Kent Mackenzie Explained

Kent Mackenzie
Birth Name:	Kent Robert Mackenzie
Birth Date:	6 April 1930
Birth Place:	Hampstead, England
Death Place:	Marin County, California, U.S.
Occupation:	Director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor
Years Active:	1956–1978

Kent Robert Mackenzie (6 April 1930 – 16 May 1980) was an English-American film director and producer who is mainly remembered for his film The Exiles, which was about Native American young people in Los Angeles.^[1] He also was involved with Dimension Films in making educational films such as Can a Parent Be Human?^[2]

Biography

Mackenzie was born on April 6, 1930, in Hampstead, England. His mother was English, and his father was Dewitt Mackenzie, who was head of the London Bureau of the Associated Press. After finishing school, Kent Mackenzie enlisted in the air force and later ended up in Hollywood, where, after gaining a scholarship, he made Bunker Hill, his first film. His next film The Exiles was released in 1961.^{[3] [4]}

In later years, he worked as an editor on television documentaries and medical and industrial films and shorts as well as directing a film for the US Information Agency on us governmental vocational training. During the 1960s and 1970s, he taught film-making to high school classes.^[5] He also directed some films for Dimension Films.^[6]

Since the mid 1970s, he suffered from seizures.^[7] He died on 16 May 1980 in Marin County, California as a result of his medication and related complications.^[5]

Films

The Exiles

The setting for The Exiles was in Bunker Hill.^[8] This was the second time Mackenzie had used the Hill in a film. The first instance was in 1956 when he made a film about the displacement of pensioners being moved because of high-rise buildings being built in their area.^[9] The Exiles was an independent film^[10] and took three-and-a-half years to make and had its share of issues. During the course of the film some of the cast were imprisoned and therefore never appeared in later scenes. He also lost two of his cameramen.^[5] The film is about Native Americans who move from the reservation to the city and some of the issues they encounter.^[11] Christina Rose of the Indian Country Today Media Network wrote that it was the first film to give an accurate portrayal of urban natives.^[12]

Other films

Before making The Exiles, Mackenzie made Bunker Hill in 1956. He was still a student at USC at the time. The film centered on elderly pensioners and their community and the displacement they experienced because of a block of high-rise offices that was to be built there.^{[13] [14]}

In 1965, he produced and directed The Teenage Revolution, which featured Barry Brown in an early role and was narrated by Van Heflin. It looked at six teenagers and their society and culture as well as their current lives while speculating about their futures.^{[15] [16]}

He directed and produced Saturday Morning, a film about teenagers, released in 1971 through Dimension Films, of which Gary Goldsmith was chief and producer.^{[17] [7]} It was a non-fiction film that involved a group of 20 teenagers being filmed over a period of a week.^[18]

Filmography

• Bunker Hill, 1956, director ^{[19] [20]}
• The Exiles, 1961, writer, producer, director, editor ^[20]
• Story of a Test Pilot, 1962, editor^[21]
• Story of a Rodeo Cowboy, 1963, producer, director, writer, editor ^[22]
• The T.A.M.I. Show, 1964, editor ^[23]
• A Skill For Molina, 1964, director, producer ^[24]
• The Way Out Men, 1965, editor^[25]
• Prelude to War: Beginning of World War II, cinematographer, editor ^[26]
• Why Man Creates, editor^[27]
• Ivan And His Father, 1970, director^[28]
• Saturday Morning, 1971, producer, director, editor
• Sunseed, 1973, editor
• The Searching Years: Can a Parent Be Human?, 1978, director
• The Searching Years: I Owe You Nothing, 1978, director
• Wait until Your Father Gets Home, 1978, director
• Mom, Why Don't You Listen?, 1978, director
• The Searching Years: Mom, Why Won't You Listen?, 1978, director^[29]

External links

• A Debt Repaid to an Extraordinary Man and Filmmaker: Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles

Notes and References

1. News: . November 21, 2008 . 'The Exiles' stars Yvonne Wilson, Homer Nish, Tommy Reynolds, Rico Rodriguez . Michael . Phillips . Michael Phillips (critic).
2. Book: Can a Parent Be Human. 9941682.
3. The Center for Studies in American Culture . September 28, 2010 . XXI . 5 . Kent MacKenzie, THE EXILES (1961, 72 min) . December 22, 2014 . December 20, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141220140448/http://csac.buffalo.edu/exiles.pdf . dead .
4. . 15 . 59–62 . 3 . Spring 1962 . Film Reviews The Exiles. 1210630 . Jackson . Benjamin . 10.2307/1210630 .
5. News: . 17 February 2010 . The Lure of Night . John . Patterson.
6. Web site: . The Searching Years: Can a Parent Be Human? (1978). https://web.archive.org/web/20141220174237/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6d70313c . dead . 2014-12-20 .
7. News: . July 6, 2008 . A time capsule of Bunker Hill's Native Americans . Saul . Austerlitz.
8. News: . May 28, 2014 . Check out the great documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself – Wednesday and Thursday at Cinémathèque Québecoise.
9. News: . December 10, 2014 . Art Review, A Tale of Three Cities . Richard B. . Woodward . Richard B. Woodward.
10. News: . July 13, 2008 . Bunker Hill doesn't live here anymore . Saul . Austerlitz.
11. News: . August 13, 2008 . Film, Soul and the City: Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles . Jim . Ridley.
12. Web site: . December 15, 2014 . Still Here, in the Big City: Meet the Legacy of the Indian Relocation Act . Christina . Rose.
13. Web site: Archinet . August 27, 2014 . LA's Grand Central: The Gentrification of the People's Market: Interview with director Dylan Valley Anthony Carfello.
14. Web site: Los Angeles Film Forum . This is the City: Bunker Hill 1956 . Summer 2013 . Mark . Toscano.
15. News: . October 29, 1965 . ABC Show to Air 'Teen Revolution' . Larry . Wolters.
16. Book: Ides, Matthew Allan . [{{Google books|wRl01nmlbqcC|page=327|plainurl=yes}} Cruising for Community: Youth Culture and Politics in Los Angeles, 1910—1970 ]. 327 . 2011 . 978-1244009837.
17. News: . April 26, 1971 . Screen: 'Saturday Morning,' a Fugitive From TV . Howard . Thompson . Howard Thompson (film critic).
18. News: . August 28, 1971 . Moviegoers Don't Like Cinema Verite . Linda . Deutsch . Linda Deutsch . 24.
19. Web site: LA Observed . July 31, 2010 . Weekend viewing: Bunker Hill, 1956 . Kevin . Roderick.
20. Web site: . The Exiles.
21. Web site: . Story of a Test Pilot.
22. Web site: Close-Up . The Story Of A Rodeo Cowboy Technical Specs.
23. Web site: . T.A.M.I. Show (2014).
24. Web site: Close-Up . A Skill For Molina Technical Specs.
25. Web site: . The Way Out Men (1965).
26. Web site: . Prelude to War: Beginning of World War II (1965).
27. Web site: Movie Diva . The Exiles (1961) Directed by Kent Mackenzie. Yvonne Williams, Homer Nish, and Tommy Reynolds (72 min).
28. Web site: Close-Up . Ivan And His Father Technical Specs.
29. Web site: . Kent Mackenzie. https://web.archive.org/web/20141220145826/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f01e487 . dead . 2014-12-20 .