Directed by:
Haskell WexlerScreenplay:
Haskell WexlerCinematography:
Haskell WexlerComposer:
Mike BloomfieldCast:
Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Peter Boyle, Marianna Hill, Haskell Wexler, Martin Luther King, Felton Perry, Richard Abrams, China Lee (more)Plots(1)
One of the landmarks of independent film, as well as one of the primary celluloid artifacts of the 1960s, MEDIUM COOL (based on Thomas Couffer's THE CONCRETE WILDERNESS) stars Robert Forster as John Cassellis, a television cameraman in Chicago. John is so proud of his detached professionalism that he and soundman Gus (Peter Bonerz) even go so far as to stop and film a car crash before calling an ambulance. However, after John films a protest by black activists about racism in the media, the film is seized by the FBI, and his resistance to handing over the footage gets him fired from his job at the television station. While idle, John becomes better acquainted with 13-year-old Harold (Harold Blankenship) and Harold's mother, Eileen Horton (Verna Bloom), a West Virginia native whose husband is in Vietnam. As the 1968 convention approaches, John picks up a freelance assignment and is thrust headlong into the anarchy of the Chicago streets and the convention floor. His prized detachment falls away as he watches Mayor Daley's cops clubbing unarmed protestors. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Robert Forster
USA
Best movies:
Mulholland Dr. (1999) (TV movie)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Verna Bloom
USA
Best movies:
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Playing for Time (1980) (TV movie)
Honkytonk Man (1982)
Peter Bonerz
USA
Best movies:
L'Homme sur la lune (1999)
Catch-22 (1970)
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)
Peter Boyle
USA
Best movies:
'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Videos (1996) (video compilation)
Chauffeur de taxi (1976)
Monster's Ball (2001)
Marianna Hill
USA
Best movies:
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (1992) (TV movie)
The Godfather: A Novel for Television (1977) (series)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Haskell Wexler
USA
Best movies:
Battle in Seattle (2007)
Medium Cool (1969)
Martin Luther King
USA
Best movies:
Dangerous: The Short Films (1993) (video compilation)
JFK (1991)
The Doors (1991) - a.f.
Felton Perry
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
La Tour infernale (1974)
Magnum Force (1973)
Richard Abrams
Best movies:
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Medium Cool (1969)
China Lee
USA
Best movies:
Harper (1966)
Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
Medium Cool (1969)
Nancy Lee Noble
USA
Best movies:
Medium Cool (1969)
Jackson County Jail (1976)
Jim Jacobs
USA
Best movies:
Medium Cool (1969)
Marrian Walters
USA
Best movies:
Medium Cool (1969)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)