Gimme Shelter
1970
Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
Starring: The Rolling Stones
I think that the Maysles brothers got really lucky when they made this film. They set out to make a documentary about the Rolling Stones’ 1969 US tour. Instead, they managed to film a significant real-life moment that has since been deemed a cultural turning point.
In an attempt to duplicate the magic of Woodstock, the Stones wanted to put on a free concert in San Francisco. We follow the Stones as they perform at Madison Square Garden, as they lay down some tracks in the studio, and watch as concert organizers scramble at the last minute to set up the free concert. On the day of the concert, the crowd is large, drunk, and stoned. Through the opening acts, the crowd becomes increasingly disorderly, and the Hell’s Angels respond with brutality. The film closes with footage of the infamous stabbing of a gun-toting concertgoer by a Hell’s Angel.
