Beale Street1981

Beale Street is where W.C. Handy wrote the blues, where boss Crump abused his power, and where Martin Luther King, Jr. marched days before his death in 1968. From the early days of 3/4" portapak video comes this portrait of the original Beale Streeters who knew and loved it best, including B.B. King, the Hooks Brothers, Bobby Blue Bland, Prince Gabe, Maurice "Fess" Hulbert, Nat D. Williams and Rufus Thomas. Black and white, 28 minutes, edited 1981 from the 1977-78 feature-length production co-directed by Alexis Krasilovsky, Ann Rickey and Walter Baldwin. Additional material included on the DVD: The feature-length scholars' version.