''Leo Beuerman'' is a 1969 American

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Gene Boomer. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Short.

Summary

It tells the story of Leo Beuerman (19021974), a diminutive, disabled man who sold pencils and became a fixture on the downtown sidewalks of

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to his determination.

Production

The film was produced by Russell A. Mosser and Arthur H. Wolf of

Centron Corporation Centron Corporation was a leading industrial and educational film production company, specializing in classroom and corporate 16mm films and VHS videocassettes. Although a slightly smaller company than its contemporaries ( Encyclopædia Britannic ...

. The simple profile of a short handicapped man with his tractor in downtown Lawrence was produced on a budget of $12,000 and eventually became one of the most popular classroom films of all time, selling an impressive 2300 prints.Geoff Alexander, ''Academic Films...'', p. 75

References

External links

Leo Beuerman: A Legacy
at Phoenix Media (corporate heir of Centron)
Leo Beuerman Official Website
(as archived July 19, 2012) *{{IMDb title, id=0064581, title=Leo Beuerman 1969 films 1969 short films 1960s short documentary films American short documentary films Documentary films about people with disability 1960s English-language films 1960s American films