- Creator
- Thorsen, Karen
- Call number
- Sc MG 851
- Physical description
- 2.5 linear feet (6 boxes)
- Language
- English
- Preferred Citation
- [Item], James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket documentary film collection, Sc MG 851, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.
The feature-length 16mm documentary James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, directed by Karen Thorsen in 1989, is an autobiographical portrait of writer and activist James Baldwin. Without using narration, the film allows Baldwin to tell his own story. It premiered on American Masters, a PBS show, in 1989. Since then, repeated PBS broadcasts have reached millions of people. The film received numerous awards and was honored at festivals in over two-dozen countries, including Sundance, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Co-written and produced by Karen Thorsen and Douglas K. Dempsey, the film uses archival and original footage, including scenes from Baldwin's funeral service; explorations of his homes in France, Switzerland, Turkey, and Harlem; and on-camera interviews with close friends, colleagues, and critics including his brother David; biographer David Leeming; writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, William Styron, Ishmael Reed, and Yashar Kemal; painter Lucien Happersberger, and entertainer Bobby Short. This collection consists of material used to make the film including notebooks and binders prepared by the production crew documenting the resources acquired during film research; transcripts of interviews; research forms; stock footage research; book tour itineraries and promotional items; articles about Baldwin; FBI files on Baldwin; eulogies and memorials; and reviews.
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
This collection was acquired by the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division in 1998. The paper documentation was separated in 2011-2012 from the audio-visual collection housed in MIRS.
Separated material
Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.
Related Material
Also found in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture:
James Baldwin papers, Sc MG 936
James Baldwin's "Five Years" poetry manuscript, Sc MG 934
Ten Screenplays for Malcolm X Film collection, Sc MG 969
Bibliography
American Masters, PBS. "James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket--Film Synopsis." Accessed December 23, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/james-baldwin-film-synopsis/2647/.
Key terms
Names
- Angelou, Maya
- Baldwin, James, 1924-1987
- Baraka, Amiri, 1934-2014
- Dempsey, Douglas K.
- Reed, Ishmael, 1938-
- Thorsen, Karen (Film director)
Subjects
Using the collection
Location
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor