Gimme Shelter (1970 film)

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This article is about the 1970 documentary film. For other uses, see Gimme Shelter (disambiguation).
Gimme Shelter
Original film poster
Directed byAlbert and David Maysles
Charlotte Zwerin
Produced byPorter Bibb
StarringThe Rolling Stones
CinematographyAlbert and David Maysles
Edited byEllen Hovde
Charlotte Zwerin
Production
companies
Maysles Films
Penforta
Distributed byCinema 5
Release date
December 6, 1970
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.6 million[1]

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 American documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert and the killing of Meredith Hunter. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the group's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Gimme Shelter was screened out of competition as the opening film of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Context

This

voiceover
.

Production

The film depicts some of the

Wild Horses", and footage of Ike and Tina Turner opening for the Stones at their Madison Square Garden concert, to Mick Jagger
's comment, "It's nice to have a chick occasionally."

The Maysles brothers filmed the first concert of the tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. After the concert, the Maysles brothers asked the Rolling Stones if they could film them on tour, and the band agreed.

Much of the film chronicles the behind-the-scenes deal-making that took place to make the free Altamont concert happen, including much footage of well-known attorney

Ralph "Sonny" Barger's famous call-in to radio station KSAN
's "day after" program about the concert, wherein he recalls, "They told me if I could sit on the edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over."

Altamont Free Concert

Further information: Altamont Free Concert

The focus then turns to the 1969 concert itself at the

pool cues). As the day progresses, with drug-taking and drinking by the Angels and members of the audience, the mood turns ugly. Fights break out during performances by The Flying Burrito Brothers and Jefferson Airplane; Grace Slick pleads with the crowd to settle down. When Mick Jagger
arrives to the grounds via helicopter, he is punched in the face by an unruly fan while making his way to his trailer.

At one point, Jefferson Airplane lead male singer

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
also performed at the concert but are not shown in the movie.)

The Stones are shown appearing onstage that evening and perform "

Hunter's stabbing was captured on film by at least one of the many camera operators filming the documentary, and appeared in the final cut of the film. According to Albert Maysles, the stabbing was filmed by Baird Bryant; other sources have also credited Eric Saarinen.[4][5]
The film sequence clearly shows the dark silhouette of a handgun in Hunter's hand against the crocheted vest of his girlfriend, Patty Bredehoft, as Passaro enters from the right, grabs and raises Hunter's gun hand, turns Hunter around, and stabs him at least twice in the back before pushing Hunter off camera.

The credited camera operators for Altamont included a young George Lucas.[6] At the concert, Lucas' camera jammed after shooting about 100 feet (30 m) of film. None of his footage was incorporated into the final cut.[7]

Critical reception

As of 2023, the film holds a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 ratings, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Equal parts essential and chilling, Gimme Shelter provides a spine-tingling look at how the Rolling Stones' music paralleled the end of the counterculture movement." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 12 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[8]

In a 1971 review for The Miami News, Susan Brink wrote that it was a "beautiful, honest film."[9]

Songs performed

The Rolling Stones

Ike and Tina Turner

Jefferson Airplane

  • "The Other Side of This Life" (at Altamont)

Flying Burrito Brothers

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 296. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Gimme Shelter". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  3. ^ Dave Saunders, Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties, Wallflower Press, 2007
  4. ISBN 9781581157208
    .
  5. The Los Angeles Times
    . 16 November 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  6. ^ Marc Myers (16 November 2010). "The Rolling Stones at the Altamont Speedway - WSJ". WSJ.
  7. The Chicago Tribune
    . p. 5.
  8. ^ "Gimme Shelter (1970)". Rotten Tomatoes. 6 December 1970. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Brink, Susan (1971-01-19). "'Gimme Shelter'--a beautiful, honest film". The Miami News. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-07-11.

References

External links
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