In 2003, after two years of production, a unique, innovative documentary, A Gathering of Glory! was completed with support from Senators Joseph Lieberman, Christopher Dodd, Representative Christopher Shays and hundreds of private residents who helped realize this astounding project.

Martin West’s, A Gathering of Glory! tells the story of Westport and Weston, Connecticut, which at the turn of the last century developed into havens for the country’s renowned visual artists, musicians, writers and performers.

Interviews with numerous residents including Joanne Woodward, Christopher Plummer, Jon Corigliano, Evan Hunter, Paul Cadmus, Hilton Kramer and many more, take the viewer on a journey from early in the last century through the present and into the ‘Inescapable Destiny’ of the future.

In his review, Gordon Joseloff says, “If you think you know Westport history very well, be prepared to be knocked down a notch or two.”

The Westport Historical Society’s, A Gathering of Glory!, a Martin West film with music by Paul Alan Levi… will surprise even the most knowledgeable about their town and neighboring Weston.  Two years in the making, the hour film is a tour de force of the world of art and artists in the community. It was funded by the society as well as private donors.

West, an award-winning filmmaker who used to act in films and soap operas, neatly avoids a chronological history of the towns by dividing his work into four separate segments:

"The Brush, the Hand and the Eye” documents the heritage of the visual arts and artists who made Westport and Weston art havens.

“The Players” looks at the actors in films, the theatre, and television who made these towns their homes.

“Pen and Harmony” focuses on the contributions of the many writers and musicians who helped create a nurturing environment during the last century.

“Inescapable Destiny”, the final segment, explores the future of the arts in Westport and Weston and includes interviews with young people who will carry on the tradition.

The well-known names are there – Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward – but so are some of the not so well known names like modernist painter, Arthur Dove and Russian-American painter Pavel Tchelitchew.

With the help of Levi’s music, West seamlessly weaves a living quilt of Westport and Weston and their residents. The film preserves the works, faces and voices of those long departed and those only recently lost”.

Joseloff goes on to say, “Fast, furious and fascinating, A Gathering of Glory! is a must-see for all Westporters and Westonites and anyone who has lived here, is thinking of living here, or wished they lived here”.

A Gathering of Glory!  is available on VHS tape and DVD for $20 at the Westport Historical Society.