CHICAGO 10 {CHICAGO TEN} (TV)
Summary
This documentary feature combines archival footage and animation as it explores the Vietnam War protests at August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the participants' subsequent criminal trials. The story begins in 1967-1968 as President Johnson declares that the draft will be increased in order to send yet more troops to Vietnam, prompting the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE) and radicalized hippies known as "Yippies" to make plans to protest at the 1968 DNC in Chicago. A year later, however, eight of the planners are on trial for "intent to incite a riot," which they note is an unfair persecution of a thought process. On the stand, famous anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman states that the war is a "byproduct" of the country's capitalist society, and as the protesters begin to make their plans for what they describe as a music festival, they are told by Mayor Richard Daley that they cannot have permits to gather or to sleep in the park. Hoffman jokingly offers to drop the matter for a "ransom" of $100,000, though makes it clear that no amount of money could deter his interest in denouncing the war. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is murdered in April 1968, sparking outrage and riots, and the MOBE/Yippies resolve to protest the convention with or without permits. Despite their assurances that they intend to be peaceful, the National Guard is called into Chicago.
On the stand, writer Norman Mailer discusses Yippie leader Jerry Rubin's plans, noting that they expected the police to actually cause the problem by reacting violently to their pacifist actions. The convention begins on August 25 at the International Amphitheatre, as does the "Festival of Life" musical celebration in nearby Lincoln Park, and the police clash with protestors as they attempt to oust them from the park at 11:00 PM. Hoffman calls radio host Bob Fass during the trial, joking about his "relation" to Judge Julius Hoffman, and undercover policeman Robert Pierson takes the stand to describe his role as Rubin's "bodyguard," stating that the arrest of protestor Tom Hayden led the others to "take the hill" and climb the General John A. Logan statue in the Grant Park. Pierson claims that Rubin expressed a desire to murder policemen, though Rubin denounces this as "a fantasy trip," and further witnesses testify to Rubin and Hoffman's use of profanity but seem unclear about the actual presence of any weapons. Policewoman Mary Ellen Dahl's testimony that the cops did not injure anyone is strongly disproven by archival footage of bloodied protestors, and local children even begin to play violent schoolyard games of "cops and protestors."
As the convention wears on, MOBE co-director David T. Dellinger waits in Mayor Dealy's office, angered that they have not been given a place to protest, and poet Allen Ginsberg states that he will participate in the planned march from Lincoln Park to the Ampitheatre "as an individual," not as one of the Yippies. On the stand, he notes that he was nervous about the likelihood of violence, and when prosecutor Thomas Foran and defense attorney William Kunstler begin arguing with Judge Hoffman about Foran's questions about Ginsberg's explicit poetry, Ginsberg begins an "om" chant to calm the proceedings. Protestors remain outside the Ampitheatre even as temperatures plummet, and Hoffman defends his "infantile" behavior when he and Rubin appear in court dressed in judges' robes – with police uniforms underneath. Hoffman and the others, needing to raise money for the cause, maintain a hectic schedule of paid speaking engagements in between their court appearances, flying around to different college campuses and other locations. On the 27th, the protestors march from the park to the Conrad Hilton Hotel, where many of the delegates are staying for the convention. When Kunstler begins reading out the names of those killed in Vietnam that week, Foran accuses him of being a "mouthpiece" for his clients' belief, and Judge Hoffman ignores Kunstler's protests.
On the fourth day, the protesters are finally granted permission to gather around the bandshell in Grant Park, though not to march to the Ampitheatre, and Rubin speaks out to encourage the crowd to do precisely that. In court, Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale, who was not in fact present for most of the Chicago protests,, hotly demands to defend himself and is subjected to "medieval torture" as he is gagged and chained by an irate Judge Hoffman. The protestors begin their march to the Ampitheatre and the cops respond with tear gas, nightsticks, pepper spray and other deterrents, but the organizers declare that they are willing to go to jail for their actions, knowing that the others will continue the movement in their stead, as they are "all leaders." The film concludes by explaining that all eight accused were found not guilty of conspiracy, but were given jail time under the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 and other charges, including contempt – as were both lawyers, hence the "Chicago Ten." The ten served sentences ranging from two months to four years before their charges were overturned in 1972 by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
(This feature had a limited theatrical release in February 2008 and aired on television under the umbrella title "Independent Lens" in October.)
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 30, 2006 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:39:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:91846
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Animation; Trials; Chicago 1968; Vietnam War - 1968; Democratic National Convention - 1968; Vietnam War - Protest movements
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1999-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- William Pohlad … Executive Producer
- Laura Bickford … Executive Producer
- Jeff Skoll … Executive Producer
- Diane Weyermann … Executive Producer
- Peter Schlessel … Executive Producer
- Ricky Strauss … Executive Producer
- Richard Winkler … Executive Producer
- Susan Holden … Executive Producer
- Steve Oakes … Executive Producer
- Jonathan Paley … Executive Producer
- Pete Denomme … Executive Producer
- Graydon Carter … Producer
- Lewis Kofsky … Producer
- Ben Spivak … Producer
- Dave Tecson … Producer
- Alison Beckett … Associate Producer
- Christopher J. Keene … Associate Producer
- Randall Makiej … Associate Producer
- Richard O'Connor … Animation Producer
- Lisa Cohen … Digital Film Producer
- Paul Leonardo … Line Producer
- Brett Morgen … Director, Writer
- Cory Alderman … Animation
- Ana Camila Benitez-Martinez … Animation
- Dana Boadway … Animation
- Christopher Caufield … Animation
- Matthew Guzzardo … Animation
- Yan Sheuw Ke … Animation
- Roman Kobryn Jr. … Animation
- Michele Matt … Animation
- Anton Tokar … Animation
- Matthew Trudell … Animation
- Justin Weg … Animation
- Jeff Danna … Music by
- Hank Azaria … Cast, Voice, Abbie Hoffman / Allen Ginsberg
- Dylan Baker … Cast, Voice, David Dellinger / David Stahl
- Nick Nolte … Cast, Voice, Thomas Foran
- Mark Ruffalo … Cast, Voice, Jerry Rubin
- Roy Scheider … Cast, Voice, Judge Julius Hoffman
- Liev Schreiber … Cast, Voice, William Kunstler
- Jeffrey Wright … Cast, Voice, Bobby Seale
- Debra Eisenstadt … Cast, Voice, Mary Ellen Dahl / Waitress
- Lloyd Floyd … Cast, Voice, Robert Pierson / Arthur Aznavoorian / Police Officer
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach … Cast, Voice, Paul Krassner
- James Urbaniak … Cast, Voice, Rennie Davis / Richard Schultz
- Leonard Weinglass … Cast, Voice, Himself
- David Boat … Cast, Voice, Norman Mailer / Marshal 1
- Catherine Curtin … Cast, Voice, Barbara Callender
- Julian Dean … Cast, Voice, Reporter 2
- Dan Hagen … Cast, Voice, Bailiff
- Roger L. Jackson … Cast, Voice, Marshal 2 / Reporter 4 / Reporter 6
- Ted Marcoux … Cast, Voice, Robert Murray
- Chuck Montgomery … Cast, Voice, Lee Weiner
- Chris Murney … Cast, Voice, Meany / Oklepek 1 / Reporter 1
- Phillip Piro … Cast, Voice, Oklepek 2
- Jay Potter … Cast, Voice, Reporter 3 / Reporter 5
- Reg Rogers … Cast, Voice, Tom Hayden / Unidentified Yippie / Marshal 3
- John Rubano … Cast, Voice, Weaver
- Amy Ryan … Cast, Voice, Anita Hoffman
- Richard J. Daley
- David T. Dellinger
- Thomas Foran
- Allen Ginsberg
- Thomas F. Hayden
- Abbie Hoffman (see also: Abbot F. Hoffman)
- Julius Hoffman
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- William Kunstler
- Jerry Rubin
- Bobby G. Seale