Movie Listings by Genre

Director: Jim Jacobs    More Info
Starring: Muhammad Ali, Richard Kiley

 Muhammad Ali called himself the greatest and prettiest fighter ever. This documentary covers his career, including excerpts from fights and interviews with several popular figures. Narration by Richard Kiley.

Director: Denis Sanders    More Info
Starring: Elvis Presley

 This documentary featuring Elvis Presley's concert at the International Hotel in Las Vegas–including rehearsals and the live performance–makes for one great video.

Director: Albert Maysles    More Info
Starring: Rolling Stones

 This is an eye-opening documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1969 performance on stage at the Altamont Speedway during which a young black man was killed by a member of the Hell's Angels that was hired to control the crowd of 300,000.

Director: Sidney Lumet    More Info
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Sidney Poitier, Clarence Williams III

 This is an eloquent documentary about the life of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King covering the era from 1955 until he was slain in 1968.

Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg    More Info
Starring: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr

 The Beatles were on the verge of breaking up during the filming of this documentary, as cameras followed them during their music making–including the arguments. It ends with their famous impromptu rooftop concert, which turned out to be the last concert the Beatles would give. The musical score won an Oscar, the only Oscar for the Beatles.

Director: Marcel Ophuls    More Info


 This documentary examines the lives of residents of a French town who lived through World War II partly under the Vichy government and partly under Nazi control. This film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary and is a good companion piece to "Hotel Terminus–The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie", an Oscar winner for Ophuls (Best Documentary) 18 years later.

Director: Michael Wadleigh    More Info
Starring: Joan Baez, Joe Crocker, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby,Stills&Nash, The Who, Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Sha-Na-Na, John Sebastian

 This documentary of the 1969 four-day-long rock concert won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Featured performers are Joan Baez; Sly and the Family Sloan; Joe Crocker; Jefferson Airplane; and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Martin Scorsese was an Assistant Director and editor of this film, which was rereleased in 1994 with about 40 minutes added. This is the one to see (at about 228 min.).

Director: Werner Herzog    More Info


 Werner Herzog creates another unconventional film, which was shot in the Sahara Desert. It combines hallucinations, images, and music while showing the endless sands of the desert and the people who live there. Haunting music.

Director: Walon Green    More Info
Starring: Lawrence Pressman

 Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this film is an examination of man versus insects as both struggle to survive on the planet.

Director: Robert Abel    More Info
Starring: Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Keys, John Price, Carl Radle, Leon Russell, Chris Stainton, Claudia Linnear

 This documentary follows Joe Cocker's 1970 American tour and includes such songs as "Let It Be," "Space Captain," "With a Little Help from My Friends," and "Feelin' Alright."

Director: Bruce Brown    More Info
Starring: Bruce Brown, Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, Steve McQueen

 This Bruce Brown ("Endless Summer") documentary is a very exciting look at motorcycle racing featuring actor/cyclist Steve McQueen. The film was nominated for Best Documentary.

Director: Budd Boetticher    More Info
Starring: Anthony Quinn

 Narrated by Anthony Quinn, this is an insightful documentary about the famous bullfighter, Carlos Arruza.

Director: Francine Parker    More Info
Starring: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Len Chandler, Pamela Donegan, Holly Near, Michael Alaimo

 Only true Jane Fonda fans will enjoy this documentary against the Vietnam War. Military pilots beware!!

Director: Arnold Perl    More Info
Starring: James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis

 This is a good portrait of civil rights activist/leader Malcolm X. James Earl Jones narrates the documentary, which was taken largely from Malcolm X's autobiography. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.

Director: Sarah Kernochan    More Info
Starring: Marjoe Gortner, Allie Taylor

 Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this biography of the child evangelist is both gripping and perceptive.

Director: Robert Abel    More Info
Starring: Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Shirelles, The Coasters

 The 1950s brought rock 'n roll, and this "rockumentary" brings back many of the rock stars, using film clips during revival concerts. A rockin' good time.

Director: D.A. Pennebaker    More Info
Starring: David Bowie

 London's Hammersmith Odeon Theatre was the scene of David Bowie's last performance (July 3, 1973) using the name of Ziggy Stardust. "Spiders from Mars" rock band provides the background in this energetic performance.

Director: Keith Merrill    More Info
Starring: Joel McCrea, Larry Mahan, Phil Lyne

 Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this film follows the rodeo careers of two cowboys: Phil Lyne and Larry Mahan.

Director: Peter Davis    More Info


 This documentary won the Academy Award for its account of the tragedies that took place during the war in Vietnam.

Director: Jack Haley Jr.    More Info
Starring: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Peter Lawford, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Liza Minnelli, Donald O'Connor, Frank Sinatra

 This entertaining film contains classics from M.G.M. movies over a 29-year period from 1929 to 1958 and includes many stars as hosts.

Director: Larry Jackson    More Info
Starring: Orson Welles, Mel Blanc

 Orson Welles narrates this tribute to the golden years of Warner Brothers cartoons, including the old lot where Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and others were "born." Interviews with animation greats are interspersed with nine cartoons. Good entertainment for both adults and children.

Director: Orson Welles    More Info
Starring: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Laurence Harvey, Clifford Irving, Nina Van Pallandt

 Director Orson Welles plays the master of ceremonies in this semi-documentary about illegal deceptions, fraud, and forgeries.

Director: Ellen Hovde    More Info
Starring: Edith Bouvier Beale Jr., Edith Bouvier Beale, Jack Helmuth, Brooks Hires, Jerry Torre, Lois Wright

 "Grey Gardens" is the rundown mansion of Jackie Onassis Kennedy's Aunt and her daughter. They are eccentric recluses who hadn't left their dilapidated 28-room home for about 20 years. The story is told mostly from their mouths, and is a story that the Kennedy family would preferred to have kept in the "closet."

Director: Bruce Nyznik    More Info
Starring: Yuichiro Miura

 This winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary traces Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura's expedition to conquer Earth's highest mountain.

Director: Howard Smith    More Info


 This is an interesting documentary in which columnist Howard Smith presents offbeat inventions of the 20th century.