Brown, James: The Night James Brown Saved Boston (DVD)

It’s 4th April 1968: America is shocked by the assassination of Martin Luther King. To help avoid the spreading of spontaneous riots, a Boston TV network decides to air an inflammatory James Brown’s concert to prevent people from pouring into the streets. Issued on DVD exactly forty years after the event portrayed took place, this black and white documentary recounts a historical performance held by soul legend James Brown on an infamous spring night of 1968. Rich in archive footage featuring popular personalities of the time, from civil rights leader Martin Luther King to controversial US president Richard Nixon, THE NIGHT JAMES BROWN SAVED BOSTON is far from a standard musical documentary, its first and spoken aim being to provide an account of the social and political milieu that surrounded this phenomenal concert.