Mayor of the Sunset Strip, by George Hickenlooper, was released in 2004, although shooting started years earlier in 1997. The film has plenty of period photographs and engrossing archival footage of rock bands during its subject Rodney Bingenheimer's heyday (editor Julie Janata seems to have found every frame of Rodney, Zelig-like, in the company of music industry giants.) The film also develops two secondary characters to an unusual degree in biographical documentary. These two, Ronald Vaughan (middle still) and Kim Fowley (bottom still) set Rodney's rather gentle and at times pathetic character in sharp relief, because they are, in comparison, portrayed as deeply repellent figures.
