Guest
Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website Narrated by Robert Mitchum, “A Movable Scene” is a documentary in the series “The Distant Drummer“ that takes a sympathetic yet critical look at the late 1960s counterculture movement and drug use. The film was an Airlie Production and includes scenes shot in San Francisco, London, Nepal, Rome, and Istanbul. The film argues that hippies' excessive drug use is dangerous, and that “dropping out” won’t solve the problems of society. Produced by George Washington University Department of Medical and Public Affairs in cooperation with the National Institute of Mental Health, the District of Columbia Medical Society, and the American Academy of General Practice. “The Distant Drummer“ is a short-lived series of four 22-minute American documentary films produced in the early 1970s as a societal warning against the proliferation of drugs during the counterculture of the 1960s. The films were directed by William Templeton and written by Don Peterson. “Straight Society:” Chicago Skyline (0:09). Marina Towers (0:17). Exteriors of upper-middle class suburban homes (0:24). Aerial view of San Francisco (0:27). Powell / Mason St. cable car in San Francisco (0:34). Hippie youths loitering on street corners, standing out amid pedestrian traffic in San Francisco (0:51). Police bulletin board with pinned letters, photos of kids that have been “lost” to hippie movement (1:27). Young woman in green satin outfit sits in bar while smoking pot (1:43). Hippies sit in apartment pass around pipe, roll joints, offer each other a light (2:03). Hippie festival gathering in cleared out field, grass lined with colorful textiles, drum circles, dancing (2:29). “Acid Rock:” bright strobe lights as rock band performs in concert hall (3:48). UCLA Royce Hall (4:18). College students walk around the tree-lined UCLA campus (4:22). Another hippie festival, meditation: young man wearing bright colors moves in trance (4:39). Syringe draws liquified meth from spoon (5:24). Close-up young woman in green silk outfit shooting up (5:36). Same young woman speaks for interview (6:13). Exterior of mid-century modern high school building (7:33). Young man discusses pot usage at his high school while sitting in a forest (7:43). Police break-up and arrest those gathered at a festival (8:06). Man speaks to camera from communal squatting home in New Orleans, injustice of the criminalization of marijuana (9:01). Prescription drugs line shelf of commercial pharmacy (9:18). Neon LED-sign for liquor store (9:22). Dixieland Hall, New Orleans, jazz band plays in smokey-dimly lit venue (9:26). Decorative patches on denim vest of Comanchero Bike Gang member (9:37). Members of bike gang wearing torn up denim vests, leather jackets with patches pass around silver chains and spiked belts (9:41). LED lights and signs for shops light commercial street at night (10:36). Lions of Trafalgar Square, London (10:40). Union Jack flags line street, shadow of Big Ben in distance (10:53). Young traveler talks to camera about his experience taking drugs in Britain (11:09). Red double-decker bus passes cars on city road (11:22). Piccadilly Circus, ad for Coca Cola (11:33). Beatniks and hippies gather on Spanish Steps, Rome (11:47). Lone house stands amid rubble on Istanbul street (12:23). Psychedelic sign advertises “Yener’s” gathering place in Istanbul (12:24). Portraits of young people from all over the world gathering at Yener’s (12:28-13:47). Young man walks with cigarette dangling from mouth, looks out at Mediterranean from overlook perhaps in Yaffa (13:49). Hippie youth climb steps of Buddhist temple in Nepal, meet other youth dressed in simple clothes, pass around joints (14:27-15:35). Voice of Reverend C. Mason Harvey, montage hippie youth in Nepal, festivals in America (15:37). Interview Dr. J. Thomas Ungerleider (16:33). Beekman Downtown Hospital (New York-Presbyterian) Ambulance siren blares as it drives through streets of lower Manhattan (16:50). Interview Dr. Samuel Gershon in front Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital (17:15). Dr. Samuel Gershon interviews patient speaking frantically, sweating, withdrawal symptoms (17:57). Middle-upper class young adults in living room passing joint (18:36). Interview with upper-class father who lost son to overdose (19:03). Interview Dr. J. Thomas Ungerleider continued (20:11). Summative montage of clips previously shown throughout the film (20:54). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
