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Chameleon Street
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Wikipedia article
'Chameleon Street' is a 1989 independent film written by, directed by and starring Wendell B. Harris, Jr.[https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7807-the-criterion-channel-s-june-2022-lineup The Criterion Channels June 2022 Lineup|Current|The Criterion Collection] It tells the story of a social chameleon who impersonates reporters, doctors and lawyers in order to make money.
Summary
The film is a satire based on the life of Detroit con artist and high-school drop-out William Douglas Street, Jr., who successfully impersonated professional reporters, lawyers, athletes, extortionists, and surgeons, going so far as to perform more than 36 successful hysterectomies.[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/chameleon-street-an-overlooked-masterwork-thats-also-a-cautionary-tale-about-hollywood Chameleon Street, an Overlooked Masterwork Thats Also a Cautionary Tale About Hollywood|The New Yorker]
Reception
'The Washington Post' found the film disappointing: "What we have here is a brilliant concept, but unfortunately, Harris just isn't a filmmaker -- not even in the most rudimentary sense. His failures are all on the most basic level. He can't plot or shape scenes; he can't draw out his actors; he can't write dialogue or mount it; he can't create any consistent rhythms or sense of pace." Similarly, 'The Hartford Courant' said, "'Chameleon Street' feels like a series of improvised skits, some imaginative and funny, some hackneyed... [Harris] writes with lan and wit, but his sense of structure is minimal, so 'Chameleon Street' feels jumpy and disjointed."
On the other hand, 'The Philadelphia Inquirer' was more generous: "Though, like its subject, the film goes on some pretty strange tangents, 'Chameleon Street' is largely successful as the diary of a compulsive trickster whose marks are suckered by Street's confidence and instinct for telling people what they want to hear. Harris' truth-is-stronger-than-fiction rap is both funny and insightful."
Accolades
'Chameleon Street' won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival.[https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/391-wendell-b-harris-jr-s-top-10 Wendell B. Harris Jr.'s Top 10|Current|The Criterion Collection]
A Sundance Film Festival press release in 2008 described it as "one of the first films to examine how mellifluously race, class, and role-playing morph into the social fabric of America."'sex, lies, and videotape' and 'Chameleon Street' selected for 25th Sundance Film Festival From the Collection Screenings.
References
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