A Movable Scene

Distant Drummer: A Movable Scene (1970)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Robert Mitchum narrates this documentary that tries to educate people about the various drug uses in this country. This is a pretty strange short for a couple reasons but the biggest is that they were able to get someone like Mitchum to do the narration. That wonderful voice is certainly put to great use and there's no question that he certainly helps keep the film entertaining. The film itself is pretty much what you'd expect from a propaganda film of this era. We get scenes showing hippies having fun with their drugs but then we're told that every form of society is doing drugs, no matter if they're rich or poor. The film really seemed to have a pro-marijuana feel to it but LSD and heroin are the evils that it preaches against. The film is full of videos from various parties and clubs and we even get to hear from a few doctors who talk about new forms of getting high including drinking deodorant. Obviously this type of film isn't going to appeal to everyone but those who enjoy watching these drug warning films should enjoy it.

Rather tepid expose of 60's drug culture. At a conventional level, it's something of a warning to parents to sympathetically guide youngsters away from drugs and into the established mainstream. No mention is made of specific causes (Vietnam, racism, greed) motivating youth into countercultural norms. The visuals are relatively mild; no one is shown on a "bad trip", or at an ecstatic peak. It seems the message, such as it is, doesn't want to offend anyone, which is understandable in terms of finding a TV audience, especially a middle-class one. Then too, the mild tone may be a reaction to the ridiculous anti-pot films of the 30's, which by the 60's had no credibility. Trouble is that the message here comes across as too recessive to serve its purpose as a warning. I'm afraid that folks researching the 60's counter-culture won't find much of any depth.

(Too bad narrator Mitchum didn't add his own attraction to pot considering his 1949 arrest for illegal drug use. That would have been an interesting note.)

In A MOVABLE SCENE Narrator Robert Mitchum (!!) takes us into the dark underbelly of hippie culture, exposing the drugs they use, and why they're so damned happy all the time!

Films like this one proliferated during the late 1960s and early 70s, due to the massive generational shift underway between the 1950s' so-called "Age of Innocence", and the 60s' more liberated "Age of Aquarius". Of course, most of these "educational" shorts ranged from being over the top, to being utterly absurd.

This one is saved by Mitchum, who adds a touch of strength and authenticity, due to his undeniable gravitas, along with his own background with marijuana.

Still, A MOVABLE SCENE is a fun experience, with several rib-tickling sequences, especially those involving LSD. A stone groove if ever there was one...

There were a lot of bad documentary films about teens and drugs in the late 60s and early 70s. Many are laughable. While there are elements to this in "A Movable Scene", it stands up a tad better than most over time.

The film chooses a VERY interesting and surprising narrator, Robert Mitchum. While many folks today don't realize it, this famous actor has an infamous blot on his Hollywood image...he was arrested for pot use and sent to jail while he was on his ascent in films. Oddly for the time, in some ways the incident seemed to help his career...giving him a bad-boy image. Here in the film, he seems like a dubious guy to be giving us advice about the hippie culture and drugs...especially when the film seems to condemn drugs! I think it would have been MUCH more effective had Mitchum talked about his experiences with drugs and explain why he thought they were bad...especially since you wonder if he really did!

The documentary is about the hippie culture but instead of demonizing ALL of it, it seems to say that the drug abuse is not good BUT adults have a responsibility in it. They need to talk to teens about why they are disaffected with society and help channel this energy into helping others and bettering the world instead of selfishly tuning out with drugs. Not a bad message...hence my giving it a 5. An odd curio, that's for sure and an unusual film for Turner Classic Movies to show.

Hard work is the ethos of the Protestant values but it's being corrupted by the hippie culture centered around San Francisco. The damn dirty drug culture of the hippies is coercing the youth of the nation. This is their story.

The interesting aspect of this drug short is that it tries to separate the idealism of the flower child generation with its drug use. There is some fear mongering at times but there are also some real first person interviews with the kids. It still pushes hard against marijuana but it doesn't shy away from the controversies. It has the kids talking well of marijuana and about police planting drugs on them. In a way, it's not a rigid anti-drug short as much as a documentary short about the subject matter. They even go overseas to check out the drug scene in other countries. By no means is this anything hard-hitting and it's a time capsule of sorts. The Robert Mitchum narration is very much part of that duality. He has the deep note of societal stability but has hints of open-mindedness. They don't always keep the different drugs separate. They pile on the damning interviews with older people in authority towards the end, and the final conclusion is one of anti-drugs. This seems to be trying to present both sides but the ending is never in doubt.