Customer Reviews

King - Man of Peace in a Time of War

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This is an important addition to the publicly available materials on MLK. For the most part, it shows rare footage that one seldom sees in documentaries on Dr. King.

Yes, the ubiquitous "Dream speech" footage is here, along with a few seldom-seen interviews from the days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. There is also a rare piece of film featuring some blistering commentary from Malcolm X attacking Dr. King in an interview (as well as a different picture from their actual meeting than is usually seen). A nice, but unidentified as to place and date scene shows Dr. King casually dressed in a denim jacket giving a witty but powerful response to rioters.

The bonus here of course, is a complete interview from November 2, 1967 from the Mike Douglas show. Those of us who remember the Douglas show as a sort of lightweight Ed Sullivan making small talk with the popular entertainers of the day are in for a shock here. Here, Mike Douglas and a singer named Tony Martin ask Dr. King some rather pointed questions about his stand on Vietnam, race riots, communism, patriotism, and race relations in general. Dr. King responds to each question and refutes the common criticisms of his time without missing a beat in an equally pointed fashion.

It would be interesting to see similar television appearances of Dr. King from this era. I once saw a brief clip of a 1968 Tonight Show appearance with a relaxed and joking Dr. King, but this is nowhere to be found in recent video compilations.

The narrator does not mention Iraq here, but he makes some intersting statements about Dr. King's Vietnam pronouncements being "equally relevant to our own time." Read between the lines, folks.

This is important since the post-Dream aspects of Dr. King's career are seldom discussed these days (although Eyes on the Prize, Citizen King, and the KING miniseries with Paul Winfield handles these subjects admirably).

In either case, this is a must see for the "Kingologists" and a good addition to the growing selections of King Cds and DVDs.

I watched this video just before the 2008 presidential election and the clip from the Mike Douglas show at the end about made me weep. If you are tired of vitriolic "debate" and bitter and divisive invective in our political discussions today, you will love Dr. King. Here was a man with every reason to be angry and frustrated and bitter, and yet how he handles some pointed questions and paraphrased criticisms is awe-inspiring. You will yearn for the lost days of civility in our political debates. No name-calling, no attacking punditry, no slanderous "framing" of the critical questions of the time...the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights struggle, and more. He remains calm and centered and righteous (as in "on the side of justice," not self-righteous or vain) without pretension, anxiety or defensiveness. You will be inspired and maybe, like me, will see him as one of the greatest Americans that ever lived. We have much to learn from watching this powerful patriot and Christian work for justice and peace.

A wonderful look at a unique man. Worth it just to see the very impressive spontaneous conversations on the Mike Douglas Show.

While the historical figures that surround King's words are interesting in themselves, I was particularly drawn to this release because of the Mike Douglas Show appearance, specifically linking the interview with King's anti-Vietnam War speech entitled "A Time to Break Silence" (written by Dr. Vincent Gordon Harding) given on April 14, 1967. The video quality is acceptable, although not remastered, and helps to add another dimension to King's image, especially for students who are more likely familiar with his more iconic speeches and visual record.