The 1960s are generally thought of as the primary period of social ferment in this country, but the seeds for that cultural uprising were sown in the previous decade. That is the thesis of Betsy Blankenbaker's intelligent if standard talking heads/archival footage documentary, based on the autobiographical book by Dan Wakefield, and she makes the case in clear, convincing fashion.
Running a mere 72 minutes, the film doesn't offer much in the way of depth. Despite its title, it mainly focuses on the denizens of Greenwich Village, where people from all over the country congregated to avoid the stifling conformism of the Eisenhower era. Included are interviews with some of the writers and artists who were part of the scene, including -- besides Wakefield -- Gay Talese, Joan Didion, Nat Hentoff, Calvin Trillin, Norman Mailer, Ed Fancher (the founder of the Village Voice), and, representing the film's coup in terms of marquee value, Robert Redford. Archival footage presents other seminal figures of the era, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Mailer and James Baldwin.
The film contains several distinct segments, including ones devoted to Baldwin, depicted as torn between his concern about civil rights and his desire to write; the prevalence of alcohol among the literary set; and the subordinate roles afforded women. Mainly, though, it deals with reminiscences: novelist Lynn Sharon Schwartz's recollection about how people came to New York to have sex, Wakefield's description of a botched suicide attempt the night before an important interview for a scholarship and Talese's amusing account of how the editorial offices of the New York Times were a hotbed of illicit affairs.
NEW YORK IN THE FIFTIES
Avatar Films
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker
Producers: Betsy Blankenbaker, Dorka Keehn
Directors of photography: Bobby Shepard, Dustin Teel, Jeff Watt
Editor: Steve Marra
Music: Steve Allee
Color/stereo
Running time -- 72 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Running a mere 72 minutes, the film doesn't offer much in the way of depth. Despite its title, it mainly focuses on the denizens of Greenwich Village, where people from all over the country congregated to avoid the stifling conformism of the Eisenhower era. Included are interviews with some of the writers and artists who were part of the scene, including -- besides Wakefield -- Gay Talese, Joan Didion, Nat Hentoff, Calvin Trillin, Norman Mailer, Ed Fancher (the founder of the Village Voice), and, representing the film's coup in terms of marquee value, Robert Redford. Archival footage presents other seminal figures of the era, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Mailer and James Baldwin.
The film contains several distinct segments, including ones devoted to Baldwin, depicted as torn between his concern about civil rights and his desire to write; the prevalence of alcohol among the literary set; and the subordinate roles afforded women. Mainly, though, it deals with reminiscences: novelist Lynn Sharon Schwartz's recollection about how people came to New York to have sex, Wakefield's description of a botched suicide attempt the night before an important interview for a scholarship and Talese's amusing account of how the editorial offices of the New York Times were a hotbed of illicit affairs.
NEW YORK IN THE FIFTIES
Avatar Films
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker
Producers: Betsy Blankenbaker, Dorka Keehn
Directors of photography: Bobby Shepard, Dustin Teel, Jeff Watt
Editor: Steve Marra
Music: Steve Allee
Color/stereo
Running time -- 72 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The 1960s are generally thought of as the primary period of social ferment in this country, but the seeds for that cultural uprising were sown in the previous decade. That is the thesis of Betsy Blankenbaker's intelligent if standard talking heads/archival footage documentary, based on the autobiographical book by Dan Wakefield, and she makes the case in clear, convincing fashion.
Running a mere 72 minutes, the film doesn't offer much in the way of depth. Despite its title, it mainly focuses on the denizens of Greenwich Village, where people from all over the country congregated to avoid the stifling conformism of the Eisenhower era. Included are interviews with some of the writers and artists who were part of the scene, including -- besides Wakefield -- Gay Talese, Joan Didion, Nat Hentoff, Calvin Trillin, Norman Mailer, Ed Fancher (the founder of the Village Voice), and, representing the film's coup in terms of marquee value, Robert Redford. Archival footage presents other seminal figures of the era, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Mailer and James Baldwin.
The film contains several distinct segments, including ones devoted to Baldwin, depicted as torn between his concern about civil rights and his desire to write; the prevalence of alcohol among the literary set; and the subordinate roles afforded women. Mainly, though, it deals with reminiscences: novelist Lynn Sharon Schwartz's recollection about how people came to New York to have sex, Wakefield's description of a botched suicide attempt the night before an important interview for a scholarship and Talese's amusing account of how the editorial offices of the New York Times were a hotbed of illicit affairs.
NEW YORK IN THE FIFTIES
Avatar Films
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker
Producers: Betsy Blankenbaker, Dorka Keehn
Directors of photography: Bobby Shepard, Dustin Teel, Jeff Watt
Editor: Steve Marra
Music: Steve Allee
Color/stereo
Running time -- 72 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Running a mere 72 minutes, the film doesn't offer much in the way of depth. Despite its title, it mainly focuses on the denizens of Greenwich Village, where people from all over the country congregated to avoid the stifling conformism of the Eisenhower era. Included are interviews with some of the writers and artists who were part of the scene, including -- besides Wakefield -- Gay Talese, Joan Didion, Nat Hentoff, Calvin Trillin, Norman Mailer, Ed Fancher (the founder of the Village Voice), and, representing the film's coup in terms of marquee value, Robert Redford. Archival footage presents other seminal figures of the era, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Mailer and James Baldwin.
The film contains several distinct segments, including ones devoted to Baldwin, depicted as torn between his concern about civil rights and his desire to write; the prevalence of alcohol among the literary set; and the subordinate roles afforded women. Mainly, though, it deals with reminiscences: novelist Lynn Sharon Schwartz's recollection about how people came to New York to have sex, Wakefield's description of a botched suicide attempt the night before an important interview for a scholarship and Talese's amusing account of how the editorial offices of the New York Times were a hotbed of illicit affairs.
NEW YORK IN THE FIFTIES
Avatar Films
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker
Producers: Betsy Blankenbaker, Dorka Keehn
Directors of photography: Bobby Shepard, Dustin Teel, Jeff Watt
Editor: Steve Marra
Music: Steve Allee
Color/stereo
Running time -- 72 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/22/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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