You Are There: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc (May 30, 1431)

Stand witness to a blazing chapter of history in You Are There: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc (May 30, 1431), Season 1 Episode 5 of CBS’s gripping mid-century series, a dramatization that thrusts you into the fateful day of the Maid of Orléans’ end. Aired in the 1950s, this archival gem recreates May 30, 1431, with the urgency of a live broadcast: Rouen’s old market square crackles with tension, the air thick with smoke and the murmur of a restless crowd. Joan, portrayed with fierce grace, faces her final hours—her armor traded for a simple robe, her voice steady as she defies the tribunal’s jeers, her eyes fixed on a horizon beyond the pyre. The camera sweeps from her bound figure to the towering stake, flames licking upward as Walter Cronkite’s sober narration cuts through time, framing her martyrdom as both tragedy and triumph. Priests and soldiers clash in barked commands, while her last words—cries of faith—rise above the roar. A blend of historical reenactment and TV innovation, this episode captures Joan’s unyielding spirit in stark black-and-white. Archival Moments revives this fiery testament—subscribe to relive more from history’s stage!