History Channel Documentaries

Benjamin Franklin (2004x3)

Air date: Dec 05, 2004

Inventor, writer, businessman, scientist, diplomat, and the face gracing the hundred-dollar bill--this stately figure is the Benjamin Franklin history has taught us to remember. Now, in this revealing yet informal History Channel® presentation, the real man behind the myth is finally brought to light. By his own admission, the man who negotiated an alliance with France, helped write the Declaration of Independence and was the first to tame lightning was far from perfect. A self-promoter and occasionally ruthless competitor, this Founding Father never made a penny from his achievements and was more comfortable speaking in front of the British Parliament than he was being with his own family. Narrated in an easy, conversational tone by Edward Herrmann (Intolerable Cruelty, The Practice), BEN FRANKLIN features in-depth interviews with renowned biographers and historians, as well as reenactments shot in High-Definition video on locations in Philadelphia--a truly remarkable virtual "walk" in Franklin's footsteps. Available on DVD for the first time, BEN FRANKLIN is a fresh, down-to-earth, informative look at one of America's most essential human monuments.