HOME • LIVING WITH DIGNITY • FILM STORE • BLOG • CUSTOMER CARE
Death of a Gandy Dancer
Death of a Gandy Dancer
A young boy is confronted by the painful reality of his beloved grandfather’s imminent death. We share not only in their feelings, but in the family’s refusal to face the facts and in the resulting tensions which finally give way to an acceptance of the continuity of life. “The question ‘should the patient be told?” is answered by this beautiful film in a powerful way.” – Death Education.
Awards: ALA Selected Films for Young Adults; National Council On Family Relations; American Film Festival
26 Minutes • Color • 1977
Outside the Lucky
Outside the Lucky
C.P., a homeless person, lives by panhandling outside of a supermarket. When a representative from the World Hunger Organization is assigned to solicit outside the same market, C.P. suddenly finds his meager source of income threatened. The ensuing turf battle becomes a battle of wills, as C.P. stands his ground and the World Hunger representative comes to understand the true meaning of charity and sacrifice. Directed by Bruce R. Schwartz.
20 Minutes • Color • 1991
Peege
Peege
“Your laugh would always make me happy,” the young man whispers to his aged grandmother, Peege, who, now blind and helpless, seems almost to be awaiting death. This touching, poignant film portrays a family’s Christmas visit to their grandmother, a patient in a nursing home, and their sense of despair and isolation as they struggle vainly to communicate. But when other family members leave the room, one grandson stays behind, touching her hand and her hair and reminiscing about Peege as a laughing, fun-loving person. The young man leaves, tearful and unsure whether he penetrated her loneliness. Director Randal Kleiser’s camera, deftly lingering on her face, delivers the subtle yet clear answer. This award-winning film stars Bruce Davison and Jeanette Nolan, and was produced by David Knapp and Leonard Berman. “Peege” was one of 25 films added on Dec. 27, 2007, to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, which recognized this renowned production as “extremely moving.”
28 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1974
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by: Director Randal Kleiser & Actor Bruce Davison
Audio Commentary by: Dr. Robert Yahnke, professor at the University of Minnesota and an expert on the role of film and literature in gerontological education
• 4 Photo Albums
• Real to Reel
• Behind the Scenes
• Publicity
• Peege Premiere
• English Subtitles
• Digitally Remastered From Original Film Elements
National Film Registry of the Library of Congress
The Columbus Film Festival: Chris Award
Nat. Council on Family Relations Film Competition: Top Honor
Media & Methods Recommended Citation: Maxi Award
TEAM Film Award Competition: Best Film in Family Counseling
Portrait of Grandpa Doc
Portrait of Grandpa Doc
A young artist struggles to complete a painting that he especially wants to have ready for his first show — a portrait of his maternal grandfather, who died several years earlier. As he tries to find the image that will capture his grandfather, he reflects on the times he spent with him, recalling that it was Grandpa Doc who first encouraged him to express himself through art. The memories flow as his work continues until, finally, he captures the image he had been seeking.
“Portrait of Grandpa Doc” was produced by Diane Baker and written and directed by Randal Kleiser, who wrote and directed the intergenerational classic “Peege” and directed the award-winning movie “Grease.” Starring Melvyn Douglas as Grandpa Doc and Bruce Davison as his grandson, and co-starring Anne Seymour and Barbara Rush. The award-winning “Grandpa Doc” was broadcast in 1977 as an ABC Weekend Special.
28 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1977
On Challenged Wings
On Challenged Wings
Challenging recreational activities are important tools that help the physically challenged reach their greatest potential. Challenged to achieve what was previously viewed as unobtainable; handicapped men, women and children can now be found scaling a rocky ledge, rafting a river, windsurfing, running the Boston Marathon or skiing down a mountainside. Their achievements not only erase social misconceptions concerning the limitations of handicapped people, but also serve as powerful messages to everyone on building self-esteem and confidence, and maximizing one’s potential. Produced and directed by Tom Feliu.
58 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1993
The Boy King
The Boy King
This inspiring drama focuses on young Martin Luther King Jr.’s early encounters with prejudice and how the love and courage of his family moved him to speak out against segregation and become a leader in the civil rights movement — to some, a modern-day prophet. Produced by All American Television, and winner of a Gold Apple at the National Educational Film Festival and a Peabody award. A Coronet release.
National Educational Film Festival Gold Apple; Peabody Award
48 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1987
Growing Up in the Great Depression
Growing Up in the Great Depression
The shared memories of five adults who survived the Depression weave a tapestry that illustrates an aspect of American culture in the 1930s: children maturing quickly and becoming self-reliant at an early age. A Coronet release.
28 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1987
Helen Keller in Her Story
Helen Keller in Her Story
This is a simple, honest, tremendously moving saga, brought to the screen with the help of such notables as Katherine Cornell, Martha Graham and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Helen Keller, playing her own role, surpassed even the greatest actress, as she evoked the personal drama of her unique and dramatic story of courage, faith, perseverance and hope. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the power and eloquence of this remarkable film than one passage, haltingly spoken by Miss Keller in her partially developed voice: “It is not blindness or deafness that brings me my darkest hours. It is the acute disappointment of not being able to speak normally. Longingly I feel how much more good I could have done if I had acquired normal speech. But out of this dark experience I understand more fully all human striving, thwarted ambitions and the infinite capacity of hope.” Produced by Nancy Hamilton. Narrated by Katherine Cornell.
Academy Award – Best Feature Documentary
Golden Reel Award
45 Minutes • Black and White • Release Year: 1973
How Will I Survive?
How Will I Survive?
“How Will I Survive?” is the positive story of six women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The audience learns about the physical and emotional struggles that women with breast cancer endure. This inspirational story sends the message that women with breast cancer can not only survive but also thrive.
57 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1993
Mahalia Jackson: Got To Tell It
Mahalia Jackson: Got To Tell It
A portrait of Mahalia Jackson, queen of the gospels, who spread the religious music of American blacks from congregations in small churches to vast audiences throughout the world in concert halls and stadiums, and through radio, TV, and recordings, until her death in 1972. This production emphasizes the joys and triumphs of Ms. Jackson’s life, as she communicated them in her songs, with noted author and Chicago broadcaster Studs Terkel providing the commentary. Produced by Jules Victor Schwerin.
33 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1974
I Have a Dream…: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream . . .: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
This documentary, originally produced for CBS News, includes portions of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speech as it tells the story of this dedicated man’s life and the forces that brought him to leadership of his people. Using news footage from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, “I Have a Dream” illustrates a watershed era of U.S. history and highlights the philosophies and ideals that Dr. King came to exemplify.
35 Minutes • Black and White • Release Year: 1968
Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology”
Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology
A new look at a classic of the American heartland, which unraveled the myths about people who lived and died in the supposedly idyllic days of rural America. Director Thomas G. Smith has digitally remastered his original 1976 production, which captured Edgar Lee Masters’ lyrical realism with dramatic readings, authentic settings, and period photography. Smith’s brand-new DVD adds nearly half an hour of new material exploring Masters’ life and works, and includes interviews with John Hallwas, a Masters expert at the University of Western Illinois, and Hilary Masters, Edgar Lee Masters’ son and a professor of English and creative writing at Carnegie-Mellon University.
In “Spoon River Anthology,” Masters probed beneath life’s surfaces to reveal the very human strengths and weaknesses of the people who inhabited his semi-fictional town. Smith’s production, subtitled “Heartland Poetry for a New Age,” shows why “Spoon River” was a major milestone in American literature – a book of poetry that was a national best-seller, and that still resonates nearly a century after its publication. DVD includes text versions of 11 poems. Click on the text version to go directly to the dramatic reading.
50 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 2008
The Girl with the Incredible Feeling – Elizabeth Swados
The Girl With the Incredible Feeling - Elizabeth Swados
A joyous 1977 program celebrating a remarkable talent, Elizabeth Swados, author, composer and performer. Elizabeth is young and bursting with creative energy. In her short life, she has composed the music for two of Joseph Papp’s Lincoln Center productions; won an Obie Award for her music for an Off-Broadway production of “Medea”’; worked closely with British director Peter Brook, composing music for his troupe; toured Europe and Africa to perform and learn about their people and cultures; written a book titled “The Girl with the Incredible Feeling”; and taught music at Sarah Lawrence and Bard Colleges. This story is about her unique approach to life and work. Produced and directed by Linda Feferman.
American Film Festival-Red Ribbon
Baltimore Intl. Film Festival-First Prize
39 Minutes • Color • Release Year: 1977
