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Street Scenes 1970

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Street Scenes 1970
Directed byNew York Cinetracts Collective
Martin Scorsese (uncredited)
StarringMartin Scorsese
Harvey Keitel
Verna Bloom
Jay Cocks
William Kunstler
Cinematography
Edited by
Release date
  • 1970 (1970)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Street Scenes 1970 is an American documentary film made by the New York Cinetracts Collective, most notable for its involvement of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, while working as a film instructor at New York University,[1] who served as production supervisor and post-production director on the film.[2]

Synopsis

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It documents two protest rallies against the Vietnam War that took place in May 1970: the Hard Hat Riot on Wall Street in New York City and Kent State/Cambodia Incursion Protest in Washington, D.C. The numerous camera operators do impromptu interviews with the protesters and the spectators. The New York protest turns violent as protesters were attacked by construction workers who supported the war. The Washington protest is peaceful. At the end, Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, Jay Cocks and Verna Bloom discuss the events and the current state of world affairs. Oliver Stone was one of the many camera operators.

Production

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Nancy Bennett (as Yorgos Arvanitis), Harry Peck Bolles, John Butman, Dick Catron, Frederick Elmes, Bill Etra, Tom Famighetti, Peter Flynn, Robert Foresta, David Freeberg, Tiger Graham, Fred Hadley, Tony Janetti, Arnold Klein, Don Lenzer, Ron Levitas, Didier Loiseau, David Ludwig, Bob Pitts, Laura Primakoff, Peter Rea, Danny Schneider, Gordon Stein, Oliver Stone, Edward Summer, Bruce Tabor, Nat Tripp, Stanley Weiser, and Bob Zahn participated in filming Street Scenes as cinematographers.[3] Angela Kirby, Maggie Koven, Gerry Pallor, Peter Rea, Thelma Schoonmaker, and Larry Tisdall participated in filming Street Scenes as film editors.[4]

Martin Scorsese does some interviews with protestors in the film.[5]

"Marty Scorsese, who was our teacher, he was an advisor. We respected him. And he was helpful. And so we called ourselves the Cinetracts Collective....The whole idea was that it was the information arm of the revolution on the East Coast. So we would produce these films and send them down to Florida or North Carolina or wherever and we were going to distribute them."[6] - Harry Peck Bolles

Martin Scorsese edited throughout the night over a period of ten days, attempting a formal structure. Scorsese would not make it a political film if he could not direct it from one end to the other. When Scorsese showed the film to the New York Cinetracts Collective participants, they hated it and felt betrayed, as it was not provocative enough. They felt betrayed, they didn’t recognize the experience that they had filmed. Scorsese emphasized sadness, anger, frustration, irresponsibility, and powerlessness. Street Scenes didn’t show radicals, but average students from families, and weekend leftists. Scorsese ended the film pessimistically, in the middle of a sentence, with a fade-out. Each time that Scorsese showed the film, the spectators, even non-engaged students, spontaneously "pursued the debate in the room, the arguments of the discussion in Washington".[7]

Release

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On 14 September 1970, Street Scenes was shown at the New York Film Festival.[8][9]

On 25 October 1976, Street Scenes had one showing by The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative in the Modern Languages Building on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[10][11]

A print, in the collection of Museum of Modern Art in New York City, is not available for viewing.[3] A VHS rip on YouTube with sub-800 views was removed at Martin Scorsese's request.[12][13]

Reception

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"...neither accurately records the events of that week when being documentary, nor projects an organizing point of view when using cinema verite. Street Scenes might not have been so chaotic and ultimately amateurish if the cameraman and audio man had not been such belligerent proponents of the demonstrators and if the film had been edited more coherently"[14] - National Catholic Reporter, Volume 6, Number 42, 2 October 1970

New York Cinetracts Collective

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In spring 1970, New York Cinetracts Collective was formed at the New York University film school, during the students' strike.[15]

New York Cinetracts Collective associated people included: Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, Verna Bloom, Frederick Elmes, and Oliver Stone. They participated in filming the Hard Hat Riot on Wall Street in New York City.[16] Street Scenes was later disowned by Martin Scorsese.[16]

Further reading

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  • Raymond, Marc (2009). "Martin Scorsese and film culture: radically contextualizing the contemporary auteur". Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Ottawa, Ontario: Carleton University. doi:10.22215/etd/2009-06343. Retrieved June 23, 2026. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy PDF
  • Raymond, Marc (2010). "Politics, Authorship and History: the Production, Reception and Marginalization of Street Scenes 1970". Film History. 22 (2): 133–147. doi:10.2979/fil.2010.22.2.133. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 10.2979/fil.2010.22.2.133.
  • "Hard Hat Riot (film credits and transcript)". American Experience. PBS. September 30, 2025.
  • Scorsese, Martin; Donato, Raffaele (2007). "Docufictions: An Interview with Martin Scorsese on Documentary Film". Film History. 19 (2): 199–207. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 25165423.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Wood, Robin; Lippe, Richard. "Martin Scorsese". International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Retrieved June 23, 2026 – via Encyclopedia.com.
  2. ↑ Grist, Leighton (January 30, 2013). The Films of Martin Scorsese, 1978-99: Authorship and Context II (in Korean). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-2035-5.
  3. 1 2 "Street Scenes (1970)". rarefilmm. June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Street Scenes". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Every Time Martin Scorsese Appeared In One Of His Own Movies". TheShot. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Hard Hat Riot (film credits and transcript)". American Experience. PBS. September 30, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  7. ↑ Raymond, Marc (2013). Hollywood's New Yorker: The Making of Martin Scorsese. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-4572-4.
  8. ↑ Kaplan, Martin H. (September 29, 1970). "The New York Film Festival Twelve Nights in a Dark Room: You Can't Always Get What You Want". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  9. ↑ "After The Summer, The Deluge Movies Are Back At Lincoln Center". The Village Voice. August 27, 1970. p. 40. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative". The Michigan Daily. October 24, 1976. p. 4. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Happenings". The Michigan Daily. October 23, 1976. p. 3. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  12. ↑ Newman, Nick (September 24, 2019). "Watch Martin Scorsese's Long-Unavailable 1970 Documentary 'Street Scenes'". thefilmstage.com. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Scorseses "Street Scenes" - Eine kleine YouTube-Sensation" [Scorseses "Street Scenes" - A little YouTube sensation]. kino-zeit.de (in German). Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  14. ↑ O'Brien, Margaret (October 2, 1970). "Revolution has come to the movies". National Catholic Reporter. Vol. 6, no. 42. p. 12. JSTOR community.32153489. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  15. ↑ Silber, Irwin (September 26, 1970). "New films distort workers". National Guardian. p. 14. JSTOR community.38319871. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Levin, Max (June 22, 2024). "The Madness of Crowds". Screen Slate. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
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