ILWU Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams presents Ian Ruskin with proclamations from the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland proclaiming Sept. 4 "Harry Bridges Day."

by Tom Price

The ILWU family turned out for a special screening of "From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks" Sept. 4 shown simultaneously in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts, in San Pedro at the Grand Warner Theatre, in Portland at the Guild Theatre and in Seattle at the Meany Hall for the Performing Arts.

The film features British actor Ian Ruskin in a one-person play that weaves ILWU founding president Harry Bridges’ personal life, from his childhood in Australia to his retirement in the 1970s, with the rise of the union in the 1930s, Bridges’ deportation trials and the struggle to come to terms with the mechanization of the waterfront.

At the San Francisco event, Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, entertained the crowd with songs from the film before the screening. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who directed the film, made the nearly 1,000 attendees laugh with his sharp political humor.

ILWU International Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams presented Ruskin with proclamations from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown declaring this Sept. 4 "Harry Bridges Day." That Sunday was also proclaimed "Harry Bridges Day" in Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma and Seattle.

Wexler shot the movie in San Pedro at the Warner Grand Theater July 28, 2003. ILWU members filled the theater during the filming. Wexler’s camera came in close to show an amazingly intimate view of Bridges’ thoughts and life, and then cut to the audience and the members who are Harry’s legacy. Wexler is a pioneer in filming real situations and adding actors and story to blur the line between realism and fiction. As in his ground-breaking 1969 film "Medium Cool," Wexler’s "Wharf Rats" moves the viewer into the film and establishes a closer relationship between the two. He also used ILWU Local 13 members to reenact scenes from Harry’s life. Cuts to actor Elliott Gould and former Screen Actors’ Guild President Ed Asner round out the narration.

Ruskin, who wrote the play, has spent the last five years researching Bridges, talking with his family and late wife Nikki Sawada Bridges, as well as many of the union’s former officers and pensioners who knew and worked with him. Ruskin honed his character in scores of smaller performances in union halls, schools and libraries, refining his take on Bridges’ speech and mannerisms. Ruskin trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and performed in London’s West End theatre. He has more than 100 film and TV credits, including the BBC’s production of "King Lear" with Lawrence Olivier and Diana Rigg. He has also performed the one-man play "The Man Himself" by Alan Drury.

The soundtrack is a gem in itself. Arlo Guthrie sings "The Ballad of Harry Bridges." It was originally sung by his father Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers as a fund-raiser for Bridges legal defense and written by Lee Hays, Millard Lampell and Pete Seeger. Sarah Lee Guthrie sings her grandfather’s newly discovered "Harry Bridges." Longshore Local 13 member David Mora sings "Harry Bridges Mambo" and former Dave Matthews Band guitarist Tim Reynolds sings "Put the Gas Mask On." Peruvian guitarist Ciro Hurtado sings his "Tengo Hambre Blues" and Jackson Browne rounds it up with Pete Seeger’s "Step by Step" sung to a reggae beat.

Ruskin’s fascination with Bridges led him to found the Harry Bridges Project five years ago to "promote the legacy of this extraordinary labor leader and social visionary, and to aid in educating future generations about his life and work," he said. His producer, Suzanne Thompson, hooked up Wexler and Ruskin and got the talents of Jackson Browne and Arlo Guthrie onboard. Ruskin’s credo in this film is summed up by the Czech writer Milan Kundera:

"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."

To purchase the 2-DVD video send a $24 check payable to "The Harry Bridges Project," / 350 West 5TH Street / Suites 208-9 / San Pedro, CA 90731. The second disc contains 21 special features, with interviews with Arlo Guthrie, Ruskin and others. See www.theharrybridgesproject.org.