In Heaven There Is No Beer?

In Heaven There Is No Beer?

1984 · 50 min · ★ 6.5 · Documentary, Music

A joyous romp through the dance, food, music, friendship, and even religion of the Polka. The explosive energy and high spirits of the polka subculture are rendered with warmth and dedication to scholarship in this journey through Polish-American celebrations. Polka stars like Jimmy Sturr, Eddie Blazonzyck and Walt Solek are featured.

Directed by Les Blank

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In Heaven There Is No Beer?

Fitzcarraldo

Both from Les Blank.

Les Blank: Always for PleasureSee all →

God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance

God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance · 1968

God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance

MovieDocumentary

Les Blank's poetic documentation of 1967's Los Angeles Easter Sunday Love-In. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2002.

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins · 1968

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of Texas bluesman 'Lightnin' Hopkins. The film includes interviews and a performance by Hopkins. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2002.

A Well Spent Life

A Well Spent Life · 1971

A Well Spent Life

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of Texas blues songster Mance Lipscomb.

Spend It All

Spend It All · 1972

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Another short documentary of "Real Food, Roots Music, and People Full of Passion for what they do!", Spend It All is Les Blank's spirited look at the French-speaking Cajun community of southwest Louisiana. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Hot Pepper

Hot Pepper · 1973

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of Zydeco King Clifton Chenier, who combines the pulsating rhythms of Cajun dance music and black R&B with African overtones, belting out his irresistible music in the sweaty juke joints of South Louisiana.

Dry Wood

Dry Wood · 1973

MovieDocumentary

Featuring the stories and music of seminal Cajun musicians "Bois Sec" Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, Dry Wood is a short, vibrant documentary portrait of life, food, music and festivity in the Louisiana Delta from the singular Les Blank. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Always for Pleasure

Always for Pleasure · 1978

Always for Pleasure

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of New Orleans' street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo in 1977: second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. This glorious, soul-satisfying film is among Blank's special masterworks. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers · 1980

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers

MovieDocumentary

A zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic. This lip-smacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose features chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and a flavorful musical soundtrack. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Sprout Wings and Fly

Sprout Wings and Fly · 1983

Sprout Wings and Fly

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.

Gap-Toothed Women

Gap-Toothed Women · 1987

Gap-Toothed Women

MovieDocumentary

A charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth, ranging from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper look at issues like self-esteem and societal attitudes toward standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted with over one hundred women, including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of the Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana

Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of the Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana · 1990

Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of the Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana

MovieDocumentary

Les Blank marries his passion for spicy, down home food and his love for Cajuns and Creoles in this mouth-watering, exploration of the cooking, and other enthusiasms, of French-speaking Louisiana. Features tangy music, and food by Marc Savoy, Paul Prudhomme, and other greats.

Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella

Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella · 1995

Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella

MovieDocumentary

When you think of Latin percussion, think of Francisco Aguabella. Perhaps the finest Afro-Cuban master percussionist still living, he has become synonymous with his instrument — one of the highest compliments a musician can receive. Indeed, what Carlos Santana is to the guitar, Aguabella is to the conga drum.

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists · 1995

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists

MovieDocumentaryMusic

What happens when a dedicated husband and father quits his job, adopts the persona of a Western-Movie Singing Cowboy, takes on the entire art establishment (including Christo and Andy Warhol), and refuses to accept money for his art ? Meet Gerry Gaxiola, AKA The Maestro, an ex-wage slave who gave up everything to make art for art's sake. The Maestro's story could inspire a whole new generation of Van Goghs.

More from Les BlankSee all →

Innocents Abroad

Innocents Abroad · 1991

Innocents Abroad

MovieDocumentary

A warmly amusing look at a bus-full of American tourists on a whirlwind tour of Europe. The eclectic soundtrack includes Mozart, Bob Dylan, Sandy Denny, Jonathan Richman, others.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse · 1991

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

MovieDocumentary

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo · 1982

MovieDramaAdventure

Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

Burden of Dreams

Burden of Dreams · 1982

Burden of Dreams

MovieDocumentary

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.

The Arch

The Arch · 1969

A widow upholds feudal virtue by suppressing her love for a cavalry captain in favor of her daughter.

Gap-Toothed Women

Gap-Toothed Women · 1987

Gap-Toothed Women

MovieDocumentary

A charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth, ranging from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper look at issues like self-esteem and societal attitudes toward standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted with over one hundred women, including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie · 1964

Dizzy Gillespie

This is Les Blank’s earliest music film, focusing on the renown trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie, who along with Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins and others sparked the change from traditional Jazz to “Bebop” in mid-1940s America. The film includes rare images of Gillespie playing on his famous bent horn and talking about his beginnings, as well as his theories about music.

Puamana

Puamana · 1991

MovieDocumentary

This aloha-filled portrait of Auntie Irmgard Farden Aluli, one of Hawaii's best loved composers, gently focuses on Hawai'ian women's contributions to the family structure, art, music and dance. An intimate glimpse into the real culture of the islands.

Spend It All

Spend It All · 1972

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Another short documentary of "Real Food, Roots Music, and People Full of Passion for what they do!", Spend It All is Les Blank's spirited look at the French-speaking Cajun community of southwest Louisiana. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe · 1988

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe

MovieDocumentaryComedy

Directors Werner Herzog and Errol Morris make a bet which results in Herzog living up to his promise that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film Gates of Heaven.

POV

SeriesDocumentary

Since its 1988 premiere, this critically acclaimed documentary series has presented hundreds of films that put a human face on contemporary social issues by relating a compelling story in an intimate fashion. "POV" has won virtually every major film and broadcasting award available, including 38 Emmys, 22 Peabody Awards and three Oscars.

Chulas Fronteras

Chulas Fronteras · 1976

Chulas Fronteras

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A complex, insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, including Flaco Jimenez and Lydia Mendoza. Video includes bonus feature, Del Mero Corazon.

Hot Pepper

Hot Pepper · 1973

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of Zydeco King Clifton Chenier, who combines the pulsating rhythms of Cajun dance music and black R&B with African overtones, belting out his irresistible music in the sweaty juke joints of South Louisiana.

Poto and Cabengo

Poto and Cabengo · 1980

Poto and Cabengo

MovieDocumentary

Documentary by Jean-Pierre Gorin about twin girls who spontaneously developed their own unique language as children.

A Well Spent Life

A Well Spent Life · 1971

A Well Spent Life

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A musical portrait of Texas blues songster Mance Lipscomb.

Dry Wood

Dry Wood · 1973

MovieDocumentary

Featuring the stories and music of seminal Cajun musicians "Bois Sec" Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, Dry Wood is a short, vibrant documentary portrait of life, food, music and festivity in the Louisiana Delta from the singular Les Blank. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

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