During his Marxist/Maoist phase, French film director Jean-Luc Godard traveled to New York to film the Jefferson Airplane who he (quite rightly, in my opinion) regarded as exemplars of the American revolutionary vanguard, playing on a rooftop in Midtown Manhattan. The performance, for which no permit was either sought or granted, took place on the morning of December 7, 1968 as people were making their way to work.

The event was staged for Godard’s projected One American Movie project. That film was also to feature segments with Black Panthers leader Eldridge Cleaver, Rip Torn, LeRoi Jones and Tom Hayden and to generally take a survey of the New Left’s “American revolution.” When Godard ultimately abandoned the project, the footage was assembled as One P.M. by D.A. Pennebaker in 1972.

The Airplane play a long, almost menacing version of “House at Pooneil Corner” which starts to gel nicely at the 2:30 mark. The reaction shots are priceless. You can see Godard himself in the first few seconds, waving the camera away. Makes you wonder where Paul McCartney got the big idea for the rooftop concert in Let It Be, doesn’t it?