Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012) – Montclair Film Festival
May 8th, 2012 by Mr. C
Morton Downey Jr. – the punk rock of talk show hosts from the late 1980’s seemed to be a man with many faces motivated by the game of fame. This entertaining documentary was a great character study of him during his rise, fall, & crash in his personal & professional life. Old footage from his show taped at Channel 9’s WWOR in Secaucus supplemented with interviews with his daughter and also his adversaries at the time including Alan Dershowitz, Steve Pagones (Officer accused in the Tawana Brawley case), Gloria Allred, Stanley Crouch, Bill Boggs (Executive Producer of the Morton Downey show), and Dave Giegold (Security/bodyguard on show) would offer a nice slice of insight to the original “loudmouth”. The directors use of animation to tell bits and pieces of the story was also a clever way to insinuate that Morton Downey Jr was an outrageous animated-cartoon character in his own right as well as provide some humor to the visuals.
The film went on to give us a background on Downey Jr.’s early years as a singer and songwriter in the 1950’s trying to follow in the footsteps of his more famous father who was a well regarded Irish Tenor – singer/songwriter. The MORE FAMOUS part is the dynamic that the filmmakers were trying to bang the drum with as Jr. seemed to have wanted more notoriety and fame rather than get casted behind his fathers shadow. Suggestions of a dysfunctional past with this domineering father seemed to be a big catalyst in Downey Jr’s rage and fire or was that just a self induced – combustible firestarter?
Also, a turning point in Morton Downey Jr’s career that sparked a light bulb in his brain seemed to be the influence of The Joe Pyne show from the 1950’s. This show was the predecessor to trash-talk TV as we know it today. The Joe Pyne show was an in your face, confrontational talk show forum discussing current events such as the Vietnam war, racism, politics, feminism, and homosexuality. Downey seemed to have gotten a charge after discovering this type of forum and style.
Now, fast forward to the late 80’s in Secaucus, NJ on the WWOR set on Channel 9 and a reboot of the Joe Pyne show would lay before us with a new facelift of stereotypical Jersey characters as the loudmouth audience members. There were definitely some Andrew Dice Clay looking – hardcore NJ Devil hockey fans in those studio tapings at the meadowlands! Speaking of which, our very own reporters at Planet Chocko – Roy (Chocko) and Joel (JoeNJDev) were at one of those Morton Downey Jr show tapings in Secaucus – early evidence that we were into trashy media! They couldn’t remember what the panel discussion was about at that particular taping so I guess it wasn’t one of the more memorable shows. The MDJ show would be a dumping ground for a forum that provoked & attacked guests verbally on controversial topics such as politics & liberal party bashings, race relations, sexuality, the death penalty, & current events. The target audience in the meadowlands WWOR studio and also behind the TV set were the angry populace – The right wing heterosexual male who believed that the MAN is to blame for their misfortunes.
Some other great archives of the show courtesy of the WWOR vaults included the famous Tawana Brawley case to the fueds with Alan Dershowitz and Gloria Allred. Who can forget the presence of Curtis and Lisa Sliwa from the Guardian Angels on the show as well. Of course we cannot talk about the show without mentioning the incomparable Al Sharpton who by the way arguably draws very similiar qualities in terms of publicity and antics as Morton Downey does. There was also awesome footage of the show that they taped at the Apollo Theater that involved Roy Innis and his physical confrontation with Al Sharpton!
Of more interest, the movie documented the cross-fire with the dynamics of the relationships between Downey’s wife, his music friend/bandmate – Lloyd Schoonmaker who started working for him as his confidant/hype man, and Downey’s girlfriend – Lori ? Some surprising revelations or suggestions thrown onto the table in the film included Downey’s motives of doing what he did during the skinhead incident. The story was reported by him that skinheads had attacked him in the restroom, cut his hair, and then tagged the swastika symbol on his face and clothes. Many believed Downey fabricated the whole thing. The only person with him at the time in the restroom was his friend Lloyd Schoonmaker. He will have his words about this in the movie! In any event, the skinhead incident was basically the beginning of the end with the quick rise and fall of the Morton Downey Jr. Show from 1987-1989! It was quite ironic that Downey rode the Tawana Brawley case on his forum until the wheels fell off and in essence, he might have sabotaged his own show in the same fashion.
Evocateur is definitely a recommended film to investigate further even if you’re not a Morton Downey Jr. fan. I’m even going out on a limb and say that this might be a nice case study for the psychotherapist in you! Was Downey just a misunderstood man with a passionate (not angry) side to him? Was it all just a hollywood – showbiz act in desperation for money, fame, and acceptance? Whatever the scenerio, Morton Downey Jr. is one interesting character with a very tragic story. Go see this!
There was a brief Q&A after the movie with two out of the three directors of the film in attendance – Seth Kramer and Daniel A. Miller moderated by Steve Adubato who did a great job of taking the bull by its horn and taking over the session like he owned it! We have some footage of the interview below.
(L to R) Steve Adubato – Seth Kramer – Daniel A. Miller – Photo by mr c
L to R – Seth Kramer – Daniel A. Miller – Photo by mr c
Tags: montclair film festival 2012, morton downey
Posted in community, movies, mr. c | Comments (2)
May 8th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Did you spot anyone you know in the audience in the clips?
May 8th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I thought I spotted Roy & Joel sporting a mullet on the show but they had an alibi. We have to probe them for a copy of the show that they were at. They have it on VHS somewhere.