“I’d like for you to be mindful, though, that this is a church, and we’re here for a religious service. And we want you to be a part of it; we want you to give vent to the Spirit. And those of you who are not hip to giving vent to the Spirit, then you do the next best thing.”

Amazing Grace

About: In 1972, Aretha Franklin recorded her gospel album Amazing Grace as a live performance at L.A.’s New Temple Missionary Baptist Church.  Sydney Pollack (at the time the director of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972)) shot twenty hours of footage, but the audio proved impossible to synchronize in post-production.  The film sat in a vault at Warner Bros. until 2007, when producer Alan Elliot purchased the footage and began to fix the audio.  Franklin herself worked to prevent the film’s release, and only after her death in 2018 could Elliot reach terms with her family.  The live recording itself was released as a double album in 1972 and became the highest-selling live gospel record of all time.

Directors: Sydney Pollack and Alan Elliot, 1972/2018

Year Released: 2019

Rating: G

Run time: 87 minutes

Cast: Aretha Franklin, James Cleveland, C. L. Franklin, and the Southern California Community Choir (under the direction of Alexander Hamilton)

 Showing: November 1, 6pm

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