Town Bloody Hall (1971)

Synopsis: On April 20, 1971, Norman Mailer met with a diverse group of feminists, appearing on a panel at New York City's Town Hall to discuss his infamous essay on feminism, "The Prisoner of Sex." World-renowned filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (MONTEREY POP) and his crew captured that panel discussion, and... On April 20, 1971, Norman Mailer met with a diverse group of feminists, appearing on a panel at New York City's Town Hall to discuss his infamous essay on feminism, "The Prisoner of Sex." World-renowned filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (MONTEREY POP) and his crew captured that panel discussion, and the exuberant response of the audience. Years later, Pennebaker's frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus (who would later codirect STARTUP.COM) edited the raw footage down to an 88-minute film, TOWN BLOODY HALL. The film features Mailer at his most acerbically witty and his most aggravatingly patronizing as he takes on outrageous Village Voice columnist Jill Johnston, level-headed literary critic Diana Trilling, bourgeois N.O.W. president Jaqueline Ceballos, and the formidable Germaine Greer--author of The Female Eunuch. The film also features pointed commentary from audience members like Betty Friedan, Susan Sontag, and Cynthia Ozick. There are also some very vocal and disruptive hecklers. In addition to being an unusually funny documentary, it's a thought-provoking record of a very specific moment in the history of feminism. Mailer clearly relishes the spotlight, and the opportunity to spar with these intelligent women, as they debate everything from biological determinism to the Mailer-dominated format of the event itself. [More]