We saw this at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival some eight days ago as I write this review. This doc was produced for the American Experience on PBS and the format is the same Ric Burns/Ken Burns style to which we have grown all too accustomed over the years... however, this story has mercifully many more motion picture images and a lot more sass. With expectations of a documentary that covered a pageant from small-town dreams to the crooning of "there she is..." I was relieved they chose a different approach (apparently they shot alot of their own pageant footage but did not use much of it). This is a classic historical doc that tackles serious women's and civil rights issues. Very even-handed without pulling its punches... posing the contradictions of an event that has objectified women yet in some ways has liberated women as sexual beings. The interviews are great and some of the footage they found is laugh out loud funny... Highly recommended.
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