before-seen performance footage and interviews with many of the great musicians who worked with and admired this truly amazing performer.

The story of a choreographer who contributed much to the style of American performance dance in the modern era.

A biography of one of the first African-American actors to regularly star in mainstream movies.

An installment on the violin master with comments from his musical colleagues.

When Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs met in New York City in the 1940s, they had no intention of starting a social revolution. According to Ginsberg, “We were just trying to propose our own souls to ourselves.” In the midst of post-war conservatism, these young writers had become disenchanted and were experimenting with new forms of communication.