[Five Day Bicycle Race raw #26]

This video contains raw footage shot for "Five Day Bicycle Race," a project comprised of live in-studio commentary and taped edited coverage of the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York City. Produced by independent videomakers calling themselves The Image Union (including many members of TVTV and Videofreex), it aired on Manhattan Cable for three hours per night for five days during the convention. This video covers a champagne breakfast and fashion show at Bloomingdale's in Manhattan. Various attendees and convention delegates are interviewed about their experience in New York and their thoughts on the convention.

00:00Copy video clip URL This tape begins with a blue screen.

00:28Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of Bill Marpet making his way up to the fifth floor of Bloomingdale’s to attend a champagne breakfast. It is now the fourth day of the “Five Day Bicycle Race.” Marpet seems to be rather tired.

01:21Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a crepe. A St. Louis woman talks about her experience in New York so far. She and her husband are members of the delegation. The image gets a little rough throughout this portion.

03:45Copy video clip URL Marpet makes his way around the event. He eventually arrives at the drink table and downs a glass of orange juice. He and the camera operator continue to walk around the event.

05:36Copy video clip URL Marpet speaks with a woman about the crepes, then talks with another woman named Esther Cooper Smith. Smith talks about her active political life and what the convention has been like so far. Marpet then speaks with a waiter about the champagne, which seems to be fairly unpopular among attendees.

08:12Copy video clip URL Marpet eavesdrops on an interview between a reporter and Georgia Governor George Busbee’s wife.

09:54Copy video clip URL One of the videomakers speaks with a woman who assists many of the delegates’ wives around Bloomingdale’s during the day. This is then followed by footage of a fashion show. A large group of women sit while models display some of the latest fall fashion of that year. The videomaker comments on the show throughout this portion of the tape. This lasts for several minutes.

12:24Copy video clip URL The videomaker asks some of the women in attendance about their experience at the event. This lasts for several minutes.

16:05Copy video clip URL The videomakers speak with fellow colleague Joel Gold about the fashion show. Gold makes a few humorous comments about the models and the event.

16:56Copy video clip URL The crew interviews a woman about the crepes at the event.

17:26Copy video clip URL Gold interviews a delegate and his wife about their experience in New York. The two talk about their support for Jay Rockefeller and Jimmy Carter. Gold eventually interviews another woman named Lacey Lee about her experience in New York. When asked what she thinks of Chinatown, the woman hesitates for nearly ten seconds before she says it’s like nothing she’s seen before. “These are separate communities. I see a little bit about what Jimmy Carter meant when he said ethnic groups.” When asked to talk about that subject, the woman gets a little tongue tied but eventually states that she felt like she and her fellow convention attendees were invading these ethnic territories. She then talks about how helpful New Yorkers have been to her. She goes on to say a few words about Jimmy Carter. “I feel that Jimmy Carter can be summed up in one phrase. I think he’s a very liberal humanitarian and yet a very conservative with his fiscal policy. He’s a conservative in that area. So I think he cares about people. This is what the people of Georgia want to convey. This man genuinely cares for other people.” Gold then makes a few comments about the event.

24:34Copy video clip URL Maxi Cohen interviews Dorothy Davis and Edna Lancrin, mother-in-laws of Jimmy Carter’s two sons. The videomaker also speaks with Annette Carter, wife of Jeff Carter. The three talk about their experiences in the campaign. Annette Carter talks about the positives and negatives of the campaign. When asked how it feels to be so close to the White House, Carter responds, “Well, I don’t know, it’s kind of hard for me to look that far ahead you know? We can only just look stage by stage because I think about it sometimes and it’s just so overwhelming, you know? But I’m just going to have to wait and see, take it one day at a time as it comes.” She goes on to talk about her work in Jimmy Carter’s campaign. She goes on to comment on the current state of the country and how Jimmy Carter can change the country for the better. She also talks about Jimmy Carter’s open ear to suggestions during the campaign.

31:41Copy video clip URL When asked whether she has ever talked to Carter about the issue of abortion, she states that she hasn’t because she’s always known his position and that when he and the family talk they focus on family affairs and campaigning. Cohen also asks about Carter’s position on the legalization of marijuana. Annette talks about Carter’s position on the subject and his consultation with his sons on the issue. The interview gets cut off by the end of the tape.

33:20Copy video clip URL Tape ends.