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'The artist, however, faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the lost champion of the individual mind and sensibility, against an intrusive society and officious state." John F Kennedy'

The opening remarks of President John F Kennedy's speech on the occasion of Robert Frost receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in March of 1962, also forms the epigraph for director Shirley Clarke's powerfully human portrait of Frost, shot just months before the iconic poet's death in 1963. Clarke follows through on Kennedy's theme by intercutting footage of Frost out in the world—speaking to students, touring a naval vessel, delivering a talk at Sarah Lawrence College—and scenes of his purposeful, solitary puttering around the house and grounds of his rural home in Ripton, Vermont. Clarke captures the rhythmic flow of the poet's life, from gathering up calm to vibrant engagement. Ever one to challenge convention, Clarke allows her subject to comment on her approach. Speaking to his audience at Sarah Lawrence, Frost indicates to the cameras on stage with him: "What you're seeing here, this sideshow, this is a documentary film going on…but it is a false picture that presents me as always digging potatoes or saying my own poems." The audience bursts out laughing, caught up in the whimsical spell that the 88-year-old literary giant casts on everyone he encounters, including Clarke. Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World won the Academy Award for best Feature Documentary.' UCLA Film and Television Archive

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