American Experience The Poisoner's Handbook (1988– ) Online

Enjoyable and educational story of the life work of New York's first medical examiner Charles Norris, and his head toxicologist Alexander Gettler. Before Norris, New York coroners (as in many places) weren't doctors, and often had absolutely no scientific training. It was more a give-away, political patronage job, and forensic evidence wasn't taken very seriously by juries, judges, or lawyers.

But Norris and Gettler dragged New York, and ultimately other places into the age of science in the courtroom. For this show it specifically focuses on the issue of poisonings and how Gettler and Norris got ever better at exposing the truth behind these killings – to the point where intentional poisonings went from hundreds of cases a year to only one or two. That's how good they were. It was no longer worth the risk.

Unlike most American Experience films, this relies heavily on reenactments. That usually means cheesy and unimpressive. But here the acting is first rate, and it makes the device work surprisingly well. One could imagine a fascinating series about these two – a sort of real life Holmes and Watson.

What makes programs like this so admirable is that they're not only informative but they're entertainingly presented. This isn't about the readily available psychotropics of the first half of the 20th century -- opium, cocaine, morphine, and the rest. That's common knowledge. Rather it's the story of two men, Norris and Gettler, who fought the skepticism of the public and the hostility of the New York police to establish forensic science as a respectable pursuit. Better living through chemistry.

In the 1920s, New York's coroners were political appointees who needed no medical experience. A dog catcher could be appointed because the political system was so corrupt. Two chemists, Norris and Gettler, proved to be a transformative pair. Instead of an untutored coroner, they became the city's Medical Examiners. Both men became legends. Norris died in the mid-thirties, Gettler in the 50s.

It begins with a case of accidental cyanide poisoning. What puzzles me about the case is how the deceased couple could breathe in enough cyanide gas to kill them. As a school kid I worked in a tool and die shop that used cyanide eggs for cleaning metals. Alone one night, I shave off a bit and using high school chemistry produced some hydrogen cyanide. It smelled distinctly of peaches. Well, that's neither here nor there except that the gas really DOES smell so you know when you're inhaling it.

Next up: arsenic, which kills bugs and vermin but which is bad news with humans. Not that it doesn't have beneficial effects. A mild dose given to rats enables them to solve mazes more quickly. One of the toxicologists in the cyanide case, Chris Bowers as Alexander Gettler, does a precise enough analysis of the victim's tissues to get the defendant off.

It might be mentioned at this point that there's very little in the way of period photographs or newsreel footage, so the execution of the script depends heavily on reenactments. The influence of the Actor's Studio isn't apparent. Chris Bowers, in the heroic role of Dr. Gettler, handles the dialog well but is about as expressive as a store-window mannequin. I like the guy though. He's very clean cut.

Next: Methanol, or wood alcohol, which was produced during Prohibition in the 20s by shoddy home distillation and poisoned mostly the poor, who couldn't' afford real liquor. People would send samples of bootleg booze to the drug store for analysis, and the joke was that one message returned from the pharmacist, "We are sorry to inform you that your horse has diabees." (That's not in the film.)

Methanol ingested becomes formaldehyde which becomes formic acid, what you get when an ant stings you. The effects are terrible, and blindness is only one of them. Norris was becoming exhausted handling PR but Gettler attacked the problem of methanol poisoning head on, inventing tests that could be used in the field. But the only real answer lay in legalizing booze. It's much like the problems we've had with abortion. When it's deemed illegal, it's driven underground.

Lead, another real winner, is dealt with next in the case of a Standard Oil factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Workers began to go mad. They walked out of upper-story windows. They died. Management attributed it to "working too hard." The afflicted workers were in an experimental laboratory ("the loony lab") in which lead was being introduced into gasoline to make it burn more efficiently, meaning more profit for the ethyl industry.

Lead had been recognized as a poison for thousands of years, so Standard Oil and General Motors called their product "Ethyl Gasoline." The film presents several colorful advertising posters of the period showing Ethyl, personified as a lion tamer or simulacrum of Superman taming vicious beasts -- the engine not using leaded gasoline. Dr. Norris indicted lead as the culprit. But he was opposing Standard Oil and General Motors, whose representive made a show of washing their hands in tetraethyl to show it was harmless, much as one of our congressmen took a deep breath on the floor, blew it out, and said, "There, that's CO2. See, it's not poison."

Norris and Gettler went to great lengths to demonstrate that tetraethyl lead was causing the damage, and they succeeded. But the industry went to President Calvin Cooledge. There was a laying on of hands and the question of a federal ban on ethyl disappeared. A Standard Oil spokesman likened it to "a gift from God."

The program then zips through the list of poisons not recognized as lethal. Some are doozies. In Brooklyn, the police find a loner throwing chopped off limbs into the East River, and in his home is the rest of the body with blood all over the place and a knife nearby. The police jump to the obvious conclusion. Madman butchers woman. Norris is called to the scene, bends over the remains for a few seconds, and tells the cops the accused didn't do it. In 1926, many homes couldn't afford electricity and used illuminating gas. This produced carbon monoxide and it killed the woman before the suspect chopped her up.

It's an engaging episode. If you enjoy this kind of combination of medicine and detective work, you should be referred to the work of Berton Rouché, which you'll find gripping.

If you decide to watch this episode of "American Experience", I STRONGLY recommend you think twice. While it is VERY interesting, it's also quite disgusting at times. Again and again, old photos of dead people (some REALLY awful looking) are shown on the program. A few of them are just god-awful looking...so I am warning you...think twice!!!

The show itself is a fascinating show about the history of forensic science and the history of the coroner's office in New York City. Up until the 1910s, there was no way to determine how folks had been poisoned and whether or not it occurred by accident or if it was murder...and the rise of a new science helped to correct this. The show is actually based on a book, "Poisoner's Handbook" by Deborah Blum and you see her throughout the show along with many other experts. The main hero, so to speak, in this story is Charles Norris--a man who worked tirelessly to create a new sort of science. It also centers on one of his workers, the tireless Alexander Gettler. I could easily say more and talk about the many different topics covered (as well as the fascinating story of Mary Creighton), but it's really something you should see for yourself. Overall, a very interesting and HORRIFYING episode well worth seeing IF you have the stomach for it.

I am not a history buff and all I knew about the 20s and 30s was parties, prohibition, war, and the great depression. This showed me that there was a lot going on at the time. Science and technology were exploding and society was trying to come to grips with it (still are, really). This show is from the viewpoint of early forensic medicine and toxicology and how it evolved criminology. Just so much great information presented in a really engaging manner with fantastic archival footage and photos and well-done re-enactments. Loved it!