R.I.P, Albert Maysles

Albert Maysles, who along with his brother David not only created memorable documentaries but also helped pioneer the American brand of cinema verite, is dead at 88. Here is a fine obit from the Hollywood Reporter. He and his brother trained their focus on the Beatles, Vladimir Horowitz, Muhammad Ali, Marlon Brando and countless other less famous folks.

With their handheld camera and crude recording equipment, the Maysles brothers emerged in the 1960s as sharp observers of the human condition. They shunned the traditional interview format in favor of fly-on-the-wall realism. Albert once told the New York Times, "Making a film isn’t finding the answer to a question; it’s trying to capture life as it is.”

"Salesman" is a fascinating profile of the dying breed of door-to-door salesmen.



Two years later they achieved widespread recognition with "Gimme Shelter," the chronicle of the fateful Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. They reached their peak in 1975 with the searing portrait of a heartbreaking pair of eccentrics: elderly Edith Bouvier Beale and her middle-aged daughter, "Little Edie." Here is a trailer for "Grey Gardens":



Their 1974 footage of Ali and George Foreman was used in the memorable 1996 documentary "When We Were Kings."  David died in 1987 at age 55.

BONUS TRACK
Here is "Grey Gardens" in full: