U-Matic

Master Tape 1.
K. Butler
G. Cain
Master Dub
Detroit Alive & Well
9-18-87

U-Matic tape containing "Detroit Alive & Well," a production by members of the City of Detroit Department of Public Information. The video features hosts Dayna Farris and Botches, as well as interviews with people on the street. The video also features appearance by Mayor Coleman A. Young's former press secretary/WDIV anchor Bob Pisor, Tina Bassett of the city's Department of Public Information, Adolph Mongo of the Department of Public Information , Lieutenant Fred Williams of the Detroit Police Department's Public Information Section, and Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau President Bill McLaughlin.

The film opens with Farris in Elmwood Cemetery, where she provides an introduction that contrasts the city as being "Alive and Well" in contrast to the setting. In the introduction she names several well-known Detroiters who are buried in the cemetery.

An opening montage follows, set to Stevie Wonder's "Joy Inside My Tears." This sequences includes shots of a "Do It In Detroit" campaign billboard, Indian Village, a row of houses including a mix of blighted and well-kept buildings, the exterior of the Grand Party Store, Mayor Coleman A. Young walking with a crowd outside of The Broadway on Randolph Street, aerial footage of Joe Louis Arena and Riverfront Towers, a Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau billboard, a festival in Hart Plaza, people waiting at a bus stop, people sitting in an open lot, an officer of the Detroit Police Department's mounted police riding past the Detroit Institute of Arts, signs for various institutions in the Cultural Center (the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Historical Museum, the Children's Museum, and the Detroit Science Center).

The next segment focuses on events and activities downtown, and is set to Lionel Richie's "All Night Long (All Night)." Farris introduces the segment from Hart Plaza. This section contains footage of a balloon launch, the Music Hall, Orchestra Hall, the Masonic Temple, Chene Park, a festival in Hart Plaza, Rivertown Dance Emporium & Eatery, the Fisher Theatre, Trappers Alley in Greektown, the STAR OF DETROIT, the LANSDOWNE, a hydroplane race, New Center One's exterior and interior, a line outside of Tiger Stadium, Greektown, the Detroit Grand Prix, a Detroit Citizen's Railway Trolley, the Fox Theatre, people playing chess in Hart Plaza, Joe Louis Arena, the skyline, the Detroit River, the Ambassador Bridge, Dodge Fountain at night, and the Freedom Festival Fireworks.

The segment also features a series of brief interview with people downtown about their generally positive perceptions of the city, including several shot at the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix (see tape 2015.008.026).

Bob Botches hosts the next section which focuses on the city's hardships. He cites citizens who need to sell their blood, accompanied by footage of the Plasma Donation Center at 3745 Cass Avenue. He then discusses issues of poverty, unemployment, scrapping, and illegal dumping over footage of people on the city's streets, blighted buildings, and lines at a food distribution center. During the portion about food distribution, one shot shows a handwritten sign by the side of the road which reads, "Mr. Mayor Not By Cheese Alone."

Then over shots of the construction of the Millender Center and the People Mover, as well as of people downtown, he transitions to talk about negative perceptions of the city in the press. Bob Pisor, who worked both as press secretary for Mayor Coleman Young, as well as for WDIV is then filmed speaking about "two-way hostility" between the media and the mayor. Lieutenant Fred Williams of the Detroit Police Department's Public Information Section is then shown speaking about the media's negative perception of the city and its leadership, which he connects to racism. Tina Bassett, Director of the city's Department of Public Information, is then shown contrasting the coverage of Kenneth "Bubba" Helms and trouble following the 1984 Tigers World Series victory to the coverage of violence in surrounding Super Bowl XXIII. Further shots follow of construction, a partially demolished industrial building, the Fox Theatre, and Greektown, as well as two additional brief person-on-the-street interviews The Department of Public Information's Deputy Directory Adolph Mongo briefly comments on the city's image. Next, Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau President Bill McLaughlin talks about winning over conventioneers to change perceptions of Detroit via word of mouth. Botches then concludes the segment from outside of the Pontchartrain Hotel.

In the next section Farris talks about the importance of Detroit's tourism industry over further footage of downtown, Greektown, the Belle Isle Zoo, and a Hart Plaza ethnic festival commercial. McLaughlin again appears for comment. The video goes black while the voice-over continues, before the production comes to a sudden stop.

The recording is on a 3M UCA-30 U-Matic tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top. The label reads, "Master, Detroit Alive & Well, Producers: Sandra West/Greg Cain, Editor: Blondie Roberts/Greg Cain, Camera: Bill Farr." The tape is housed within a black plastic case with a handwritten 3M label on its cover.