3/7 9:15 PM Camera 12, 03/08 6:45 pm Camera 12, 3/9 4:00 PM San Jose Repertory Theatre

Jack Beers has had an astonishing life, but most people have never heard of him. This hardy nonagenarian was born into severe poverty in Manhattan, found work as a strongman in his teens and was known as New York City’s Strongest Boy, helped build Radio City Music Hall and the Empire State Building spire, invented a machine that shortened the second world war, and was a character actor in over 200 films. At the age of 94 he could still rip a phone book in half the hard way with his bare hands, in spite of having just barely survived congestive heart failure in his eighties. This documentary takes us on a tour through Jack’s life, guided by the old fellow himself. He has the chipper attitude and lifestyle of someone half his age, and tells his stories with enthusiasm. This is a film lovers of cinema, New York, and history must not miss.