A Final Reflection On The SMILE

It's been two weeks since we gathered to see the documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY at the Belcourt Theatre here in Nashville.

I asked those who attended and who were once part of Sing-Out South here in Nashville and/or who traveled with one of the national casts of Up With People to send me their thoughts about they saw and heard.

Ann Garrett Clay and Pat Hankins Kemper came together to see the film. Ann was a part of SOS for several years while attending Overton High School. Pat was also an Overton student and a member of Sing-Out South. She spent some time as well traveling with one of the UWP national casts.

Sing-Out South taping a TV special at WSIX-TV in Nashvillefor Memorial Day, 1967

Said Ann Clay: "I enjoyed the history of the film and the impact of MRA (Moral Rearmament). Even though we (in Sing-Out South) knew about MRA, it never was presented as any political or religious stance to us. We were just a group of good kids spreading songs of freedom and hope to others. I cherish those times and the friendships that have remained for 45 years!"

The combined casts of Up With People leave Estes Park, CO. in the summer of 1966

Said Pat Kemper:"I thought the film was very well done and represented a begining point and history of the UWP movement as well as MRA. Like you, I wish there had been more of an international representation and it would have been nice to see the SOS history incorporated since it was the catalyst for the other two casts (Casts B & C) forming after UWP was in Nashville in 1966."

"As Ann and I were discussing afterwards, there was not a political undertow for us. It was about changing the world, and believing it could be done. Being a part of that was something we wanted to do."

"For me, traveling with the national cast was a life-changing experience and gave me the fortitude to be outspoken and believe in the philosophy that all are created equal;and no matter the color of skin or religious affiliation we have the right to be whatever we want to be."

Nashville's Linda Blackmore Cates, an early UWP star, who is interviewed in the film

"Even though Linda was an internal and intricate part of the beginning of the UWP movement, there were things she saw and did that we had no part of, and knew nothing about what went on behind the scenes or on duck hunting trips" (blogger's note: you need to see the documentary to fully understand this last reference).

Pat had one final comment concerning another powerful part of the film where an UWP cast member deals with one of the parents in a host family in Mississippi, who brandishes a shotgun when he learn he is hosting a black person: "Maggie Inge's experience as a black in the '60s as well as a cast member of UWP was an amazing testimony to what we were trying to do and accomplish."

Sing-Out South tapes an appearance on the local Bozo show in the fall of 1966.

The last SMILE reflection I have to share comes from, Dave Cannon, an SOS cast member and a member of the main trio back in 1967 and '68. You can see Dave on the front row on the far right side of the photo above. Dave remains concerned about the breakup of UWP, the local Sing-Outs and MRA in 1968. He believes the decision was too controlled by UWP leader J. Blanton Belk.

"I still feel a might had....He (Belk) filled the board with absentee board members and one person must have made that decision for all three national casts, all the local casts, and the international casts."

Then Dave added something, I think many of us may have wondered when we left after seeing the film, particularly those of us who used to seeing motion pictures together back in the '60s (such as 2001:A Space Odessey) and then go to Shoney's or other Nashville restaurants and discuss what we saw for hours.

SOS members Bob Sharp and Henry Swider discuss matters during one of our SOS bull sessions.

Said Dave Cannon: "I kept sitting there thinking, I wonder what Henry would have said about that movie?"

Me too, Dave, Me, too. Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts!

Reflections On THE SMILE II

It was exactly a week ago since we gathered at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre to see the award-winning documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS:THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY.

Some 80 people were in attendance with a question and answer session following with Lee Storey, the Director of the film and Linda Blackmore Cates, a star of the early Sing-Out and UWP casts, who was interviewed in the production.

I asked all the former SOS and UWP folks who attended to send me their thoughts and here's some of what I have received.

Linda Blackmore Cates had participated in other showings and question and answer sessions about SMILE while it went through the film festival circuit last year, but the Nashville appearance was particularly special because this is now her home town.

"It was an amazing experience for me and my family, as you can imagine. None of them had seen the film, including Bill (Bill Cates was also a early driving force in both UP WITH PEOPLE and Nashville's SING-OUT SOUTH). It was so wonderful to seem so many friends from years past," Linda said.

One of Linda's long-time friends who was present and saw SMILE for the first time was Christy Marsh Haines. She had thoughts of when she first saw Sing-Out' 66 in Nashville and then joined SING OUT SOUTH.

"When Sing Out '66 came through Nashville in January, 1966 I went with a boy I was dating. He was a member of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society--the leftist movement of the day). He went away disgusted. I went away enthusiastic. (We broke up, of course!) I became immediately involved in the leadership of forming the new Sing-Out South in the spring of 1966."

"Those were heady days, meeting with the governor, singing for the state legislature, being endorsed by everyone. We had our own creative element that shaped a great deal of what we did (aided by the national Sing-Out group)."

"This is where I first met Bill Cates, our (SOS) musical director. The first time he ever played "Do You Really Care" for a group was at a planning meeting in our living room. It was in that first Sing-Out South show and later in the Baptist Hymnal."

Christy was 17 and a junior at Hillwood High School in the spring of 1966. She remembers the cast as being about 3/4 high school students, 1/4 quarter college students. She then offers this story about a matter that SMILE focuses on quite a bit about the national Sing-Out/UP WITH PEOPLE movement, the role of Moral Re-Armament.

"I would guess the very great majority of us were committed Christians, involved in local churches...I know we must have heard of Moral Re-Armament, but it was really peripheral. We were not joining Sing-Out South to become a part of MRA. I don't know that any of us had the desire to commit our lives in any ongoing ways to the movement. We knew we would be active, then graduating from college and moving on, or graduating from high school and going off to college, and then passing the torch.

We were passionate about the message of freedom, and equality of people, and all the positive things that began with the individual commitment that then spread to others. In my mind, it was the same message I had been taught in Sunday School. This was just a very organized, attractive way to tell it to lots of people."

But as Christy continued her involvement with Sing-Out South, she did run head long into an issue concerning MRA. It occured when she was selected to make one of the "Speak Outs" during a show, in this case our TV special at Channel 4, WSM-TV.

"In the rehersals, I 'made the mistake' of making some direct Christian reference. I was told I could not do that, and I felt I could not make the speech otherwise. I was replaced. That began my personal research into the history and organization of Moral Re-Armament. I determined that although it had many positive aspects, I wanted to spend my time, talents and energy elsewhere. I really stopped keeping up with it after that, and was amazed to hear that it had continued on into the 1980s."

But while Christy left Sing-Out, she did get back in touch with Bill Cates some years later when they worked together on a musical through the Baptist Sunday School Board. By that time, Bill had married Linda ("Miss Joan Of Arc marries Mr. Do You Really Care," she quips). On meeting Linda she remembers:

"We instantly became good friends, and then no matter where in the country either of us moved, we stayed in touch, until we both ended up actually living in the same city (Nashville) and raising our children together. Part of that deep-friendship is based in not just the knowledge of, but also the understanding of, how we grew up through Up With People and Sing-Out."

Christy offers one last reflection about our evening with SMILE.

"My son-in-law Charlie Pray asked the question (durng the Q&A) about the lasting effects of the movement, and Linda answered in terms of passing it on to her children. I started thinking about how her involvement impacted thousands of us "next generations" as individuals. And how we "next generations" impacted thousands more of the next generation as individual people, and so forth. Each of us see those ideals that we incorporated in out personal lives bearing fruit in our children and our grandchildren.

Linda, you bore hundreds of thousands of children, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

I have other SMILE reflections to share. More in my next posting here soon.

Reflections on THE SMILE

It was quite an evening as the award-winning documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS:THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY debuted at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre with a Question & Answer session following, involving Director Lee Storey and former UWP cast member, Linda Blackmore Cates, who was interviewed for the film.

I would estimate there were about 60-70 people who came to see the show. Actually, I was a little low. The final attendance was 80 people according to officials at the Belcourt. Among the former Sing-Out South and UWP folks (who I saw there) were:

Pat Hankins Kemper
Ann Garrett Clay
Gene Nolan
Pat Nolan
Christy Marsh Haines
Linda Blackmore Cates
Bill Cates
Hazel Robinson
Jerry Baker
Dave Cannon
George Thomas
Ruth Hammontree Anstrey
Judy Engels

After I announced at the Question & Answer session that we are trying to organize a 45th Reunion for Sing-Out South in 2011, two other UWP alumni from the 1980s contacted me and want to be involved. I have added them to our list.

One of the fun parts of the documentary was watching all the historic footage (some never seen before) of the UWP casts performing over the years. Among the crowd of folks who appeared on screen (usually very briefly) included several former Sing-Out South folks, including, of course Linda Cates and her husband Bill, as well as Steve Hinton who I spotted running down an airport tarmac carrying some luggage. This footage was likely taken when he was with Cast C during their tour of Panama in 1967

There were also a couple of long shots of Wanda Ricks Harrell on screen while she was listening and singing on stage during a performance. Very nice footage of you, Wanda! You can see her below in the freeze frame of the video and about minute into this preview trailer of the documentary....

I also spotted Harriet Cates and I think Alfred Saffel in one of the shots of the cast, and then there was perhaps the most unexpected photo.

It is very brief snippet of...of all things... the original cast of SING-OUT SOUTH from an early show featuring Eddie Lunn and Don Johnson...


This is a photograph of the SOS performance that is shown briefly in the documentary. As you can see it was done before we had our uniforms selected and therefore occured prior to our premiere shows at Hillsboro High School March 25-26, 1966.

When I saw the film clip, I recognized this particular performance because of the somewhat unique curtain treatment at the top of the stage. This show was one we did at the old Seward Air Force in early March, 1966. Only a portion of the original cast was involved, designated as a "Task Force" to do the show.

I have found some newspaper clips about this which I will scan and research further, then try and put up more information soon here on the blog.

But the real questions are: How did a film of this SOS performance wind up in the vaults of Up With People? Why was it filmed? Does anyone who performed in that show remember a camera crew being there that night?

This is a very exciting find! This could be the ONLY remaining footage of SOS in performance! Yes, we did several TV shows, but the video tapes of those shows have been lost forever with only a couple of audio tapes surviving. This could be a one of kind thing!

I asked Lee Storey about that footage after the Q&A session. She was not completely sure but thought it was done in a 16mm format. I am going to try and keep in touch with her to see if we can get access to it, so we can make a copy to show at the Reunion. Wouldn't that be great!

I have more thoughts and reflections to share about the substance of the documentary itself. I have asked others to send me their thoughts and a few of them have done so. I will be posting those in the new few days.

In the meantime, Lee Storey says SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS will be available for sale on DVD next year. I hope we can get a copy of that as well to show on a large screen TV at the Reunion. That would another treat...and I know would generate quite a discussion, as you will see from some of the comments of those who saw the SMILE documentary Monday night.

I will be posting that next time.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS

Tickets are now on sale both on-line and at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville for the October 11 & 12 showings of the award-winning documentary: SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY.

The show begins both nights at 7:00 p.m. with a special after-the-show question and answer session Monday with the Director Lee Storey and with Nashville's own Linda Blackmore Cates, one of the early stars of UP wITH PEOPLE, who is interviewed in the film.

Here is a clip from the documentary that features Linda....


The documentary addresses a lot of issues. Here's clip that talks about the overiding issue of the late 1960s...the War in Vietnam..


Question and answer sessions concerning the film have been held several times before as the documentary has made its way through various film festivals and other showings over the past several months since its original release. Here's one following an appearance in Florida in April, 2009.....

If you were involved with UP WITH PEOPLE (or Sing-Out South here in Nashville), this promises to be an extraordinary event, especially if you come to the 7 p.m. show on Monday evening and stay for the questions & answer session that follows.

Ticket prices are $8.75 for adults, $7.25 for students and military (with IDs), Children (11 & under) $7.25, seniors (65+) $6.25 and Belcourt members, $5.75.

Please join us!

Why Come To See "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS"?

Tickets go on sale Wednesday (October 6) at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre to see the award-winning documentary "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY." The 80-minute film will be shown on Monday, October 11 and Tuesday, October 12, each night at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will be available on line and at the Belcourt box office in Hillsboro Village.

Since the mid-1960s, UP WITH PEOPLE has traveled all across the United States and the world, being seen by more than 20 million people. Its casts have performed at a record 4 Super Bowls. So why go see this documentary, especially if you were a part of UWP or one its local Sing-Outs such as Sing-Out South here in Nashville? What can you learn?

That's an individual question for everyone to determine for themselves. But clearly for those of us involved over 40 years ago, it may present an opportunity to reflect back on what we all did together back then and think about what it means, both then and now. Besides, it will just be great to get back together and see each other and maybe starting thinking about a 45th Reunion for Sing-Out South sometime in 2011. The film will also give us a chance to travel down memory lane as we get the unique opporunity to view never-before-seen archival footage of UWP from back in the day.

If you attend Monday night's event (October 11), you'll have another unique opportunity to stay afterwards for a question and answer session with the documentary's Director Lee Storey and Nashville's own Linda Blackmore Cates, one of UWP early stars and a cast member interviewed in the film.

Here's an excerpt from a previous Q&A session held at the Florida Film Festival last September (2009). Here Lee Storey talks about how "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS" came to be along with other topics including perhaps the most famous UWP alumni, actress Glenn Close...

To give you even more of a flavor for what might be in store at question and session session following Monday's documentary showing. Here's an excerpt from the discussion following the premiere of "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS" at the Slamdance Film Festival in Arizona back in January, 2009.

In this clip from YouTube, you will see and hear from folks whose names you will remember from our days in UWP and Sing-Out. That includes John Parker, John Sayre (who is also interviewed in the film) along with Eric Ross (also in the documentary) and Linda Blackmore Cates, who even mentions another former SOS member, Hazel Robinson. It is a fascinating exchange....

Now please understand ,there may be parts of the documentary and things that are said you don't like or agree with at all. But as I remember being in Sing-Out and UWP, having spirited discussions was an ongoing part of what we did. You may also gain some new perspective on what we all did together so many years ago.

Ticket prices are $8.75 for adults, $7.5 for students and military (with ID), children $7.25 (11 years of age and younger) and seniors (65+) $6.25.

Please join us for what promises to be an extraordinary evening both Monday and Tuesday nights.