Medium Cool (1969)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Haskell Wexler

Writer:

Haskell Wexler (writer)

Release Date:

1970 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Beyond the age of innocence... into the age of awareness

Plot:

TV news camera find himself becoming personally involved in the Violence which erupts around the 1968 Democratic Convention.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Ghetto | Fired | Protest | Television Reporter

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Forster	...	John Cassellis
Verna Bloom	...	Eileen
Peter Bonerz	...	Gus
Marianna Hill	...	Ruth
Harold Blankenship	...	Harold
Charles Geary	...	Buddy
Sid McCoy	...	Frank Baker
Christine Bergstrom	...	Dede
William Sickinger	...	News Director Karlin
Robert McAndrew	...	Pennybaker
Marrian Walters	...	Social worker
Beverly Younger	...	Rich Lady
Edward Croke	...	Plain-clothesman
Doug Kimball	...	Newscaster
Peter Boyle	...	Gun Clinic Manager
Georgia Todda	...	Secretary
Sandra Ann Roberts	...	Blonde in car
Janet Langhart	...	Maid
Jeff Donaldson	...	Black militant
Bill Sharp	...	Black militant
Robert Paige	...	Black militant
Richard Abrams	...	Black militant
Walter Bradford	...	Black militant
Russell Davis	...	Black militant
Felton Perry	...	Black militant
Val Grey	...	Black militant
Livingston Lewis	...	Black militant
Barbara Jones	...	Black militant
John Jackson	...	Black militant
Linda Handelman	...	Gun clinic lady
Maria Friedman	...	Gun clinic lady
Kathryn Schubert	...	Gun clinic lady
Barbara Brydenthal	...	Gun clinic lady
Elizabeth Moisant	...	Gun clinic lady
Rose Bormacher	...	Gun clinic lady
China Lee	...	Roller Derby patron
Roger Phillips
Robert Blankenship
Jim Jacobs	...	Kennedy student (as James Jacobs)
Spence Jackson	...	Kennedy student
Dorien Suhr	...	Kennedy student
Kenneth Whitener	...	Kennedy student
Connie Fleischauer	...	Kennedy student
Mary Smith	...	Kennedy student
Nancy Lee Noble	...	Kennedy student (as Nancy Noble)
Simone Zorn	...	Media person
Madeleine Marcou	...	Media person
Mickey Pallas	...	Media person
Morris Bleckman	...	Media person
Lestre Brownie	...	Media person
Linn Ehrlich	...	Media person
Wally Wright	...	Media person
Sam Venture	...	Media person
George Bouillet	...	Media person
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard J. Daley	...	Himself (uncredited)
Robert F. Kennedy	...	Himself, giving final speech (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sirri Murad	...	Himself (uncredited)
Haskell Wexler	...	Cameraman on Scaffold (uncredited)

Directed by
Haskell Wexler

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Haskell Wexler		writer

Produced by
Michael Philip Butler	....	associate producer
Tully Friedman	....	producer
Jonathan Haze	....	line producer
Steven North	....	associate producer
Haskell Wexler	....	producer
Jerrold Wexler	....	producer

Original Music by
Mike Bloomfield

Cinematography by
Haskell Wexler

Film Editing by
Verna Fields

Art Direction by
Leon Ericksen		(as Leon Erickson)

Production Management
Jonathan Haze	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wendell Franklin	....	assistant director
Erich von Stroheim Jr.	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Christopher Newman	....	sound
Kay Rose	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Davis	....	assistant camera
Michael D. Margulies	....	camera operator (as Mike Margulies)
Thom Ryan	....	gaffer
Ron Vargas	....	assistant camera
Haskell Wexler	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Paul Golding	....	editorial consultant
Marsha Griffin	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Mike Bloomfield	....	musician (as Michael Bloomfield)
Paul Butterfield	....	musician
Marcus Doubleday	....	musician
Bob Jones	....	musician
Noel Jukes	....	musician
John Kahn	....	musician
Ira Kamin	....	musician
Fred Olson	....	musician
Jerry Oshita	....	musician

Other crew
Jonathan Haze	....	assistant to producer
Meta Rebna	....	script supervisor
William Schwartz	....	production assistant
James Talbot	....	title designer
Studs Terkel	....	our man in Chicago

Production Companies

• H & J

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• PAR (1970) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (re-rating) (1970) | USA:X (1969) | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

H & J

Trivia:

The line "Watch out, Haskell, it's real!" was actually dubbed in after the shooting. It was supposedly what Haskell Wexler was thinking to himself and he wanted to include it. Verna Bloom literally stands out in the film because of her yellow outfit. Bloom said she picked the outfit because she thought her character, a woman of modest means, would wear something like that. It just happened to contrast with what everyone else was wearing, so you notice her.

Quotes:

John Cassellis: Jesus I love to shoot film.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Refinements in Love (1971)

Soundtrack:

Who Needs the Peace Corps?

A groundbreaker

Haskell Wexler, a cinematographer by trade, practically invented the technique invented we know today as "cinema verite" with this striking drama that plays so much like a documentary, you'd never guess it was fiction without being told. It's less a story and more a voyeuristic look into the lives of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, in this case reporters who are covering a political convention and other Chicago locals who are just minding their own business when the legendary riots break out at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Even more groundbreaking is the approach Wexler takes in framing the film's final scenes. He had ample warning that there would potentially be some unrest at the convention, so he decided to thrust his cast right into the thick of it, sending them to the foyer and front entrance of the Chicago Convention Center and the crew right along to film the events. No one knew exactly what would happen, making this perhaps the most creative and timely piece of "improvised" drama in the history of filmmaking up to this point.

Every documentary filmmaker who chooses to make his/her film about actions and events rather than simply a bunch of talking heads owes a debt to Wexler and his creative team on "Medium Cool".