True Films 3.0 - Kevin Kelly

New York Doll
Not many documentaries make me cry, but this one did. It recounts the
unlikely rise, the predictable fall, and the final resurrection of a littleknown
rock musician. The Dolls were an early glam punk band partly
responsible for reviving rock’n’roll in the 1970s by being outrageous and
raucous. During their short-lived fame they inspired the Sex Pistols, the
Stooges, and all the rest. But three of the six band members drugged
themselves to death, and the fourth, bass player Arthur Kane, nearly
drank to death. While Kane sank into alcoholic destitution, the other two
survivors went on to rewarding musical careers, embittering Kane further.
At a low point Kane saw an ad for a Bible and converted to Mormonism,
eventually working as a white-shirt-and-tie clerk in a genealogical library
of a Mormon temple. In his new-found spiritualism he had one prayer
he refused to stop believing – that the Dolls would reunite. Thirty years
later, somewhat miraculously, the band did reunite (with substitute
new members) for a gala performance in London. This documentary
follows Kane’s improbable come-back. We start with his humble job as a
meek, almost angelic clerk. He’s so broke he can’t buy his own pawned
guitar back. As his prayer comes true, he is suddenly catapulted onto
the London stage in his place in the rock band that invented punk. To
Arthur this was a divine appointment to make amends with the surviving
members. The concert was a smash hit, and the guys were reconciled.
Then in a cosmic ending, Arthur died within days of the show from
undetected leukemia. Above all else, this is a film about how every now
and then someone does the impossible; they change.
By Greg Whiteley
2005, 78 min.
Available from Amazon
Rentable from Netflix
His face showing his mixed emotions, Kane hugs the guy he
blames for the band’s breakup (above). At his peak with the
required punk haircut (top right). Two sweet Mormon ladies
who are now his colleagues. On stage after the great reunion
in London, still not sure of himself.
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