Тони Палмер "A mighty achievement. Thank you." John Lennon"...This is a priceless education - and euphoric brilliance - worth every penny..." John M. James, Positively Yeah YeahThanks to the hit movie, "The Sting", everyone reckons they know about Ragtime. But do they? This episode includes the oldest known piece of film (1898) showing what the Cakewalk was really like. Also extracts from The Royal Ballet production based on Scott Joplin"s music, "Elite Syncopations". Also extracts staged by the Houston Grand Opera of Joplin"s only surviving opera, "Treemonisha". There is also rare early film of Irving Berlin (Alexander"s Ragtime Band) as well as film of Joplin"s birthplace and of the madhouse where he died. Although reference is made to other early ragtime composers, this episode is essentially the story of Scott Joplin - an extraordinary tragedy of failure, frustration, pride, of the black man"s struggle to achieve for himself a proper place in American society.