CHARLES MANSON: THE MAN WHO KILLED THE '60s (TV)
Summary
This documentary examines the way the countercultural movement of the late 1960s was affected by cult leader Charles Manson and his followers, who murdered seven people, including actress Sharon Tate, in August 1969. Topics discussed include the following: Vince Bugliosi describes how the charismatic Manson turned middle-class girls into killers; former follower Bruce Davis asserts that Manson is "an instrument of the evil supernatural"; former student activist Todd Gitlin describes the apocalyptic mood of the 1960s; and deputy district attorney Steven Kay says Manson irrevocably caused the public to associate hippies with murder. Next, Manson follower Sandra Good claims their leader was a scapegoat. Former student activists Anita Hoffman and Paul Krassner, and former Haight-Ashbury resident Greg Shaw describe the violence that began erupting in countercultural groups in 1969. In footage of a 1993 interview from Corcorian prison, Manson free-associates about various topics, particularly his innocence. Throughout the program, clips from his interview appear on tiny television sets dwarfed by several environments, including an urban landscape, a barren desert, a noisy bar, and Cielo Drive, the street where Sharon Tate lived. Dr. David Smith of the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic discusses the media's appropriation of Manson as a countercultural symbol, followed by footage of family members skinny-dipping at a waterfall and holding a vigil at the murder trial. Next, Phil Kaufman discusses Manson's musical career and plays a clip of the former cult leader's song, "Look at Your Game Girl." In another clip, Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California condemns rock music and psychedelic light shows. Wavy Gravy, Hog Farm commune founder, tells how he stood up to Manson, who tried to disrupt a group meditation circle, and Bruce Davis describes his former leader's desensitization process, followed by comments by Inyo County district attorney Buck Gibbens and Jim Pursell, a former patrolman. Subsequent topics include the rise of the Black Panther Party, the concept of a race-war apocalypse known as helter skelter, the Weathermen Underground's praise of Manson, and the fact that the former cult leader is a "Frankenstein product of the prison system" who spent half his life in jail. Sandra Good also claims the followers were trying start a revolution and condemns activists as fakes. The program concludes with Bugliosi asserting that Manson "beat the rap" when California revoked the death penalty in 1972, and with Manson admitting he does not know what "I'm sorry" means. Includes a wedding photo of Tate and Roman Polanski, photos of the words that Manson's followers scrawled in murder victims' homes, and archival footage of the following: student leader Mario Savio, Spahn's Movie Ranch, the shooting at Kent State, police restraint and brutality, protests and marches, light shows, and tour buses travelling through San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in 1967, as well as contemporary footage of the neighborhood. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: TLC The Learning Channel
- DATE: December 10, 1995 Sunday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:43997
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Hippies; Interviews; Murder (trials); Subculture
- SERIES RUN: Learning Channel - TV, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Sean McPhilemy … Executive Producer
- Peter Bate … Producer, Director
- Stephen Rashbrook … Narrator
- Howard Davidson … Music by
- Vince Bugliosi
- Bruce Davis
- Kim Fowley
- Al George
- Buck Gibbens
- Sandra Good
- Wavy Gravy
- Steven Kay
- Paul Krassner
- Charles Manson
- Roman Polanski
- Jim Pursell
- Ronald W. Reagan
- Mario Savio
- Greg Shaw
- David Smith
- Sharon Tate