A newlywed couple seek revenge after narrowly surviving a savage attack in rural Louisiana.

Rheinhardt, a cynical drifter, gets a job as an announcer for right-wing radio station WUSA in New Orleans. Rheinhardt is content to parrot WUSA's reactionary editorial stance on the air, even if he doesn't agree with it. Rheinhardt finds his cynical detachment challenged by a lady friend, Geraldine, and by Rainey, a neighbour and troubled idealist who becomes aware of WUSA's sinister, hidden purpose. And when events start spinning out of control, even Rheinhardt finds he must take a stand.

Composed entirely of archival material and narrated by actor Pat Hingle, this hour-long film documents the run-up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. Made in the 1970s, the film carefully lays out major historical events, as with the stunning footage of the German Zeppelin Hindenburg bursting into flames over New Jersey in 1937. Powerful images such as this are both literal and metaphoric documents of the tragedies of the age. By relying on the old newsreels alone to depict the events, the filmmakers immerse us in the period in a way that would not have been possible had they interviewed a team of experts. Compared to some of the more freely associated assemblages presented in the series—and especially to Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?—this film seems stoic, contemplative. When left to speak for themselves, archival images can be most illuminating.

A deranged engineer, bent on revenge for the deaths of his wife and daughter, sets two passenger trains on a collision course, and con-man William Shatner puts his life on the line to ward off the crash.

Wealthy industrialist and fierce isolationist Daniel Grudge, long embittered by the loss of his son in World War II, is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who lead him to reconsider his attitude toward his fellow man.

Sexually abused as a young girl, Kate "Ma" Barker grows into a violent and powerful woman by the 1930s. She lovingly dominates her grown sons and grooms them into a pack of tough crooks. The boys include the cruel Herman, who still shares a bed with Ma; Fred, an ex-con who fell in love with a fellow prisoner; and Lloyd, who gets high on whatever's handy. Together they form a deadly, bizarre family of Depression-era bandits.