There appears to be two sources of professional filmwork from this performance by The Doors at the Tamalpais Mountain Theater in Marin County, California, however details are somewhat unknown. The first source is presumed black and white and appears in an unknown German documentary listed here, and features clips shot from both the stage and the audience.
A third cameraman can be spotted in photographs from this performance, filming Jim up close, giving collectors a reason to believe that this may be another source of film from this festival. There is also a possibility that this cameraman is responsible for the filmwork of the first black and white source, indicating that there may still be unreleased footage of that source.
Originally filmed by the Feast of Friends crew, the Hollywood Bowl footage was officially released as a complete concert film in 1987. The filmwork is a mix of 3 16mm Airiflex cameras, one high speed 16mm camera, and features professional 8-track audio, recorded by Paul Rothchild and Bruce Botnick in the Wally Heider remote truck. As a full concert film was not originally intended, portions of this show are incomplete. During the original performance, Jim's microphone had technical issues, resulting in vocal errors on the soundtrack. Jim's voice was synthetically engineered by Sonic Solutions to reproduce Jim's voice to fill in the missing vocal segments. The original released edit runs at about an hour, while the amount of original filmwork is unknown. An official re-release is planned for the future.
Synopsis:
"Unless you were there, you've never seen anything like it - the legendary Doors at their peak in this, the only complete concert ever filmed of the controversial superband. Filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl during the Fourth of July weekend, 1968, The Doors perform their most critically-acclaimed music before an SRO crowd. Unlike other Doors material, this once-thought-lost concert was captured by a four-camera crew with 16-track audio (mixed for the first time using digital technology) resulting in a production which enables fans both old and new to experience the actual sights and sounds of this immortal group on stage. Subtle and powerful, elusive and direct, The Doors Live At The Hollywood Bowl reveals The Doors at their dark and brilliant best - now... and forever."
Film Crew:
Paul Ferrara - Center Seating Area
Frank Lisciandro - Stage Foot Area
David Thompson - Stage Camera
Steve Wax - High Speed Camera
Black and white monochrome production footage shot by Granada Television at the Roundhouse in London, 1968 for The Doors Are Open. The number of performances captured on film for the original television program are unknown.
This black and white Beat Club television production footage was originally shot on September 14th, 1968 at the Kongresshalle in Frankfurt, Germany. Portions of The Doors performances are captured by a single camera during both the early and late shows. Because this footage was only needed for a news segment, it is highly unlikely that any substantial amount of The Doors performances were captured on film.
Performance footage of The Doors shot during this festival does not exist, however brief clips of the band's arrival can be seen D.A. Pennebaker's 'Sweet Toronto'. Pennebaker was hired to film performances by all artists at the 'Toronto Rock n' Roll Revival', however the band's film rights were withheld, and all sources indicate The Doors were never captured on film or sound reels. Recent inquiries with the Pennebaker's reveal that no film or audio has ever turned up. The Doors closed this 13 hour festival at 1:45AM, leading collector's to believe that if footage ever did exist, it may be too dark for proper viewing.
16mm color footage with full soundboard audio. The filmwork is dark due to the band's refusal to allow movie spotlights during the performance. The opening European tour concert at the Isle of Wight features a late, mellow performance by The Doors, ultimately proving to be their last appearance ever in Europe with Jim Morrison at stagefront. A full-length soundboard recording gives collectors good reason to believe the entire performance was filmed. Other bands have released their full performances from this festival. Performances of 'The End' and 'When The Music's Over' are included in 'Message to Love', a feature documentary film of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Television broadcast clips of The Doors are also known to collectors.
