History Channel - Ellis Island [2003] Mandy Patinkin

Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 357 MiB
Duration                                 : 46mn 48s
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Width                                    : 696 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.288
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
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Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.090
Writing library                          : x264 core 120
 
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Walk in the footsteps of the millions of people who entered America through this legendary gateway in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

Mandy Patinkin (Ragtime, Chicago Hope) hosts this comprehensive look at America's famous gateway.

Features recollections from scores of people who came through Ellis Island.
Visit areas off-limits to the public and pore over the vast archives.

For some it was the Isle of Hope. For others, it was the Isle of Tears. For half a century, Ellis Island was America's "Golden Door." Entrance meant a new life, freedom and opportunity. Rejection meant a heartbreaking return to hopelessness.
In ELLIS ISLAND, immigrants of every ethnic background recall their extraordinary adventures, from the treacherous passage across the sea to the daunting challenge of starting life over in a new land. Historians explore the island's sometimes insensitive policies, including the casual Americanization of names. Firsthand accounts along with interviews from the Ellis Island Oral History Project reveal what the immigration experience was actually like. And rare photographs and films tell the stories of the famous people who passed through its doors many of whom would change America forever.

Amazon.com
Even the most hard-hearted will get misty eyes when the elderly Irish immigrant tells of his first view of Ellis Island and the "golden lady" in New York Harbor. People were weeping with joy, he recalls, still tearing up, and he couldn't help but fall down in prayer. To newcomers in the early 1900s, the United States was a land of hopes and dreams, and Ellis Island was the gateway, offering new soil for their first step. This film--produced for and first broadcast on the History Channel--documents in full detail the life of the way station. What started out as a modest outpost became a monumental processing center where, during its 62-year history, nearly 12 million people were poked, prodded, tested, and graded to see if they were fit for citizenship. Those with mental or physical illnesses were marked with chalk X's and sometimes shipped home. Rich with personal accounts and rare footage and photos, Ellis Island is a fitting tribute to the island and the era. It takes special care to document the shameful anti-immigrant sentiment that led to quotas and, eventually, the island's ruin and closure in 1954. Never again would new Americans be fed donuts and milk in the waiting room. --Jennifer Vogel