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Documentary - Tim Leary - Can Anyone Help??

post #1 of 11
5/11/05 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 
I'm not sure if this was a theatrical docu or not, I caught it on television approx. 4-5 years and I don't even remember what channel, the name or any production details but I've been desperately trying to track it down on home video ever since.

It was basically a 1.5 - 2 hour documentary about Timothy Leary and the acid movement in the 60's with lots of black & white 8 and 16mm archival footage with interviews, etc. detailing Leary's life and his "revolution".

I've looked it up on Amazon and the only two documentaries that pop up do not seem to match the description. One seems to be all out false advertising and having nothing or very little to do with Tim Leary at all, and the other garnered mixed reviews and just doesn't feel like the documentary I'm remembering...

I wish I had more details or hints to offer, but all I really remember is the subject and context and the fact that I saw it on television approx. 4-5 years ago. I didn't pootst in the TV forum because I didn't think I'd get the same response (plus this forum is subtitled: Films & Documentary).

Anyways, if anyone has any clues or suggestions as to what I might have seen, a link to a website or resource... or better yet, any info on whether it's available on DVD, please let me know!!!

If you've got any remote suggestion of a similair sounding documentary that might fit this context, please let me know as I'd really like to watch this again.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 11
5/11/05 at 4:15pm
Well, there is Timothy Leary's Dead, which was about 1hr and 1/2 but was more of an account of his last year battling cancer.

Timothy Leary's Bad Trip was an 1hr documentary, that was pretty awful. It had some black and white footage. I don't think this title is on dvd.

Now, on the Documentary Channel, this saturday is Hofmann's Potion. Which should be very intriguing. He's the real wizard

Sorry I couldn't help more.
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post #3 of 11
5/12/05 at 12:23am
Albert Hofmann's discovery of LSD-25 is an amazing story. He really seemed destined to discover this amazing, monumentally misunderstood compound. Hofmann's Potion sounds great; Aldous Huxley footage! Where is he when we need him?

While we are on the suject, are there any good Terence McKenna documentaries (either about or featuring this remarkable fellow) out there, not specifically on DVD?

Cheers.
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post #4 of 11
5/12/05 at 8:29am
Nothing that I know of regarding the often over-the-top Terence McKenna, who I met about three years before his death.

As for Timothy Leary, who I not only met but hung out with a bit in the early 1990s (in fact, when the late Los Angeles Reader had turned fifteen years old in '93, Dr. Leary responded positively to my request to speak at our gala in downtown L.A.), Zen mentions a documentary that came out in the later 1990s, which chronicled his last years (and which I saw at an L.A. arthourse).

Zen also mentions a documentary about the still-living Dr. Albert Hofmann, which I would love to see (but cannot, since I don't get that channel).

Yes, Gordon, you are correct: Dr. Hofmann's creation has a certain specialness surrounding it. Dr. Hofmann originally synthesized LSD-25 in 1938, but, at that time, he did not see how it was important in his particular research. But, in 1943, he experienced a gnawing concern about that twenty-fifth compound, that he had missed something. And, sure enough, upon resynthesizing the stuff, he absorbed some through his hands and the results, shall we say, were, um, colorful. Then, just three days later, he tackled it again and -- viola! -- the most famous bicycle trip ever taken occurred.
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post #5 of 11
5/12/05 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys.

Would you reccommend that documentary about the last few years of his life, and does it offer any retrospective into his history or earlier days as a Harvard prof turned acid guru?
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post #6 of 11
5/12/05 at 12:25pm
I'd recommend it, but it focuses mostly on those final days. Richard Alpert -- now known as Ram Dass -- is there, along with others. But as a historical documentary about what Dr. Leary accomplished, this is not it. Still, though, anyone who takes Dr. Leary seriously should see it.
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post #7 of 11
5/12/05 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
I notice that there's also a documentary available on dvd called, "Ram Dass: Fierce Grace", which supposedly focuses on Richard Albert's plight and movement and features archival footage interspersed with current interviews and focus. It's gotten top reviews at Amazon. Have any of you had a chance to check this one out also?
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post #8 of 11
5/13/05 at 2:43am
Has anyone here read Daniel Pinchbeck's excellent, disturbing, enthralling, Breaking Open the Head? One of the best books I have read on the subject of psychedelics and shamanism that is easily digestable.
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post #9 of 11
5/13/05 at 7:02am
Wasn't there a documentary about Leary's unlikely friendship and lecture tour double act with G Gordon Liddy? I vaguely remember seeing it a number of years ago.
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post #10 of 11
5/13/05 at 8:20am
I had seen their routine together in person, but I cannot think offhand of a documentary about it. And certainly no DVD about it (remember, guys, we're in the Software area presently ).

And I cannot recall that The History Channel's excellent LSD episode of History's Mysteries ever made it to DVD (and I'd buy it if it did). As I mentioned to someone else, Dr. Hofmann is interviewed in that presentation.
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post #11 of 11
5/13/05 at 8:31am
I would absolutely recommend the Ram Dass documentary. His research into hallucinogens was pretty extensive. I enjoyed The Psychedelic Experience, co-authored with Leary and others very much. Although, it moves into areas which I just don't feel. It's only after that research that he began to lose me, much like Alan Watts did. Then again, many like their peanut butter in chocolate, or in this case, their "spirituality" fused with mind expanding experiences. I don't, but there has always been that element surrounding psilocybin, LSD-25, and other psychedelic chemicals.

You can't deny though his company with the likes of Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg etc. Don't get me wrong, that whole eastern-hippie vibe is/was sweet, my own mother was caught up in that whole trip. Groovy, just not my bag.
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