KING: A FILMED RECORD … MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS: Monday Nights with Oscar
by Andre Soares
Producer Ely Landau and associate producer Richard Kaplan’s 1970 Martin Luther King, Jr. documentary King: A Filmed Record … Montgomery to Memphis will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Monday Nights with Oscar" program. King will have a special afternoon presentation on Monday, January 21, at 3 p.m. at the Academy Theater in New York City. Kaplan will be present for a pre-screening discussion.
In its 80-year history, only three Academy Awards ceremonies have been postponed. One of those postponements occurred after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. Nearly two years later, on March 24, 1970, King: A Filmed Record … Montgomery to Memphis premiered as a one-time screening event to benefit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Special Fund.
Nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature category, the three-hour documentary consists solely of newsreel and other period footage, from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 through King’s assassination in 1968. King uses no narration, relying instead on Martin Luther King’s speeches and dramatic readings by the likes of Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ben Gazzara, Joanne Woodward, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Anthony Quinn, Charlton Heston, and Clarence Williams III. Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed those sequences.
King was later shortened for television broadcasts and a videocassette release. The Academy will present the original full-length theatrical version. The rare print, reportedly in pristine condition, is from the collection of the Academy Film Archive.
"Monday Nights with Oscar" is a monthly series showcasing high-quality prints of films that have been nominated for or won Academy Awards.
Tickets for King: A Filmed Record … Montgomery to Memphis are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be reserved by calling 1-888-778-7575. Depending on availability, tickets may be purchased in person on the afternoon of the screening. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved.
The Academy Theater is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City.
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