This blog is now moving into event mode for the second time this year. The first event featured a special screening of “Treme” and a tribute to the episode writer David Mills aka “Undercover Black Man.”
I guess it’s no coincidence that from the first event, the 3 FREE screenings of the 1972 film “The Man” is rolling out. Though “The Man” is based on the book by Iving Wallace; but writer Rod Serling, best known as the creator of “The Twilight Zone” took another direction.
In Sept of 1970 I took on the assignment to write a two hour television motion picture to be based on the Irving Wallace novel, The Man. I had access to a previous adaptation….but I retained nothing at all from this beyond character names. From the novel itself I retained only the most fundamental premise….that of a black man fortuitously chosen to serve as President of the US. Beyond this premise, I submit that the script, its plot line and its dramatic incidents are all my own creation.
— Rod Serling
The film was intended for television, but had a brief theatrical release in 1972. There is no DVD available of the film. “The Man” has essentially been a lost film in recent years, a science fiction until now. The first screening kicks off Sunday, November 14 as part of Busboys and Poets Focus In film series. In addition to this blog and venue, co-presenters include the Zhanra Group, and the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation.
“The Man” stars James Earl Jones as Douglas Dilman, the former academic turned Senator and now POTUS. Dilman’s daughter is played by Janet MacLachlan, an actor who was a constant presence on screen in the 1960s and 70s including Star Trek, and the film Sounder. Prior to her screen roles, MacLachlan performed in classic African American stage plays on and off- Broadway including “The Blacks” (replacing Cicely Tyson), and “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright.” She was what is known as a “working actress.” MacLachlan continued earning roles in television in the 1980s and 90s. We had hoped to connect with her for “The Man” but sadly MacLachlan joined the ancestors October 11, 2010. An extensive tribute to her and her work by Steve Ryfle was posted on the blog Bright Lights After Dark.
“The Man” is directed by Joseph Sargent. Clayton LeBouef who worked with Sargent in the film “Something the Lord Made” will join the Q&A after the screenings of “The Man.” Serling colleague and lecturer Gordon Webb will join the Q&A for the first screening Sunday, November 14 at the Busboys and Poets on 14th & V Streets, NW. Film starts at 8 PM.
It’s odd that there’s been no sign of “The Man” in the last 2-3 years. When you see the film, you’ll understand the question. But this weekend “The Man” comes to Washington. For more information about the November (14, 21, 28) screenings of “The Man” at Busboys and Poets, visit the event page on this blog.
Baltimore CityPaper isn’t like DC CityPaper. One gets the impression with all the city has to cope with in terms of unemployment, crime, grit, and staggering infrastructure that there are people there who still believe and still like Baltimore. They don’t want to be defined by “The Wire” alone. Whereas the DC version borders on a snarky disdain for the city (perhaps even envy for not being the setting for “The Wire” which employed a number of DC talents).
Just on Google search by-lines alone: Baltimore CityPaper: Citypaper offers Baltimore, Maryland’s best coverage of news, culture, ideas, music, arts, theater, movies and events.
DC CityPaper: Weekly. Offers news, editorials, reviews, classifieds and personals. Includes a calendar, advertising information, employment opportunities, …
Which one would you read for pleasure?
Just a few weeks ago, the Washington Post featured Baltimore’s arts scene in the Sunday Style section. The title was “National Bohemians.” “Charm City.”
But the real reason for this hype on Baltimore CityPaper is one of its feature stories, The Lady Vanishes, with “The Wire” alumni and DC resident Clayton LeBouef who has been working diligently on a levication ceremony for Henrietta Vinton Davis, a Shakespearean actor, Baltimore native (b. 1860), and a senior officer in Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the early decades of the 20th century. Another significant but unknown piece of history.
The event will be held Sunday, August 8 from 2 – 4 PM at the Eubie Blake Center. The struggles and determination of the first generation born near or after the emancipation of slaves in the U.S. is only beginning to come to light. It should also be noted that part of the struggle included an intense debate between organizations on the path and approach towards equality and self determination. For the most part, people frame it as the Booker T. Washington folks vs. the W.E.B. DuBois folks. Garvey, originally from Jamaica, rarely enters the discussion. But the UNIA, which had a large membership in its prime, and the NAACP didn’t land on the same page. Got too caught up in the “or” vs. the “and” conjunction I suppose. All had conflicting narratives. It’s significant that the Vinton program and the CityPaper article by Lee Gardner is happening in the very city in which the NAACP has its national headquarters. It’s significant that a prominent figure in the UNIA was born in that same city and/or ironic?
April Yvonne Garrett is someone to watch out for. She’s the founder of Civic Frame, a nonprofit organization that uses art and intellectual work to encourage civic engagement, media literacy and critical thinking about pressing social issues. April is one of the most impressive people I’ve met. She’s doesn’t do the dumb down, and at the same time she earns respect from the communities in which she’s engaged. She does her Civic Frame programs in Baltimore and has taken them on the road to Newark, NJ and Harvard University. Civic Frame is conducting an on-line fundraising campaign through September 11th recognizing eight years of addressing social issues through dialogue and media.
September 25th Civic Frame will present a benefit screening of the independent film La MISSION starring Benjamin Bratt and directed, written, and produced by his brother Peter Bratt. Both will be among the guest speakers for the Q&A after the film. Actress Erika Alexander and Luis Cardona, Youth Violence Prevention Coordinator for Montgomery County will also participate. The event will be held at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture.
The film was shown at Sundance in 2009. After seeing the trailer, I’m puzzled why this film hasn’t gotten more play or maybe I wasn’t paying attention. The film is about the San Francisco neighborhood where the Bratt brothers grew up. Benjamin Bratt plays Che Rivera, the neighborhood patriarch and single father of a teenage son named Jess. Everything is great between father and son until Che finds out that Jess is gay. This just does not play well in the machismo Mission district.
MY FAVORITE BALTIMORE…
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live
Nina Simone felt she lost control over this album which features the Randy Newman song “Baltimore” with a reggae beat. Seems like this 1978 recording made folks unhappy, but hey, you can’t deny some of the lyrics. I consider it one of Nina’s best.
I was introduced to Roland L. Freeman through his photographs of Baltimore’s Arabbers or “ay-rabs” taken in the 1970s. These horse-cart vendors pulled their produce through the city streets. Freeman says there is nothing unique about them except the name. There were white and black Arabbers up until WWII. After the war 90% of the Arabbers were black. Roland is a fourth generation Arabber. You can see the exhibit on-line at The Group for Cultural Documentation’swebsite. TGCD was founded by Roland L. Freeman. He’s also a collector of African American quilts and a quilt artist (one of the few male members of the Daughters of Dorcas). Freeman lives in Washington, DC. You’re never the same after an encounter with him. Simply brilliant.
CLEANING MARBLE STAIRS
This has always been my mother’s most vivid memory of Baltimore. Apparently people are bringing this tradition back.
FAIDLEYS CRAB CAKE It just doesn’t get better than this. Faidleys is a Baltimore institution (founded in 1886) inside the old Lexington Market. The Lexington strip will give you “The Wire” vibe. But for this crab cake I’m willing to take my chances.
LISA ANNE’s: DECADENT APPLES
Imagine Eve giving Adam one of these. Who knows what would’ve happened to human kind. I remember going inside Lisa Anne’s shop for these caramel apples years ago. Well, there’s no more shop but her website says where the candy apples are sold. The company still maintain offices on N. Charles Street in Baltimore. Go to their website.
DAVID SIMON
I have never seen “The Wire.” I don’t have cable television (at least until they allow me to pick my own channels). When I tried to check out a DVD from the public library (with an episode written by UBM David Mills), the disc was missing from the box (not the right disc). I guess that speaks to the impact “The Wire” has had on audiences. Fortunately, I have met and talked with David Simon before I’ve seen any of his HBO series. I did watch “Homicide: Life On the Streets.” I loved the casting, the “realness” of what could’ve been classified as another “cop show.” But it wasn’t. People who work with Simon on the set always have good things to say about the experience. While “Treme” got a strong start, I’m sure Simon is thinking up his next story. And the location will be….? What will be the soundtrack? Simon lives in Baltimore.
Clayton LeBouefand I have been chatting up Rod Serling recently. “The Twilight Zone” and other works by Serling were light years before their time even compared to today’s standards for television programming. In what human relation areas have we entered a Twilight Zone? Race. Religion. Class. Culture. Immigration. Wall Street. The environment. War. Peace.
If you have any favorite “Twilight Zone,” “Night Gallery” or Rod Serling memories, do share.
My friend Clayton LeBouef sent me his latest: Political, social, cultural commentator Repetey Green (portrayed by Clayton LeBouef). Anyone who’s been around DC for a long while or saw the glaringly inaccurate, “Talk To Me,” based on, I suppose the posturing of the real Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene (who never spun records in DC), will get a kick out of Clayton’s new spoken word commentary. Here’s something Clayton included with the YouTube link from his press release:
“Petey is the real urban legend. He had the gift of gab and used it
to address issues of poverty, drug abuse, race, class, incarceration, and the politics of “hustlin’ backward.”
I was too young to really get into Petey Greene. But you could wave to him from the sidewalk, and he’d wave back. And by the time I was old enough to soak it up, I gave up eating chittlins, but kept the corn bread. But I might hang a bit with this Repetey guy.
Here’s another one in the Repetey hamper – a tribute to Michael Jackson.