From start to finish, the film “Save the Children” shows an unrelenting parade of Black music icons on one Chicago stage.
In just over an hour and a half, viewers will see Marvin Gaye crooning classics from his “What’s Going On” album; the Staple Singers working up a sweat with their fiery gospel, and Sammy Davis Jr. winning over a wary crowd with a passionate rendition of “I’ve Gotta Be Me.”
And that’s just three of the long list of superstars who performed at the 1972 Black Expo hosted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH organization.
Originally released in 1973, “Save the Children” documents the five-day Black business, arts and culture event, which drew more than a million to the International Amphitheater on the South Side. Now, more than 50 years later, a digitally restored version of the largely unseen film will be screened at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival on Oct. 20, and released on Netflix a day later.
Watching the concert in 2024 is to be reminded of the depth of Black talent and artistry that dominated the 1960s and 1970s — and that’s precisely what original director Stan Lathan wanted to accomplish.
“They were all at the top of their game,” said Lathan, 79, of Los Angeles, who will be at the screening. “They were serious artists. They had a big effect on American culture.”
Until several years ago, “Save the Children” was lost in Paramount Pictures’ archive. Similar to Questlove’s efforts with the Oscar-winning “Summer of Soul” documentary, Lathan worked to update the footage and showcase it to a new audience.
Back in 1972, Jesse Jackson insisted that the Black Expo be filmed. He organized the event to empower Black excellence amid a backdrop of racial inequity and political unrest.
Lathan and producer Matt Robinson were recruited by the influential entertainment executive Clarence Avant, who served as the film’s executive producer. Several months before the event, they all met with a group of record company executives and other industry heavy-hitters, including Motown’s Ewart Abner, Stax Records’ Al Bell, Apollo Theater producer Peter Long and Quincy Jones.
“It was probably 12 of us in the room,” Lathan recalled. “We spent time talking about how we could do it right, how we could have something that would be extraordinary. That’s what Jesse wanted.”
Lathan assembled a nearly all-Black camera crew, which he said was rare at the time. He also marveled at the instrumentalists that were brought on board.
“Quincy [Jones] put together the most amazing orchestra of African American virtuosos that you would ever see,” he said. “They were legends in their own right. Everything was put together like that and inspired by Jesse and his energy and commitment to doing things right.”
That standard applied to the lineup of entertainers, which also included the Jackson Five, the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers and Isaac Hayes. They were all excited to participate, Lathan said. For example, although she was ill, singer Nancy Wilson insisted on attending the event, and thrilled the audience with her song “The Greatest Performance of My Life.”
Isaac Hayes performs at the 1972 Black Expo.
Chicago International Film Festival
In addition to working behind the scenes, Quincy Jones also directed the orchestra accompanying singer Roberta Flack.
“Quincy Jones is a beast,” Lathan said. “He’s just so easy to work with, and he’s so in control of the music and the artists. When he performed with Roberta Flack and the band, it was an amazing thing. And it was like half a day of rehearsal.”
Each act was enthusiastically received except for Sammy Davis Jr., at least initially. Given his support of President Richard Nixon, he had a complicated relationship with the Black community.
“Disagree, if you will, with my politics,” Davis said to a chorus of boos. “But I will not allow anyone to take away the fact that I am Black.”
He then received a warm reception following his performance.
“He became a villain,” Lathan said of Davis’ reputation at the time. “[But] he did what he had to do. He brought it back. You can’t hate Sammy Davis Jr. because he was a game-changer in the first place.”
With a desire to feature Black life in Chicago, Lathan and his crew also filmed adults and children walking around the city, going to church, barbecuing, riding bikes, playing in parks and more.
“We put a tripod on top of the hood of a station wagon,” said former Chicago photographer Roy Lewis, 87, who now lives in D.C. “We just rode down the street and slowly filmed people.”
Lewis also emphasized the importance of showing the film to a new generation.
“I want them to see that these are the original musicians that create a lot of the music that imitators are doing now,” he said.
There wasn’t much of an audience for “Save the Children” back in 1973, when it was released to limited theaters in Chicago and just a few other cities, Lathan said.
He also said that the documentary did not receive enough promotion, and could not compete with the popular Blaxploitation films of the day.
“Paramount assumed that it wasn’t going to work,” he added. “They gave it like three weeks and it disappeared.”
Still, Lathan had a memorable experience watching the film with Bob Marley and the Wailers in Times Square.
“The Wailers just went nuts over the film,” Lathan said. “Bob thought it was the greatest film he ever saw. And he was just mesmerized by the music and the musicians. He was thrilled. And I was thrilled for him, but I was really bummed about the fact that we were the only ones in the theater.”
Decades later, when the footage was finally unearthed, Lathan, Jackson and his family worked to re-release the film.
Many of the featured musical acts are no longer alive, but their talent will live on in the film, which Lathan said he was adamant about not altering from its original version.
“I wanted to make something that would be immortal,” he said.