Muhammad Ali and Richard Pryor embody what was most inspired, brave, and artful in America in the ’60s and ’70s. Two documentaries from PBS profile the life and times of these African-American heroes.
Bill Siegel and Rachel Pikelny’s “The Trials of Muhammad Ali” follows the boxer and activist’s turbulent and triumphant career beginning when he won the heavyweight championship at 22, before he changed his name from Cassius Clay. But it focuses more on his battles outside the ring that started after he joined the Nation of Islam and refused to serve during the Vietnam War. Though now lionized, Ali was at the time vilified, stripped of his title, and nearly imprisoned.
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This documentary, lauded when it was first broadcast in 2013 for its evocative and illuminating mix of archival footage and recent interviews, will return on Monday at 10 p.m. as an encore presentation on Independent Lens. Check the details at www.pbs.org/independentlens. It is also available on DVD (Kino Lorber Home Video, $29.95).
While Ali asserted African-American pride in the ring and in his political defiance, Richard Pryor did so on the stand-up comedy stage, in the process transforming the art of stand-up into a medium without taboos and a lacerating instrument for social change. Like many comic geniuses, he drew from personal pain and ended in self-destructive tragedy, leaving a legacy still unmatched.
His story and many of his great performances come to life in the documentary “Richard Pryor: Icon” (PBS Distribution, $24.99) which will be released on Tuesday. For more information go to www.pbs.org/program/richard-pryor-icon.
Martin and George
Among his many accomplishments, Martin Scorsese has immortalized on film many of rock ’n’ roll’s greats, including the Band, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. In his four-hour documentary “George Harrison: Living in the Material World” (2011), he does the same for the so-called “quiet” Beatle, proving that still waters run deep.
Harrison provided the wry mystical element that balanced the pop melodic genius of Paul; the transgressive, absurdist vision of John; and whatever it was that Ringo brought to the table. Using archival film, concert footage, and interviews with McCartney, Starr, Eric Clapton, Pattie Boyd, George Martin, and others, Scorsese shows that though Harrison died in 2001, his guitar still gently weeps.
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Part 1 screens on HBO on Monday at 6 p.m. and is available on VOD on Tuesday. Part 2 screens on HBO on Dec. 29 and is available on VOD on Dec. 30. For more information go to www.hbo.com/documentaries.
Cruel yule
In Britain they have Boxing Day, but here in the States there’s not much to celebrate on Dec. 26, which is when Shari Cookson and Nick Doob’s “Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life & Times of Katrina Gilbert” screens on HBO2 at 12:15 p.m. The marginally surviving 42 million women and 28 million children highlighted in that film probably also had little to celebrate on Dec. 25. Katrina Gilbert heads one such US household; the film should make you count your blessings, and maybe share them too.
For more information go to www.hbo.com/documentaries.
Peter Keough can be reached at petervkeough@gmail.com.