FILMS

REDISCOVERING ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Premier national broadcast on PBS:  April 11, 2011
2011; 2 hours; high definition

Richard Brookhiser returns as host for the second film in our "Rediscovering" series, Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton. Following the style of the acclaimed Rediscovering George Washington (2002), Brookhiser walks the paths of Hamilton's life, from the Caribbean islands where he was born, to Yorktown and Wall Street where he fought and worked, to Harlem and Weehawken, where he lived and died. We hear a Treasury Secretary, a Supreme Court Justice, publishers, warriors, pornographers, lawyers, calypso singers and urban gang members talk about money, rights, news, battle, sex and honor—all the themes that shaped Hamilton's life, helped him make modern capitalist America, and led to his death in the most famous duel in American history.

Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton illuminates the life and accomplishments of one of the most brilliant yet least celebrated Founding Fathers. It does so at a brisk pace; call it history with a high-octane kick.
     -- Los Angeles Times

[The film] brings the man to life in some creatively contemporary ways.
     -- The Economist

...delightfully veers to the unexpected.
     -- The Washington Post

Hamilton Manhattan —
On Halloween, Alexander Hamilton haunts Trinity Church in Manhattan, where he is buried.

Hamilton Duel —
Decendants of Hamilton and Burr recreate their ancestors' famous duel at Weehawken, NJ.