A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.9
United States, 1994 U.S. Release Date: limited release beginning June 1995 Running Length: 1:00 MPAA Classification: No Rating Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Art Blakey, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Gene Krupa, Roy Eldridge, Charles Mingus, Mary Lou Williams, and others Narration by Quincy Jones Producer: Jean Bach Screenplay: Jean Bach, Susan Peehl, and Matthew Seig U.S. Distributor: Castle Hill Productions
An average picture may be worth a thousand words, but the one around which A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM was formed is worth many, many more. This film tells the story of a legendary jazz photograph -- a shot taken in 1958 for ESQUIRE magazine by first-time photographer Art Kane. It looks like a class picture, featuring some "58 guys who have never been together in their lives" -- performing legends like Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Count Basie, and dozens of others.
Jazz fan Jean Bach turned A GREAT DAY OF HARLEM into a labor of love. This motion picture, with its countless anecdotes about elements of the photograph and the effort that went into taking it, is a joy to watch. We learn why Thelonious Monk wore a light coat and positioned himself next to Marian McPartland and Mary Lou Williams. We're told about Dizzy Gillespie's penchant for sticking his tongue out. We are let in on the truth about why Count Basie was sitting on the curb next to a group of children. Throughout the film's sixty minute running time, many of the surviving participants relate fond memories of the day and each other.
In addition to the interviews, there's plenty of other material to make A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM of interest. First and foremost is the score, a compilation of recorded performances by many of the artists (both living and dead) featured in the picture. Then there are photographs snapped by others during the gathering. Milt Hinton's wife, Mona, came armed with an 8mm movie camera, and her footage adds color and movement. And, to supplement all this material, Bach has included sequences of the performers as they appeared on a 50s TV show, THE SOUND OF JAZZ.
The picture itself is remarkable -- an amazing feat of good fortune that a photographer could gather this many musical luminaries on the corner of Lennox Avenue and 125th Street at 10 o'clock in the morning (an unreasonably early hour for performers used to going to bed at dawn). In many ways, this film is no less worthy of observation and archiving. In addition to being a wonderful mix of culture, memories, and stories, it includes the final filmed interviews with Bud Freeman, Buck Clayton, Max Kaminsky, and Dizzy Gillespie -- the man whose last on-camera words (which close out the film) send the audience from the theater smiling and chuckling. If there's such a thing as a magical documentary, A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM is it.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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