Wow. The last time I even thought about Rich Hall was when recalling his SCTV sketch from decades ago, defining the "bevometer." I never expected to encounter him brilliantly presenting, in a no-bullshit, brutally-honest manner, a documentary of American cinema depicting American culture, for a British audience. My respect for the man has skyrocketed. I'll be binge-watching all weekend. God, how I love RU-vid for introducing me to these kinds of gems.
Hey, sorry for replying to such an old comment but I just wanted to say that Rich is quite well liked here in the UK. Both for his stand up (which if I am honest I think he's somewhat underrated for) and having produced this and other, frankly fantastic, documentaries on different facets of American culture. He manages to give a direct, honest and intelligent overview of whatever the subject matter is (my personal favourite was the one he made on the history of country music, albeit that's due to being a fan of the different genres of country, but my point rings true) but doesn't skim over the nuance, though it's often couched in a dry witted quip. I hope he gets to do a few more of these, though the BBC (in particular four, which all his docs have been for) has gone downhill somewhat since this was made. All the best to you dude!
The lugubrious, sarcastic and world-weary Rich Hall had to come to the UK to make his mark. Once that was accomplished, he has gone on to create some wonderful, hugely entertaining and informative videos about the American dream . Ken Burns with a sense of humour. Great stuff.
Wonderful from start to finish. It's well researched, well written, well presented, and, well, highly recommended. If you are not familiar with the works of the narrator, he is an actor, comedian, musician, singer... entertainer that I dearly admire... one of the best I have ever seen. You would do well to view some of his works on You Tube.
totally agree with you :) I've been lucky enough to see him performing live on a few occasions - as himself, and as Otis! - and afterwards when he chats to people he's always been so charming and understated and gracious. Just watched his Texas doc - very very good
God, the " I'll be there " speech from Fonda gives me goosebumps EVERY time.... makes me want to hit the barricades with the ' internationale ' singing from my heart...makes me cry too...but then, I come from a city and a country where being called a ' socialist ' is a compliment.
I've been to America three times, hired a motorcycle and done about twenty-five thousand miles. Kept to the back roads and off the highways as much as possible. Went to as many National parks as I could. The scenery is more varied and spectacular than any other country I've been to.
Rich Hall is someone I will dearly miss if he departs from this world. And why hasn't he been a jurist at Cannes??? That's man's film mind is so on point.
I`m in the UK and I admire this guy soooooo much, I had to add extra ooo`s to so. I've seen Rich Hall live, read his books and I think he is one of the greatest blokes on the planet
Some people beat about the bush, some just murmour about their problems, but, Rich Hall says it how it is, calls a spade a spade, goes straight in for the kill. Love him, he's hilarious.
Dear RU-vid, this is the first BBC4 documentary I encounter that has copyright issues and therefor comes with the sound muted. This documentary has aired on British television many years ago. British television is a public service, paid for by taxpayers. Only for that reason it should be free to be uploaded here. Another reason is that probably you are not aware of the fact that many people live in countries that do not sell these kind of documentaries on digital media, nor is Netflix or anything like that available to watch this on. This means that, for your obscure and inconsistent legal reasons, people have to resolve to illegal downloading. Well done, RU-vid.
@leslie graham Oh, I did not know that, and will now change my view of them because of a one-liner from a random RU-vid commenter. Thank you so much for enlightening me!
Me too! I just find his voice a bit grating on my sensitive ear drums but he is always worth hearing even if I go deaf for a while aftewards! Oh well! It is a small price to pay. Blessings and peace from UK
YES Rich, THAT happened in Pendleton Oregon on a hot 1970 July night at the DQ. I had a 67 Cnevelle and no clean shirts. She did my laundry the next day and I gave her all my love for 40 years. Shit Happens man.
I applaud RU-vid for this. Would have been so easy to let this go or even remove the video but no, some bright spark at RU-vid thought, let's give lip readers a break for once.
That hollow longing which inspired the road movie is long gone, replaced by the bile and hatred, paranoia and outrage we see everyday in 2020. Something had to fill he gap, and it wasn't the endless highway. Just the endless howl.
@leslie graham Which US? This one or an earlier version, do you want to go back to Jay Gatsby? The history of America is a country that went from barbarism to decadence without being civilised in-between. Your founding fathers never sold any alibis about their intentions for their country, seems not many people believed them. They should have.
Great video. Until this batch of videos I hadn't seen Rich since Saturday Night Live but he is great now days too! What a huge range of talent! I am looking forward to viewing all Roche's shows that are available on RU-vid. Thanks for Posting!!!
His documentaries are so underrated, he's affectionate but not reverential about his subjects. Alot of Louis Theroux's docs are good, some of them are great, some aren't all that interesting. But all Rich's ones that I've seen are 10/10.
My first car was a '67 Cutlass that I got in '73. It was a loaner to my parents while their car was in the shop. For $700.00 I started driving myself to school. Pretty cool for a girl.
Thank you Rich for bringing sarcasm to the States. Even more for showing my music hero JT on film...no actor but what a film...if only his music had been on the soundtrack
Brilliant , seamless and very funny . One of the best things 'all round' I've watched for ages . "if Jeremy Clarkeson was a woman.......... well ; I wouldn't be surprised" ~ genius*
I really love James Taylor. Mostly road songs. And country. I'm not American and I don't know much about country but I love a few artists like the witty Jewel, my younger friends aren't always into it but I compromise and listen to their club music or ballads.
New Zealand’s Goodbye Pork Pie is one of the greatest Road movies ever. Being in a small country the futility of it’s impending ending looms like a dark shadow almost from the beginning.
Maybe you were better off reading Of Mice and Men. My 8th grade English class read The Grapes of Wrath, but I think we were too young to appreciate it. When I happened to read it again as an adult, I was blown away by the brilliance of the writing, the courage, the pain, and the despair. I also discovered that the book had numerous sexual references. We'd been given an abridged version as children, and nobody told us. It makes me furious to think I could have gone to my grave believing that I'd read Steinbeck's masterpiece the way he'd written it.
One of many instances of 'authorities' pulling the meat from a great story before considering it suitable to present to the general public. I almost cry when I consider how Hollywood turned 'The Wizard of Oz' from a damning political commentary into a trite meaningless kids story.
@@Kimdino1 That's Hollywood for you. But (and I realize this is changing now, thanks to the alt right) I used to think classic literature was sacrosanct; That if ANYTHING was changed or pulled from a literary work, it had to be so noted on the cover. It appears that Blockbuster Video ideology has permeated everything.
I'm told I recited a big chuck of Howl in the back of an ambulance, semiconscious with hypoglycemia and concussion. Probably the most baller thing I ever did, and I have no memory of it whatsoever.
Just saw Rich Hall's live show in Wimborne Dorset. What a genius! One VERY bright guy! Just WHO was Fred Hanson, Physics Teacher? Loved Rich on TV for years and was great to meet him in skin form! :) Thanks Rich...GREAT show! NoAxe
I mind when I was a teenager, me and a mate deciced to go on a road trip to "England". In our small village minds, "England" was a whole world away. It was a virgin land yet to be conquered. It was the unknown. To our surpsire, it was basically the same as Scotland, just with slightly different accents. We roved, we toured, we rambled. In the end, I only came home with the realisation that the UK is not as big a place as I thought it was.
Just disvovered Rich Halls videos. Haven't seen a bad one yet. The rant about cheesecake killed me. Thanks Rich for the great humor, sarcasm and truths that most of us who lived through these eras had forgotten.❤
Steinbeck was a very public promoter of Stalinist USSRs invasion of Finland during the Nazi-USSR partnership to divide up eastern Europe. He was enthusiastically and very publicly on the record in support of it. Just a year or two after he published Grapes of Wrath. When I learned this, it completely changed my opinion of Steinbeck, who until then I had greatly admired.
2013 I was hitchhiking south out of Idaho and found a 16lb purple bowling ball in the gutter. I must have bowled it five miles down the center line about fifty yards at a time. Right down the center till it veered off to the side and then I'd walk up to it and pitch it again. Didn't see a car or truck the entire time. Anyone out there lose a purple bowling ball, it's probably still there. 😉
Everything with Rich Hall is good stuff How he merges Britain and the US deep south is weird. However, he does. Having worked for American companies for 25 years, I just drop the satire and irony in the US as everyone believes you. Rich does it! 😀👍
(46:30) I remember hearing "Kung Fu Fighting" when I worked on a particular ship, in 1975. Strange how it is used as a case in point for kick-ass '80s music....
I don't know what traveling across country is like today but in the 1960s and 1970s when I drove almost from coast-to-coast more than once, it was an exposure to different places that may not be so different anymore. In the 1960s, the national highway system that Ike supported after his own difficult experiences as a young soldier driving across country when there were only country roads in many places was relatively new. There were scary aspects but in general I as a kid or teenager sort of enjoyed, especially stopping at motels with pools. The key is traveling in summer when the weather is good throughout the USA. Would such trips be the same today? I doubt it: already by the 1980s I noticed that different parts of the USA were starting to resemble each other and I assume that process continued with many Americans moving just as I did and as result, regional accents for example became less pronounced.
This might be one of my favorites of Rich’s BBC documentaries about America :) But Bonnie and Clyde were shot because they were violent, cross state criminals, not because they left home. Even though it’s true road movies are usual tragedies (in the classical sense, when the hero’s destiny seems set once they start the road trip).
I read Steinbeck and Kerouac in my teens- this was in the 1960's, a friend of mine put me on to a book by Tom Wolfe called The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. This was not a novel- I then read Ken Keesey's books before they became movies. I think Never give an Inch was closer to the novel Sometimes a Great Notion than Cuckoo 'S Nest was, I had better watch the rest of this, Rich, I want to see if you include Dual and Two Lane Blacktop - the latter portrays roads similar to English backroads, but features big block V8 cars and a minor pop sitar.
