Screening of Benjamin Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns
Starts Monday April 4 from 8-10 pm. "Let men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly".
Whether Wharton or other Penn alum or not, you should watch - and be inspired by -- Penn's founder, who was one of the most remarkable people who ever lived.
Mon.-Tue. Apr. 4-5 at 8 p.m. on WETA (Channel 26/526 on FiOS in MD) & STREAMING (PBS Passport) | Ken Burns's four-hour documentary examines one of the leading figures of American history.
Ken Burns’s two-part, four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th Century’s most consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.
Benjamin Franklin, a documentary biography as lively, multi-faceted and groundbreaking as its subject, is a dramatic re-creation of Franklin's mind and his world. Tony Award-winning Broadway actor Richard Easton brings Franklin to life in intimate conversation with the viewer, scripted exclusively with the great man's own words preserved in letters and diaries.
Blair Brown as his loving sister Jane Mecom, Peter Donaldson as his nemesis John Adams, Roberta Maxwell as his wife, Deborah, and Dylan Baker as young Franklin are among the cast of actors who play key roles as Franklin's contemporaries and include the viewer in their circle of confidants.
Mon. | Apr. 4 | 8 p.m.
Join or Die (1706-1774)
After building a printing empire in Philadelphia with his wife Deborah, Benjamin Franklin gains worldwide fame from electricity experiments, then spends years in London trying to keep Britain and America together as his family comes apart.
Tue. | Apr. 5 | 8 p.m.
An American (1775-1790)
In wartime Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin helps Thomas Jefferson craft the Declaration of Independence. In Paris, he wins French support for the American Revolution. Back home, he works on the Constitution of the new United States.