Hitsville: The Making of Motown

This love letter of a doc celebrates the astonishing success of the Detroit-based record label during the '60s, when its artists included The Supremes, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. British co-directors Benjamin and Gabe Turner conduct interviews with founder Berry Gordy Jr and Smokey Robinson, who explain the assembly-line principles behind the hit factory. If Hitsville feels like a sanitised account, the Motown records featured - which crossed social and racial divides in America - remain gloriously life-affirming.

I mean...seriously... I thought I was fairly familiar with most of thees songs....but the mark of a great documentary is hearing something familiar in a new and different way....

I mean....the way they break down the arrangement of The Temptation's " My Girl" is a revelation....hearing those classical music arrangements...they were there the whole time and I never noticed it.....that's what this film does.....as Bill Hader's Stephane character would say..." It Has Everything"

My only beef...and it's a small one...is that the story ends mid-70's....so they don't even touch disco....or losing the Jacksons....no mention of the second wave of Motown in the mid-80's ....but then this would have to have been a mini-series...

.

As a native Detroiter, I thought I knew everything about this iconic, trail- blazing, star-making machine. I couldn't have been more wrong! This documentary was brilliantly produced and directed. It provides access to the genius behind the machine - Berry Gordy and many, many of the artists who were there from the beginning -through personal interviews and a rare archive of actual recordings of staff meetings and jam sessions. We get the opportunity to see Berry Gordy's vision come to life as he models his company after a Ford assembly line, starting with identifying, and developing a multitude of talent, then bringing all the key components together, such as writers, musicians, sales people, choreographers, etiquette trainers, under one roof, called Hitsville, that goes unrivaled even today. Mr. Gordy candidly shares his risk taking ventures, successes, and failures, as well as times he was dead wrong about identifying what later became legendary hits. He shares his vulnerabilities when some stars left Motown and other times he had to relinquish the reins or risk losing major stars, such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Smokey Robinson, his life-long best friend, is there to support as well as tease his mentor and old friend. Berry Gordy and company have always made me proud to be a Detroiter, and I was never more proud than after viewing this documentary. Motown's legacy will never die.

Of all the Motown documentaries I have seen, this is probably the best, maybe because Berry Gordy Jr., the man who created that legendary record company, was also behind the production. I admit that I was a bit skeptic, considering that a man as controversial as Gordy were the center of the film, but he is definitely the heart of the story, the motor of the enterprise and the visionary business man who followed his principles, convictions, dreams and his whims too. A true "influencer".

Many persons can still deny the importance of Motown, as many rock and roll fans, critics and historians who prefer to see that story from the point of view of white boys playing a guitar... but at this point who cares what they believe? The facts are there and those who have been open enough to listen and appreciate, know what role Motown played in music, sociology, politics and civil rights in the United States.

I guess that what makes it all more interesting is the fact that Berry Gordy is quite a host, a funny story teller who receives great help from his best friend, colleague and artistic accomplice William "Smokey" Robinson.

The film also leaves out all the feuds, gossips and sarcasm (for example, Mary Wilson has more screen time than Diana Ross, who only appears in archive stock). In this way the Motown story becomes a celebration of love, effort, friendship and collaboration, with revealing sides to the story: Gordy's inspiration to develop his business model, his own tender perception of the love he had for Ross always tied to business, his initial refusal to accept the genius of Norman Whitfield and Marvin Gaye, his failed attempt to conquer Hollywood with Ross, which in the long run meant the musical downfall of the company.

However, the legacy is intact, and "Hitsville" is a magnificent homage to all the men and women that rode along with Gordy in this journey of American success.

Co-writers/directors Benjamin Turner and Gabe Turner have delivered the definitive documentary about the musical phenomenon of Motown from its quiet birth by Berry Gordy in 1958 Detroit through its growth in global importance to its relocation to Los Angeles in the 1970s.

But the film is so much more than an overview of some of the most important singers and performers whose careers blossomed under the aegis of Berry Gordy (who narrates the film with Smokey Robinson!): it is a tribute to the impact that 'record company' had on the rise of black performers on the global stage. The script is witty, insightful, sensitive, and eloquent. The film shares films clips of performances by such stars as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves, Little Richard, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye - and on and on.

The manner in which Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson open the survey of the history of civil rights is distinguished and is one of the most accessible demonstrations of that deeply needed transition in cultural equality that has been created. Very highly recommended on many levels.