SMALL SCREEN
Jeepers, another rabbit hole to fall into. On your way down, you will be hours and hours on the couch. Just remember to get up occasionally to restore circulation to your lower extremities.
Poirot (1989 - 2013)
The British mystery drama that starred David Suchet and aired in the U.S. on PBS and A&E. David Suchet is wonderful as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, but what really wows the Jazz Age Junkie are the production values of this 70-episode series. The clothes, make-up, hair, locations, set design, trains, planes and automobiles are smashingly Art Deco and Jazz Age perfect. You will get so caught up in the hats, frocks and streamline modern mansions, you might lose the story line. But you won’t really care.
Favorite episode: “Dumb Witness,” starring Snubby, Season 6, Episode 4
Boardwalk Empire (2010 - 2015)
Five seasons of Prohibition mayhem in Atlantic City, based on the real bootlegger, Enoch L. Johnson, who called the shots in that city from the 1920s to 1930s.
Hotel Portofino (2022 - )
Unending intrigue in Mussolini’s Italy in the 1920s. Lots of lovely fashions, and then there’s that incredible setting supposedly on the Italian Riviera.
The House of Eliott (1991 - 1994)
If you love Jazz Age fashions, you will be thrilled to be immersed into this world of 1920s couture, and the storyline will give you a glimpse into what women of the time were up against. Like Poirot the production values are aces and the period details meticulously authentic.
Downton Abbey (2010 - 2015)
Season 3 begins in 1920, season 6 is 1925. Fun to watch the fashions evolve as the seasons roll on. Especially the hats. Also fun to see what the English upper crust wore to an ordinary dinner at home with just the folks. Movies based on the BBC series continue to be released.
Turner Classic Movies (Big Screen reduced to Small Screen)
The Jazz Age Junkie likes it when they feature an actor from way back by showing a series of his or her movies in a row. If your tastes extend to this side of the Jazz Age, Noir Alley with Oakland’s own Eddie Muller, will delight.
Babylon Berlin (2017 - 2025)
Weimar Germany was wild, and this series dives headfirst (literally at one point) into the wildness, wickedness and wonderfulness with a plot that will have you on the edge of your seat. The fifth season is due to be released in 2025.
Jeeves and Wooster (1990 - 1993)
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie bring P. G. Wodehouse’s characters to life in this British television series from the early 1990s. Of particular delight (as Jeeves might say) is the best theme music in the Jazzosphere* and a lovely Art Deco intro. Oodles of fun!
*Composed by Anne Dudley and absolutely brilliant – actually brilliant, not U.K. brilliant. (To the British almost everything is “brilliant.”)
Ken Burns Documentaries
I sometimes think I learned everything I know from Ken (and Ric) Burns. Other times I think that’s stupid. What about YouTube? Whatever the case, here are the Burnsian docs that every Jazz Baby needs to watch.
Jazz (2001)
10 episodes of jazz heaven, especially episodes 1 thru 7. The Jazz Age Junkie was compelled to buy the book and the CDs after watching the series.
Thomas Hart Benton (1988)
He painted scenes of American life in the Jazz Age that seem to pop off the walls and dance to the music of his times. After you watch the Ken Burns doc, go to the Metropolitan Museum in New York to see the Thomas Hart Benton “America Today” mural. And if you ever find yourself in Jefferson City, MO, pay a visit to the Missouri State Capitol Building to see Benton’s 1936 mural in the House Lounge.
Prohibition (2011)
Three episodes that tell the story of America’s failed experiment with forced temperance.
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014) Episodes 4 and 5
The role of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in shaping the Jazz Age is summed up in another engrossing Burns doc.
The Dust Bowl (2012)
Four episodes of human misery. It happened during the Jazz Age, but you might find it takes the gloss off your image of the era. Don’t watch unless you can compartmentalize.
New York (1999, Ric Burns)
Although the whole 17 ½ hours are riveting, episodes Five and Six capture the energy and excitement of the Jazz Age. New York was the beating heart of Art Deco for two decades, and during that time the Harlem Renaissance rose and then fell victim to the Great Depression.