Malcolm X, also known as Malcolm X: His Own Story As It Really Happened, is a 1972 American documentary film directed by Arnold Perl. It is based on the 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
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Production
Marvin Worth and Perl started working on Malcolm X in 1969, four years after the human rights activist's assassination. The pair initially intended for the film to be a drama, but in the end they made a documentary when some people close to Malcolm X refused to talk to them. Worth recalled in 1993, "I mostly went for the public figure, rather than the private man. I aimed for showing the evolution of the man and what he had to say. I wanted to do it with the public speeches."
Archival footage, newsreels and excerpts of speeches given by Malcolm were utilized in the film.
Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's widow, served as a consultant to the film-makers. She was so pleased with the resulting film, she took her six daughters—who ranged in age from six to thirteen—to see it. Afterwards, one of them asked, "Daddy was everything to you, wasn't he?"
Perl died in 1971 while writing and collaborating with James Baldwin on the documentary film. Perl's wife Nancy took over the project as a producer, working with editor Mick Benderoth, and Perl was nominated posthumously for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his work on the film in 1973. Perl's script for the film was later re-written by Spike Lee for his 1992 film on Malcolm X.