New York in the Fifties

Starring:John Gregory Dunne, Harvey Shapiro (II), Edwin Fancher, Knox Burger, C. Wright Mills, Helen Weaver, Ray Grist, Robert Redford, Nat Hentoff, Allen Ginsberg, Nan Talese, Calvin Trillin, James Baldwin, David Amram, Joan Didion, William F. Buckley, Jack Kerouac, Jane Wylie Genth, Norman Mailer, Ned Polsky
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker
Studio: First Run Features
Product Type: DVD

Description

New York in the Fifties is the story of a unique time and place, when New York was the hotbed of new artistic expressions, free love, hot jazz, and radical politics. The film combines stunning archival footage of New York with interviews and footage of the icons of the day: Kerouac, Ginsberg, Baldwin, Mailer, Basie, etc. Offering modern day prespective and reminiscences are writers, actors, and artists such as Joan Didion, Robert Redford, Nat Hentoff, Gay and Nan Talese, John Gregory Dunne, William F. Buckley, and Calvin Trillin, all part of the rich cultural and artistic scene of the time. Based on the best-selling book by Dan Wakefield. 72 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Very Enjoyable!.......2003-10-15

A neat documentary about life among the bohemian types of New York City in the 1950s and very early 60s. Lots of fantastic archival footage and recently-filmed reminiscences of some of those concerned. My only complaint is that it mainly concerns itself with the writers of this period. It would have been great had the program run an additional 45 minutes (on top of the 75 minute running time we have here) and included more about the jazz, art and theatre scene that is merely glossed over. Very enjoyable but a little unbalanced. The dvd includes an "interview" with director Betsy Blackenbaker which is actually a half hour girlie chat from MetroTV's "Unblinking Eye" program. In it the director laments the times gone by and also not having enough money to have done a more comprehensive overview of the New York scene. She ends up, somewhat surprisingly, agonizing over the burning question:"What can we do to create something like this again?" ABOLISHING POLITICAL CORRECTNESS would be a positive start but (sigh) that was another place, another time, another world. It wont happen again, Betsy... It can't! The disc has really cool coverart.

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