This week’s mystery movie has been Shirley Clarke’s 1961 film “The Connection.” It features Freddie Redd on piano, Jackie McLean on saxophone, Michael Mattos on bass, Larry Richie on drums, Warren Finnerty, Jerome Raphael, Garry Goodrow, Jim Anderson, Carl Lee, Barbara Winchester, Henry Proach, Roscoe Lee Browne and William Redfield. It was adapted from a play by Jack Gelber.
The film was denied a license by New York’s censorship board because of a brief shot of a nude woman in a magazine and word used to refer to heroin. It was briefly shown without a license (and reviewed by Bosley Crowther) and then shut down, but eventually the ruling was overturned by a court of appeals.
It has been released on DVD and Blu-ray by Milestone Films.
Writing in the New York Times (Oct. 4, 1962), Bosley Crowther said:
Outside of the notoriety that ‘The Connection’ has because it is the center of a contention over the legality of censorship in this state, there is little about it to warrant the clamorous interest of the average moviegoer or to distinguish it as a significant piece of cinematic art.
The best to be said for this screen treatment of the Jack Gelber Off Broadway play … is that it offers a forthright and repulsive observation of a sleazy, snarling, group of narcotic addicts assembled in a loft apartment in New York.
For Monday, we have a mystery gent.
Update: This is Freddie Redd.
For Tuesday, we have a mystery musician.
Update: This is Michael Mattos.
Brain Trust roll call: Chris (mystery movie and Monday’s mystery guest) and Sarah (mystery movie and Monday’s mystery guest).
For Wednesday, we have a mystery gent.
Update: This is William Redfield.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (mystery movie and both mystery guests), Sylvia E (mystery movie and both mystery guests) and Dan Nather (mystery movie).
For Thursday, we have another mystery gent.
Update: This is Carl Lee.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (Wednesday’s mystery guest and Guy in Background), Roget-L.A. (mystery movie and Wednesday’s mystery gent), Mike Hawks (mystery movie and Wednesday’s mystery guest), Gary (mystery movie, Wednesday’s mystery guest and a great comment on seeing the original play), Floyd Thursby (mystery movie and Wednesday’s mystery guest), Brutii (mystery movie and Wednesday’s mystery guest) and Sylvia E (Wednesday’s mystery guests).
For Friday, we have a mystery gent. You may recognize him from ….
Update: This is Jerome Raphael.
…. a series of skits….
… with another mystery chap.
Update: This is Jerome Raphael with Paul Benedict as the Mad Painter.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (Thursday’s mystery guest) and Chris Worland (mystery movie and all mystery guests).
ladailymirror.com 
Freddie Redd in Shirley Clarke’s THE CONNECTION.
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Georg Stanford Brown.
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Alas, I’m afraid not.
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Taking huge guess — Georg Stanford Brown.
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Alas I’m afraid not.
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Freddie Redd, “The Connection” (1961). I think this is a better guess than my first one.
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Shirley Clarke’s THE CONNECTION (1962).
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Monday: Freddie Redd
Tuesday: Michael Mattos
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The Connection 1961
Mon. – Freddie Redd
Tue. – Michael Mattos
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Educated guess: THE CONNECTION (1961)?
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William Redfield, Garry Goodrow (seated on right)
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Wednesday’s mystery gent is William Redfield. I think the mystery movie may be The Connection (1961).
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William Redfield in THE CONNECTION.
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William Redfield in The Connection. I have not seen the film but I did see the original Living Theater production in New York shortly after my arrival there in 1959. It remains one of the most vivid memories of my 30 year theater going experiences.
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This is William Redfield in “The Connection.”
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Aha! William Redfield on Wed. I’ve always wanted to see this movie, The Connection.
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The Connection 1961
Mon. – Freddie Redd
Tue. – Michael Mattos
Wed. – William Redfield
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Carl Lee, son of Canada Lee, who sadly died as a result of his heroin addiction.
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Freddie Redd, Michael Matos, William Redfield, Carl Lee in “The Connection”
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Paul Benedict as the second mystery man today.
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Spike Milligan today? He sued a Brit paper for libel because it called him a dirty Irish pouf. He was only insulted by the adjective Irish…
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Jerome Raphael. Last Friday’s Ava Gardner is prettier.
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The Connection 1961
Mon. – Freddie Redd
Tue. – Michael Mattos
Wed. – William Redfield
Thur. – Carl Lee
Fri. – Jerome Raphael
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