Kent Mackenzie

Kent MacKenzie
Born (1930-04-06)6 April 1930
Died 16 May 1980(1980-05-16) (aged 50)
Occupation Director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor
Years active 1950s to 1970s

Kent Mackenzie (6 April 1930, Hampstead, England – 16 May 1980, Marin County, California) was a film director and producer who is mainly remembered for his film The Exiles, which was about Native American young people in Los Angeles.[1] He was also involved with Dimension Films in making educational films such as Can a Parent be Human.[2]

Bio

He was born on April 6th 1930 in Hampstead, England. His mother was English and his father was Dewitt Mackenzie, who was head of the London Bureau of the Associated Press After finishing school, Kent Mackenzie would enlist in the air force and later end up in Hollywood, where, after gaining a scholarship, he made his first film, Bunker Hill. His next film was The Exiles, which was released in 1961.[3][4]

In later years he worked as an editor on television documentaries and medical and industrial films and shorts. During the 1960s and 1970's he taught certain aspects of film making to high school classes. [5] He also directed some films for Dimension Films.[6]

Since the mid 1970s he had been suffering from seizures.[7] He died on 16 May 1980 in Marin County, California as a result of his medication and related complications.[8]

Films

The Exiles

The setting for The Exiles was in Bunker Hill.[9] This was the second time Mackenzie had used the Hill in a film. The first instance was in 1956, when he made a film about the displacement of pensioners being moved because of high rise buildings being built in their area.[10] The Exiles was an independent film[11] and took three-and-a-half years to make and had its share of issues. During the course of the film some of the cast were imprisoned and therefore never appeared in later scenes. He also lost two of his cameramen.[12] The film is about Native Americans who move from the reservation to the city and some of the issues they encounter.[13] Christina Rose of the Indian Country Today Media Network said in an article that it gave an accurate portrayal of urban natives and it was the first film to do so.[14]

Other

Prior to making The Exiles, Mackenzie made Bunker Hill in 1956. He was still a student at USC at the time. The film was centered on elderly pensioners and their community and the displacement they experienced because of a high rise office block that was to be built there.[15][16][17]

In 1965, he produced and directed The Teenage Revolution, which featured Barry Brown in an early role[18] and was narrated by Van Heflin.[19] It looked at six teenagers and their society and culture, as well as their current lives while speculating about their futures.[20][21]

He directed and produced Saturday Morning, a film about teenagers, which was released in 1971 through Dimension Films, of which Gary Goldsmith was chief and producer.[22][23] It was a non-fiction film that involved a group of twenty teenagers being filmed over a period of a week.[24]

Filmography

Links

References

  1. ↑ Chicago Tribune November 21, 2008 'The Exiles' stars Yvonne Wilson, Homer Nish, Tommy Reynolds, Rico Rodriguez By Michael Phillips, Tribune Critic
  2. ↑ WorldCat Can a parent be human
  3. ↑ The Center for Studies in American Culture (September 28, 2010 (XXI:5) Kent MacKenzie, THE EXILES (1961, 72 min)) http://csac.buffalo.edu/exiles.pdf
  4. ↑ Film Quarterly Vol. 15, No. 3, Spring, 1962 Film Reviews The Exiles
  5. ↑ The Guardian Thursday 18 February 2010 The Lure of Night by John Patterson
  6. ↑ BFI Film Forever The Searching Years: Can a Parent Be Human? (1978)
  7. ↑ LA Times July 6, 2008 A time capsule of Bunker Hill's Native Americans By Saul Austerlitz
  8. ↑ The Guardian Thursday 18 February 2010 The lure of the night by John Patterson
  9. ↑ Montreal Gazette May 28, 2014 Check out the great documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself – Wednesday and Thursday at Cinémathèque Québecoise
  10. ↑ Wall Street Journal Dec. 10, 2014 Art Review, A Tale of Three Cities by Richard B. Woodward
  11. ↑ Boston Globe July 13, 2008 Bunker Hill doesn't live here anymore by Saul Austerlitz
  12. ↑ The Guardian Thursday 18 February 2010 The Lure of Night by John Patterson
  13. ↑ LA Weekly Aug 13 2008 Film, Soul and the City: Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles, A "lost" classic makes its long overdue theatrical debut by Jim Ridley
  14. ↑ Indian Country Today Media Network 12/15/14 Still Here, in the Big City: Meet the Legacy of the Indian Relocation Act by Christina Rose
  15. ↑ Archinet Aug 27 '14 "LA's Grand Central : The Gentrification of the People's Market": Interview with director Dylan Valley Anthony Carfello
  16. ↑ Los Angeles Film Forum Archive » Summer 2013 Schedule » This is the City
  17. ↑ Los Angeles Film Forum Archive » Summer 2013 Schedule » This is the City Bunker Hill 1956 —Mark Toscano
  18. ↑ Barry Brown Actor Filmography 12 The Teenage Revolution
  19. ↑ New York Times Teenage Revolution (1965)
  20. ↑ Chicago Tribune October 29, 1965 ABC Show to Air 'Teen Revolution' by Larry Wolters
  21. ↑ Cruising for Community: Youth Culture and Politics in Los Angeles, 1910--1970 by Matthew Allan Ides Page 327
  22. ↑ New York Times April 26, 1971 Movie Review, Saturday Morning (1971) by Howard Thompson
  23. ↑ LA Times July 6, 2008 A time capsule of Bunker Hill's Native Americans By Saul Austerlitz
  24. ↑ New London, Conn August 28, 1971 Moviegoers Don't Like Cinema Verite by Linda Deutsch
  25. ↑ LA Observed July 31, 2010 Weekend viewing: Bunker Hill, 1956 * By Kevin Roderick
  26. ↑ Oscilloscope The Exiles
  27. ↑ Oscilloscope The Exiles
  28. ↑ David L. Wolper Official Website Story of a Test Pilot
  29. ↑ Close Up The Story Of A Rodeo Cowboy Technical Specs
  30. ↑ Hollywood.Com T.A.M.I. Show (2014)
  31. ↑ Close Up A Skill For Molina Technical Specs
  32. ↑ Imdb Kent MacKenzie (1930–1980
  33. ↑ David L. Wolper Official Website The Way Out Men (1965)
  34. ↑ M Comet Prelude to War: Beginning of World War II Cast
  35. ↑ David L. Wolper Official Website Prelude to War: Beginning of World War IIr.com/shows/details.cfm?showID=194 PRELUDE TO WAR Beginning of World War II 1965
  36. ↑ Movie Dvia The Exiles (1961) Directed by Kent Mackenzie. Yvonne Williams, Homer Nish, and Tommy Reynolds (72 min)
  37. ↑ Close Up Ivan And His Father Technical Specs
  38. ↑ New York Times Kent Mackenzie Filmography
  39. ↑ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Sunseed
  40. ↑ BFI Film Forever Kent Mackenzie
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