A really good, solid movie about the bursts of freedom that started to

[WCGreen]

erupt in the 1950's, I would suggest Howl.


As Alan Ginsberg talks about his life and art, his most famous poem is illustrated in animation while the obscenity trial of the work is dramatized

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049402/3

It captures the flavor of the 50's which, I believe, were much more creative than the 60's.

Hear me out. It was easy to push the boundaries of everything when everyone was doing it.

It was the 50's that saw creativity that was not afraid to suffer the consequences of embracing and or producing.

Think about how far out Charlie Parker was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fgxyyrqZ-I&feature=fvw

This piece is very tame compared to his other stuff but it captures the controled energy that was popping and bubbling all over places like New York and San Fransisco.

Listen and think about Lenny Bruce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYlCfRiOEhM&feature=related

I know Lenny was pushing it all the way into the 60's, but he started in the 50's.

Or stare into the mind that was Jackson Pollack



And here is a wonderful scene from one of my favorite Movies, America Pop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knjgC5LdMnM

Go to the seven minute mark. This segment was a homage to Kerouac and Cassidy.

I always think of black and white when the 50's are concerned. For every Francis the Talking Mule there was a movie like All Quiet on the Waterfront. Individuals were taking stands to declare their independence, their worth in a society that was increasingly oppressive from the top down.

This is when Civil Rights really started. Brave people from all walks of life lit the spark that blaized through the 60's...

[panader0]

1. Never seen it, but I read Howl about '68

I read everything by Kerouac and Cassidy too. Ferlinghetti, Snyder, and more, have several Parker Cd's. Read Lenny Bruce, seen Jackson Pollack's work in New York. I wish I could watch videos, not on this dial-up. Bebop was soooo cool.

[WCGreen]

5. They put out a Graphic Novel of Howl with stills from the animated

part of the movie...

[MilesColtrane]

2. I agree that the 50's were a very creative time in American history, but...

Charlie Parker really made his self described breakthrough in improvisation back in 1939.

Here's a recording of him playing in early 1942 that demonstrates that his harmonic and rhythmic concept was fully formed well before the 50's. (Although, he hasn't quite mastered the funky keys in the bridge of "Cherokee" quite yet.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jsulxPqz9U

What was later called bebop was born in the early forties. However, since there was a strike and a union ban on recording during those years only a very few knew about this new music.

That ended once the ban was lifted and these guys started recording again. This made this new music seem to come out of nowhere, all at once.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Looks fascinating...K&R

[alfredo]

4. Allen Ginsberg reading "Howl."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWqHlcAmBeA

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxlB9XHnwOM&feature=related

[Hardrada]

6. The early Beats were pretty much the Real Thing.

I have read nearly everything by Kerouac and have most of the books of Beat poets.