The Search for Robert Johnson
Legacy DVD 49113 (2000)

Delta bluesman Robert Johnson has influenced and mesmerized hundreds of musicians through his recorded legacy; his brief life has often been the substance of legend and mystery. This 1992 film plays into the myth. If you aren't already familiar with the depth of Johnson's influence, you may not learn much about his music here, and you'll definitely come away from the 72-minute piece with as many questions as answers about the man's brief life.
But it's not meant as a biography— rather, as the title indicated, a search — and in this case a search hosted by fellow blues musician John Hammond. Hammond recreates the tracks blues scholars Gale Dean Wardlow and Mac McCormick followed in their efforts to piece the elusive facts of Johnson's life together. He speaks with Johnson's girlfriend, Willie Mae Powell, and fellow musicians Honeyboy Edwards and Johnny Shines, plays the blues in the San Antonio hotel rooms where Johnson recorded several of his best known tunes, and stands at the crossroads where (perhaps) Johnson spent the last minutes of his life. It's an atmospheric tale, rather than a narrative one, but an excursion any blues fan will appreciate. - Kerry Dexter (Tallahassee, FL)