King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery To Memphis is a 1970 American documentary film biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presented in the form of newsreel footage and segments of recordings by Dr. King, framed by celebrity narrators, including Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Clarence Williams III, Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, Charlton Heston, Harry Belafonte, The movie was produced by Richard Kaplan and Ely Landau.
When first released, it was shown in theaters as a "one-time-only" event on March 24, 1970. The documentary, which ran an unprecedented 3 hours and 5 minutes, had an equally large admission price of $5 (equal to $28 in 2007). All proceeds were donated to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Special Fund. It was later shown on commercial television (unedited and with limited interruption), and finally released onto home video on the Pacific Arts label, where the celebrity narrations (save for Harry Belafonte's introduction) were removed, and ran for 1 hour and 43 minutes.
In 2011, the unedited film was released as a commemorative edition 2-disc DVD set by A Filmed Record, Inc., a non-profit company founded in 2008 by the film's associate producer Richard Kaplan. The set includes the short film Legacy of a Dream.
It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Features. In 1999, the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Famous quotes containing the words filmed, record and/or montgomery:
“Again and again, I struggled though the storm. Once I fainted—and it wasn’t in the script. I was hauled to the studio on a sled, thawed out with hot tea, and then brought back to the blizzard, where the others were waiting. We filmed all day and all night, stopping only to eat standing near a bonfire. We never went inside.... The blizzard never slackened.”
—Lillian Gish (1896–1993)
“When our kids are young, many of us rush out to buy a cute little baby book to record the meaningful events of our young child’s life...But I’ve often thought there should be a second book, one with room to record the moral milestones of our child’s lives. There might be space to record dates she first shared or showed compassion or befriended a new student or thought of sending Grandma a get-well card or told the truth despite its cost.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Hay! now the day dawis;
The jolie Cok crawis;
Now shroudis the shawis,
Throw Natur anone.
The thissell-cok cryis
On lovers wha lyis.
Now skaillis the skyis:
The nicht is neir gone.”
—Alexander Montgomery (1540?–1610?)