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Gimme Shelter (1970)
In the Maysles Brother's (Albert
and David) haunting and gripping concert documentary film that covered
the 1969 British rockers' Rolling Stones tour that captured, in its
finale, the stabbing to death on December 6th of fan Meredith Hunter
(who waved a gun) by Hell's Angels "security"
(who were paid with beer) at Altamont Speedway during the Altamont
Free Concert near San Francisco:
- the disturbing sequence (in the finale) filmed
during the Rolling Stones' final free rock concert show appearance
in early December 1969 - as the crowd increasingly became jittery,
out-of control, and fights broke out during Mick Jagger's singing
of "Sympathy for the Devil", he cautioned the audience: "Uh,
I mean, people, who's fighting, what for? Who's fighting and what
for? Why are we fighting? Why are we fighting? We don't want to
fight. Come on! Do we want... Who wants to fight? Who is it?...Look,
that guy there, if he doesn't stop it, man... Listen, either those
cats cool it, man, or we don't play"; as a doctor and ambulance
was being summoned, Jagger continued to try to calm the listeners: "All
I can ask you, San Francisco, is like the whole thing. Like, this
could be the most beautiful evening we've had for this winter,
you know, and we've really... Why don't... Don't let's f--k it
up, man. Come on, let's get it together. I can't do any more than
just ask you, beg you, just to keep it together. You can do it.
It's within your power. Everyone, everyone, Hell's Angels, everybody,
let's just keep ourselves together. You know, if we, if we are
all one, let's show we're all one"
- as Jagger proceeded to his final song: "Under
My Thumb" - another violent scuffle broke out; the Hell's Angels
- who had been hired locally to provide security, became involved
in quelling the disturbance, as the Rolling Stones abruptly stopped
their performance; Jagger spoke out again: "Hey, man, look.
We're splitting. If those cats can't... If you people... We're splitting
if those cats don't stop beatin' everybody up in sight. I want 'em
out of the way, man. I don't like you..."
- the next sequence was within an editing room where
Jagger was being shown (on a small monitor) shocking footage of a
murder committed in the crowd very near the stage - Hell's Angel
Alan Passaro (as Himself) back-stabbed 18 year-old drugged-up spectator
Meredith Hunter (as Himself) (who was wielding a long-barreled .22
revolver gun) - identified because he was wearing a bright lime-green
suit
- the use of freeze-frames highlighted the violence
caught on film:
- "Can you roll back on that, David?...Can you see what was happening
there?"
- "No, you couldn't see anything, well, it was another, it's another
scuffle, it was..."
- "There's the Angel right there with a knife."
- "Where's the gun?"
- "I'll roll it back, and you'll see it against the girl's crocheted
dress."
- "Right there, isn't it?"
- "Oh, it was so horrible."
- the film ended with an interview with Altamont witnesses,
who claimed that the victim suffered a couple of stab wounds in his
back and one in his ear; he was pronounced dead at 6:20 by the time
a doctor arrived; the girl with the crocheted dress, Meredith's girlfriend
(Patty Bredehoft as Herself) had to be consoled as she cried: "I
don't want him to die! Don't let him die, please!"; a helicopter
lifted away with the body, as the film returned briefly to the concert,
the evacuation of the Stones, Jagger's sober departure from the editing
room, and views of crowds arriving for the concert
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Hell's Angels as Security
Mick Jagger: "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Under
My Thumb"
The Stabbing Victim (in Green)
The Stabbing Incident, Viewed by Jagger in an Editing
Room
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