American Experience: Season 35, Episode 1

35 - 1: The Lie Detector

In the first decades of the 20th century, when scientific innovations were transforming life, researchers made a thrilling new claim: they could tell whether someone was lying by using a machine.

Popularly known as the "lie detector," the device transformed police work, seized headlines, and was extolled in movies, TV, and comics as an infallible crime-fighting tool. Husbands and wives tested each other's fidelity. Corporations routinely tested employees' honesty, and government workers were tested for loyalty and "morals."

But the promise of the polygraph turned dark, and the lie detector too often became an apparatus of fear and intimidation. Written and directed by Rob Rapley and executive produced by Cameo George, The Lie Detectoris a tale of good intentions, twisted morals, and unintended consequences.