Peter Bart: How The 1968 Democratic Convention Landed The Lead Role In (And Almost Sank) ‘Medium Cool’
deadline.com“I directed the best political movie never released.” Filmmaker Haskell Wexler thus described Medium Cool, his violent feature set during Chicago’s riotous 1968 Democratic National Convention.
His movie opened (sort of) exactly 55 years ago this week. The Paramount release won ardent support from critics and (briefly) from ticket buyers but was renounced by leaders of the Democratic Party and the Chicago police.
Their criticism was short-lived because the negative would quickly disappear. A Paramount spokesman was reluctant to confirm it had ever been made.
The mysteries of Medium Cool seemed relevant to cineastes this week as history threatened to repeat itself in Chicago. As in 1968, the chaos at the Democratic convention would be triggered by an overseas conflict – Gaza now, Vietnam then.
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