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Howl is an upcoming 2010 genre-bending biopic of famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg, portrayed by James Franco.^[1] The film, written and directed by Academy Award-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, is structured around the 1957 obscenity trial, launched after the publication of Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems, which became a landmark case establishing a key legal precedent guaranteeing First Amendment rights for other controversial literary works.

Plot synopsis

The film consists of three interwoven aspects: the early life of Ginsberg (Franco) in NYC and his evolution as a writer and poet; an animated re-imagining of the poem "Howl";^[2] and the obscenity trial San Francisco poet and City Lights Bookstore co-founder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Andrew Rogers), faced after publishing the titular poem, in which Ginsberg made references to drug use and homosexuality (the latter of which in the '50s was still considered taboo).

Cast and characters

• James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, a central figure of the Beat Generation^[3]
• Aaron Tveit as Peter Orlovsky, fellow poet and Ginsberg's life partner for over forty years^[4]
• Jon Hamm as Jake Ehrlich, Ginsberg's prominent defense attorney, whose slogan was "Never plead guilty" and whose life inspired the TV series Perry Mason^[5]
• David Strathairn as Ralph McIntosh, prosecuting attorney^[6]
• Alessandro Nivola as Luther Nichols, literary critic/book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and defense witness^[7]
• Mary-Louise Parker as Gail Potter, radio personality and prosecution witness^[8]
• Bob Balaban as Judge Clayton W. Horn^[9]
• Jeff Daniels as Professor David Kirk^[10]
• Jon Prescott as Neal Cassady^[11]
• Treat Williams as Mark Schorer^[12]
• Todd Rotondi as Jack Kerouac
• Andrew Rogers as Lawrence Ferlinghetti^[13]

Production

Principal photography took place in New York City.

See also

• Lawrence Ferlinghetti's trial
• City Lights Bookstore raid
• 1969 "Howl" broadcast controversy in Finland
• The San Francisco Renaissance

References

External links

• Howl at the Internet Movie Database
• Howl's official site at Werc Werk Works