Reviews

“CBS offers classy China documentary…a bristling script by producer Irv Drasnin, backed by editing which scored all the contentions vividly.”
—Bill, Variety, 2/23/1972

“…an exemplary documentary…a brilliant job of showing misconceptions about China…”
—Howard Kissel, Women’s Wear Daily, 2/18/1972

“…by all odds the best documentary I’ve seen on the Sino-American relationship. It strikes me as real history in the best sense…well balanced and full of solid good sense and valuable perspective.”
—John King Fairbank, Director, East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 2/22/1972

“Misunderstanding China is one of the two most influential films about China.”
—Gordon Chang, Professor of History, Director, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University, 11/29/2012

“…a valuable study in unusual depth including rare interviews… The present and past of the city are expertly intermingled to illustrate key aspects of the revolution.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 3/8/1974

“Hearing about the (mysterious) Cultural Revolution from a former Red Guard or a factory worker recalling the ‘battle of fists and iron bars’ is an eye opener.”
—Patricia Simmons, Washington Star-News, 3/8/1974

“…a fascinating and informative film…”
—Arthur Unger, Christian Science Monitor, 3/7-8/1974

“…one of the best documentaries in the Frontline series…firm evidence of the long-range value of TV’s only weekly documentary series.”
—Arthur Unger, Christian Science Monitor, 5/9/1983

“What a superb combination of picture and sense…conveys more of Chinese humanity and personality than any number of books could ever do… The contrast between the fanaticism of the crowd years ago and the perplexed straightforwardness of the individuals today came across very clearly…”
—Professor John King Fairbank, Harvard University, 5/10/1983

“Mind-boggling. Producer Drasnin made his first trip to China in 1973…and he proves himself a superb guide to the new China.”
—Harriet Van Horne, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, 6/2/1992

“…an amazing special report…score one for Frontline…first in-depth opportunity with the American TV audience to see what’s happening (in China) since the 1989 student takeover…”
—Joanne Ostrow, The Denver Post, 6/1/1992

“…cogent…colorful…enterprising report.”
—Walter Goodman, New York Times, 6/2/1992

“…the best interpretive glimpse of China I’ve seen since the Tiananmen tragedy…revealing and quite possibly prescient.”
—John Carman, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/2/1992

“…fascinating…engrossing…Drasnin makes the most of it.”
—Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, 5/29/1992

“This is a compelling and deeply moving film that deserves the widest possible audience.”
—Jonathan D. Pollack, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

“This is a splendid documentary…a poignant way for Americans and other foreigners to begin to understand modern Chinese history.”
—Chas Freeman Jr., former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Nixon’s principle interpreter in China

“Anyone wanting to understand the trials and tribulations of modern China should see this documentary.”
—Terry Lautz, Syracuse University

“Highly recommended for those seeking more clearly to comprehend both the allure and the inhumanity of revolutionary Maoism.”
—Richard Baum, Author, “Burying Mao”

“…the reason for showing it should be clear to anyone who watches it—and everyone should… (as good as those first four hours are) the finale—produced specially for Frontline—is even better…the entire hour is brilliant.”
—David Bianculli, New York Post, 12/14/1987

“The fifth hour is a potent one as Frontline brings us what the Big Three commercial networks have failed to cover…Drasnin brings us a fascinating, mind-boggling concept…(that) could have international repercussions.”
—Barbara Halsopple, Phoenix Gazette, 12/15/1987

“American viewers have never before been offered so sustained and revealing a look at apartheid…Apartheid special sets the standard.”
—Eric Mink, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/14/1987

“…intelligently presented and almost casually devastating. Mr. Drasnin’s techniques are low-keyed…his overall impact is all the more powerful.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 3/28/1977

“…enlightening…informative…revealing. Fine examination of Rhodesia, convincing, and frightening.”
—Tone, Variety, 3/29/1977

“…this hour will instruct you while chilling your blood with its portents. It is a quiet, thorough documentary with the ominous air of a cinema thriller. CBS owes this fine film a re-run, preferably on a dreary night when viewers are roaming the dial for treasure.”
—Harriet Van Horne, New York Magazine, 4/4/1977

“…a conscience-stirring CBS Special…the program was a litany of the evils of racism…”
—Kay Gardella, The New York Daily News, 12/16/1970

“…one of the most biting documentaries seen on the airwaves in the long time.”
—Percy Shain, The Boston Globe, 12/16/1970

“…one of the most incredible sequences ever shown on American television…much has been written about Soviet dissenters but not until (now) has the story had the mass audience television provides.”
—Chalmers M. Roberts, The Washington Post, 7/31/1970

“…an exceptionally daring and inspiring program…”
—Diana Loercher, Christian Science Monitor, 7/31/1970

“The vast enigma that surrounds the Russian giant received a few pinpricks of light thanks to this quite remarkable CBS News Special…What (these dissidents) said made a potent package of dynamite…”
—Percy Shain, The Boston Globe, 7/29/1970

“…an incisive and well-balanced statement.”
—Don Musco, The Hollywood Reporter, 11/19/1968

“…Irv Drasnin not only had some exceptional footage but integrated it into a first-rate script…that carefully eschewed traditional thinking that frequently obscures the facts…”
—Mor., Variety, 11/27/1968

“…the result is extremely powerful television, making use of the medium in ways impossible to duplicate in any other medium. The combined impact of script, pictures, and sounds is extraordinary…the questions raised are incredibly complex. ‘The Guns of Autumn’ is exceptional television journalism… The result will undoubtedly generate impassioned argument, but that is what TV can be all about.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 9/5/1975

“…Drasnin has compiled an impressively searching program… (‘The Guns of Autumn’) is not really an indictment of hunters and hunting but it does question and even indict certain practices in the so-called sport of hunting. CBS already has received protests about the program, even though it has not been aired, from individuals or groups opposed to any questions about hunting.”
—Val Adams, New York Daily News, 9/4/1975

“…in a gesture rare for commercial television (CBS News) rather lustily bites the hand that feeds it.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 4/26/1973

“Few of us have ever seen a miracle. We’ll get the chance tonight when CBS takes a big corporate gamble and broadcasts You and The Commercial… It is wry, tough, occasionally funny, and consistently interesting. You definitely should watch it.”
—Jay Sharbutt (Associated Press), Baltimore Sun, 4/26/1973

“The program told it all. Drasnin made such a bold and balanced approach to the commercial game, it will be interesting to see what the repercussions will be…”
—Richard K. Shull, The Indianapolis News, 4/27/1973

“…compellingly told by Mr. Drasnin, remains an object lesson in demagoguery, as relevant as ever.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 12/13/1988

“…introduces us to a media monster and plants him squarely in his time—as well as ours… What makes this film so powerful is its connection to the present.”
—Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 12/13/1988

“‘What’s past is prologue,’ wrote Shakespeare. If you doubt it, tune in and meet The Radio Priest.”
—Harriet Van Horne, Total Television, 12/10-17/19881

“…if there is a lesson here, it is to beware of public figures who come bearing an Americanism to their own narrow specifications.”
—Walter Goodman, New York Times, 11/18/1991

“…an excellent documentary should be required viewing by high school and college students studying American history for the half-century beginning in the 1920s…a welcome antidote to the normal gushing pablum about the myth of the top G-Man.”
—King Features Syndicate (TV Key), 11/10/1991

“The controversial former FBI chief gets a grilling in this American Experience documentary.”
—Time Magazine, 11/18/1991

“Fascinating…no computer can match the intelligence and sensitivity shown by Irv Drasnin’s production, direction, and writing of this rich program.”
—Walter Goodman, New York Times, 3/26/1991

“…a biting series on the alarming state of ‘Health in America.’ Irv Drasnin, producer, documented with vivid detail the consequences of the shortages of doctors and nurses. The CBS study showed the facts as they are.”
—Jack Gould, The New York Times, 4/21/1970

“…burning with the zeal and indignation of a crusader. In strong, biting words, it contrasted the myth with the reality—the myth that Americans are getting the best medical care in the world. This devastating indictment will heap further laurels on the proud documentary series which was originated by the late Edward R. Murrow.”
—Percy Shain, Boston Globe, 4/21/1970

“It was a frank, forthright report. An excellent hour…a powerful hour.”
—Kay Gardella, New York Daily News, 4/21/1970

“The series—and its opener—is television at its best…all laid out in inescapable gravity through…the highly responsible and effective production and fine writing of Irv Drasnin. CBS Reports is out there again moving mountains…and gives us something to think about.”
—William Tusher, The Hollywood Reporter, 4/23/1970

“…a slashing expose of health care in America…a numbing analysis of a national crisis…producer-writer Irv Drasnin enlists our trust from the sheer scope of what is reported.”
—Ray Loynd, Entertainment World, 4/24/1970

“The volatile relationship between those who manage the unions and those who work within them…is a continuing source of stress in business and (Inside the Union) handled it well. Producer Irv Drasnin directed from his own balanced script…for this probing CBS presentation.”
—Earl Davis, The Hollywood Reporter, 3/7/1979

“…it is a well-made documentary that throws in labor history, interesting observations by steelworkers, and a candid look at the voting inequities which infuriate the rank-and-file workers.”
—Terrence O’Flaherty, 3/5/1979

“Drasnin’s instincts were solid…he let his subjects do the talking. Captivating slice-of-life imagery…captures Hollywood at perfect pitch.”
—David T. Friendly, Los Angeles Times, 5/13/1986

“…fascinating documentary…in the land of characters, Hollywood Dreams presents a few unforgettable ones…a sense of humor and irony pervades the film.”
—Monica Collins, USA Today, 5/13/1986

“The most fascinating program on television tonight…it’s behind-the-scenes look at how movies are made…listening in (on how deals are made) is better than most of the movies these days.”
—Tom Dorsey, The Louisville Times, 5/13/1986

“To use sportsspeak, ‘Forever Baseball’ can do it all…as part of ‘The American Experience’ on PBS, it’s the Babe Ruth or Willie Mays of its genre, arguably the best TV program on baseball ever…it’s this historical view—and the perception of baseball as the nation’s common denominator—that makes Drasnin’s video essay an upper-deck shot that clears the bases…what grand stuff, a program that hits it right. Break out the Cracker Jack.”
—Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, 11/7/1989

“…between the interviews, Drasnin takes the viewer on an evocative excursion through archival film…beyond the pure entertainment, the program succeeds in lacing baseball tightly into American culture…”
—John Carman, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/7/1989

“There should be joy in Mudville…It’s a slick and entertaining documentary by Irv Drasnin, a veteran of any number of ‘CBS Reports’ and ‘Frontline’ documentaries as well as last season’s fascinating ‘Radio Priest’ on American Experience. Drasnin has fielded a team of literary hard-hitters, from Walt Whitman to John Updike…(he) hits a real home run with the films that recall everything from baseball cards to Little League games.”
—John Voorhees, Seattle Times, 11/7/1989

“Perhaps the best sports special yet assembled by television, this program was a milestone in its genre…used its material to illustrate a social and psychological fabric of American life by the image and by the word, producer-writer Irv Drasnin dramatically and convincingly tied football to the quality of American life…the form and content of the show expressed a unity of purpose unusual in a show about sports…a touchstone of the American idea.”
—Ray Loynd, Entertainment World, 10/24/1969

“Score a touchdown for old CBS…and an intelligent, humorous and literate sports special…as definitive a special as you could hope for on the subject.”
—Don Page, Los Angeles Times, 10/22/1969

“…a deeply touching half-hour…one was persuaded that nobody, while his mind can function, is either hopeless or incorrigible…the CBS program examined a highly controversial organization whose purpose is to revive hope in the hopeless.”
—Harriet Van Horne, The New York World-Telegram and Sun, 3/14/1966

“…an important documentary…while giving all sides a fair hearing…raises some crucial issues that go beyond simple debate over what should be seen on TV…in some ways the circumstances seem reminiscent of the 1950’s Red Scare inspired by Wisconsin’s Senator Joseph McCarthy.”
—Ron Legro, Milwaukee Sentinel, 12/12/1981

“…PBS’ incisive Inside Story…probably the most exhaustive television examination done to date of the video holy war of the 80’s.”
—Kenneth Clark, TV World, UPI, 12/10/1981

“…a balanced and fair view of the battle that rages between the (Coalition for Better Television) crusaders and the TV industry.”
—Kay Gardella, New York Daily News, 12/11/1981

“This is a valuable review and summary of an extremely sensitive issue.”
—John J. O’Connor, New York Times, 12/11/1981

“…a thorough, and thoroughly thought-provoking study.”
—David Bianculli, New York Daily News, 7/29/1993