Hollywood (series): A 1970's BBC production co-produced by Kevin Brownlow
about the early years of American film. Not sure if it's available on video
(I taped it off TCM several years ago). Narrated by James Mason and full of
the kind of wonderful interviews movie stars seem incapable of giving
anymore.
Gimme Shelter (1970): The Maysles Brothers record of the infamous 1969
Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, where a concertgoer was killed by the
Hells Angels -- an act captured on film. An interesting bookend to
Woodstock.
American Dream (1989): Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winner about a labor strike at
a Hormel meat plant in Minnesota and how it tears a town apart. There's a
scene in it which sums up why Kopple is such a good filmmaker: a man
thinking about crossing the picket lines (so he can feed his family) breaks
down on camera; rather than zooming in to the distraught man's face a la The
Jenny Jones Show, Kopple (or her camera operator) zooms out respectfully and
gives the man some room.
Incidentally, when will the new edition of your book be out? Will it
include more such lists?
Mike
Mike Boedicker
AV Director, Danville Public Library
319 N. Vermilion
Danville, IL 61832
(217) 477-5223 ext. 123