Long-lost Amsel interview footage found! Bette Midler! The left vs. right war rages on!

In late March, Robert Risko told me about an old documentary short film about Bette Midler that was posted on social media. Astonishingly, it included a short interview with Richard Amsel.

The film is Bette Midler: Divine Intervention. The Amsel clip is only 30 seconds long, but I was flabbergasted when I saw it. Amsel briefly shares his experience in meeting Midler through Barry Manilow at the Continental Baths, and comments on how her stage persona was akin to the Hollywood starlettes of the 30s and 40s.

While that alone may not sound very substantive, the existence of such footage is remarkable. Other than the October 30, 1978 episode of The Emerald City (where Amsel and David Byrd chat with Dorian Hannaway about their respective careers), this is the only other filmed interview with Amsel that I know of.

I have a collection of Amsel’s home movies, too (more on those later – they’re hilarious), but in them, Amsel is almost entirely behind the camera, filming his friends.

Bette Midler: Divine Intervention is unique in that, given the timeframe – it was made in 1982-1983 – the documentary features what is very likely the last filmed footage ever taken of Richard Amsel.

It also shows the artist at work…drawing with his right hand.

For years, I thought Amsel was left-handed. His painted self-portrait shows him as such. Obviously, he may have been painting from his reflection in a mirror, but several friends vaguely recalled him being a south paw. I also found old photos of Amsel holding a pencil or brush with his left hand. The contradictions and mysteries never seem to cease...

Yet this newly discovered footage is undeniable, showing Amsel sketching Bette Midler for an illustration ultimately included within her album, The Divine Miss M.

And so began my frenzied, overzealous search to find out more. Who made this film? Were they still alive? How difficult would it be to get permission to include excerpts within my project?

Thanks to a few inquiries and referrals, I was put in contact with the documentary’s director/producer, Dawn Clark Wright. Her reply was everything I could have hoped for:

Hi Adam. Your project sounds wonderful! It was so many years ago that I made that little film as a college project while getting my BFA degree. ... I was introduced to (Amsel) by Ula Hedwig and Richard’s interview was shot in her apartment on 23rd Street. ... I have the original 16mm film master. It's been sitting in my basement for many years. ... You are welcome to anything I have. ….

...p.s...I remember how struck I was by Richard's beautiful face. If I recall, he was drinking Absolut on the rocks. I have no idea what happened to the little sketch he was doing when we filmed him. He was lovely and he left the world far too young.

Last week I received Dawn’s 16mm print in the mail, and took it to a transfer service to have it digitized.

Whatever frustrations I’ve had with the long gestation of this project, new discoveries like this make it all worth the wait.

Thanks to Robert Risko, Jennifer Wray, and my heartfelt, eternal gratitude to Dawn Clark Wright for their help in making this possible.