Always for Pleasure
May 02, 1978 | IMDB 7.3
58 min Watch NowDocumentary
An intense insider's portrait of New Orleans' street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo: Second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. This glorious, soul-satisfying film is among Blank's special masterworks. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Chair
It's Up To You
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown
Harlan County U.S.A.
I Don't Know
Katrina Babies
The Sun's Gonna Shine
James Brown: Soul Survivor
Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution
The Wormwood Star
The Rape of Recy Taylor
Lagniappe
When We Were Kings
Yeah You Rite!
Showman
Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul
Storyville - The Naked Dance
Hip Hip Parade!
Tootie's Last Suit
Keep on Burning: The Story of Northern Soul
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Chair
IMDB 6 | Aug , 1963
Follows a crusading lawyer as he embarks on a campaign to save an African-American man, Paul Crump, from the electric chair. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2007.It's Up To You
IMDB 0 | May , 1948
A historical film contrasting the two Germanies – the good and the evil – which struggled for power between the two world wars.Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown
IMDB 6.9 | Apr , 2014
James Brown changed the face of American music forever. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, James Brown was a self-made man who became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, not just through his music, but also as a social activist. Charting his journey from rhythm and blues to funk, MR. DYNAMITE: THE RISE OF JAMES BROWN features rare and previously unseen footage, photographs and interviews, chronicling the musical ascension of “the hardest working man in show business,” from his first hit, “Please, Please, Please,” in 1956, to his iconic performances at the Apollo Theater, the T.A.M.I. Show, the Paris Olympia and more.Harlan County U.S.A.
IMDB 7.5 | Jan , 1977
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.I Don't Know
IMDB 3.3 | Nov , 1971
A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender person who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.Katrina Babies
IMDB 6.8 | Jun , 2022
A first-person account of the short-term and long-term devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, as told by young people who were between the ages of 3 and 19 when the levees broke.The Sun's Gonna Shine
IMDB 6.6 | Jan , 1969
A lyrical recreation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.James Brown: Soul Survivor
IMDB 7.5 | Oct , 2003
James Brown's legacy has influenced rap, soul, funk and R&B. But along with his huge talent, there's a dark side to Brown's success that includes stints in prison and unceasing tabloid speculation. This in-depth documentary takes a look at the meteoric highs and deep lows of Brown's career, offering some fascinating insights from the Godfather of Soul himself, as well as interview footage with Chuck D, Little Richard, Wyclef Jean and many others.Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution
IMDB 8 | Dec , 2023
From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.The Wormwood Star
IMDB 6.4 | Jan , 1956
A portrait of artist, actress, poet and occultist Marjorie Cameron, it shows images of her paintings and recitations of her poems. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.The Rape of Recy Taylor
IMDB 7.8 | May , 2019
Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. The film exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story.Lagniappe
IMDB 4.2 | Jan , 2006
A film created by Les Blank and Maureen Gosling from footage that was cut from the documentary "Always for Pleasure" (1978) about Mardi Gras in New Orleans.When We Were Kings
IMDB 7.6 | Oct , 1996
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.Yeah You Rite!
IMDB 8 | Jan , 1985
This award winning film is a fast paced, humorous look at the colorful way the residents of New Orleans express themselves - why they talk the way they do, where the words come from, and what it means to talk with a New Orleans accent.Showman
IMDB 6 | Jan , 1963
Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter) directed this 53-minute documentary about movie tycoon Joseph E. Levine (1963). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2024
In early 1960s Toronto, a white, Anglo-centric city, an underground music scene emerged from the Jamaican diaspora, led by newcomers like Jackie Mittoo, Wayne McGhie, and a young Jay Douglas. Battling racism and indifference, they left a lasting but underrecognized mark on Canadian music and culture. Nearly 60 years later, Jay Douglas still champions Jamaican music and is finally receiving long-overdue recognition. Play It Loud is a feature documentary that tells the little-known story of how Jamaican music became a vital, unlikely part of Canadian culture. It traces a cultural migration that made Canada a global hub for Jamaican music - celebrated abroad but overlooked at home. Told through the life and music of beloved singer Jay Douglas, born Clive Pinnock in rural Jamaica, the film follows his journey from teen performer to enduring icon.Storyville - The Naked Dance
IMDB 6 | Jul , 2001
The Naked Dance is the first documentary about America's legendary legal red-light district that thrived in New Orleans from 1898 until World War I. Storyville got its name when Alderman Sidney Story attempted to clear up the New Orleans waterfront by restricting prostitution to a specific neighborhood. To his chagrin, the area was dubbed "Storyville," and it was so known until the U.S. Navy closed it for good in 1917.Hip Hip Parade!
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1978
Hip Hip Parade! was a primetime special promoting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, originally broadcast on PBS stations throughout Thanksgiving week 1978. Hosting the special were Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear, of The Muppet Show fame.Tootie's Last Suit
IMDB 7 | Jan , 2009
The feature-length documentary, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT explores the complex relationships, rituals, history, and music of New Orleans’ vibrant Mardi Gras Indian culture while telling the story of Allison “Tootie” Montana, former Chief of Yellow Pocahontas Hunters. Celebrated throughout the New Orleans as “the prettiest,” for the beauty and inventiveness of his elaborately beaded Mardi Gras costumes, Tootie Montana masked for 52 years, longer than any other Mardi Gras Indian. Yet Tootie Montana’s contributions to Mardi Gras Indian culture far exceed his artistic innovations and dedication. Through the example of his own achievement, he came to be revered for turning Mardi Gras Indians away from gang-style violence toward artistic accomplishment and competition. In the aftermath of Katrina, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT bears witness to the Mardi Gras Indians who, in picking up the threads of their torn lives and tradition, are the spiritual healers of New Orleans.Keep on Burning: The Story of Northern Soul
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2012
Keep on Burning tells the fascinating story of the world's most enduring underground music movement: Northern Soul. Featuring key DJ's, journalists and promoters, including soul radio pioneer Tony Blackburn, Marc Almond and key DJ's, journalists and promoters.