Movie

Petula

“An infamous television special with Petula Clark, which is remembered for what happened off screen.”

In 1968 Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark sang together her song On the Path Of Glory for this special on NBC. Not such a remarkable event in itself, but Petula touched Harry's forearm during the duet and made TV history. It was the first time a white woman had touched a black man on US television. The sponsor insisted the touch be cut from the programme, the programme makers refused. In the decade’s “year of revolt”, Clark found herself at the centre of a media controversy involving race, censorship and endemic bigotry in a newly desegregated yet depressingly divided US.

Director

Steve Binder

Screenplay

Allan Blye

Screenplay

Mason Williams

Screenplay

Steven Hilliard Stern

Status

Released

Release date

02/04/1968

Original language

English