Albert Maysles

Albert Maysles and his brother, David Maysles, played important roles in the development of cinema verité documentary-making by designing highly portable cameras and sound equipment that allowed them to record events with minimal intrusion. Before teaming up with David in 1957, Albert studied psychology at Syracuse and Boston Universities, and made a film about mental institutions in the Soviet Union. The Maysles brothers' best-known documentaries are Salesman (1969) and Gimme Shelter (1970); the latter was a disturbing, controversial chronicle of a Rolling Stones concert during which four people were killed by the Hells Angels hired by the band to keep people off the stage. The Maysles captured one of those brutal murders on camera and repeatedly showed it throughout the film. The brothers worked together on a number of documentaries throughout the 1970s and '80s; their collaboration ended with David's death in 1987. That same year, their Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic was released to great acclaim; 1991 saw the release of Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, which also received an enthusiastic reception. In 2001, Albert Maysles recieved the Sundance Film Festival's Excellence in Cinematography Award for his lensing of LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide