A close-knit but poor community disappears virtually overnight, paving the way for Dodgers Stadium.  How this happens is at the crux of Jordan Mechner’s heartfelt short documentary Chavez Ravine:  A Los Angeles Story.

Mechner paints a fully-realized picture of the poverty-stricken but seemingly idyllic life of the largely Mexican-American population in this area on the outskirts of L.A.  He finds former residents, some fifty years later, and interviews them about their lives at that time; as well as their reactions to what happened, which range from philosophical to furious.  Intertwined in this oral history are excellent photos and other historic footage of that era, casting the event in the light of other contemporary issues, including the “Red Scare” and America’s Pastime, baseball.

The short is well-shot and sharply edited, and Mechner manages to keep a light touch throughout; surprising, considering that parallels could fairly easily be drawn between the disappearance of homes in Chavez Ravine in the 50s and Jewish villages in Eastern Europe in the 40s.  But it’s Mechner’s sense of people and place, more than moral outrage, that makes his work compelling.

Chavez Ravine:  A Los Angeles Story is a worthy documentary about a little-known event in U.S. history.

Three stars.