FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tourists seeking the healing baths in Hot Springs have often sought other entertainment as well, much of it illegal, from gambling to prostitution and liquor.  Fascinated by the evolution of this colorful Arkansas city, UA journalism professor Dale Carpenter produced “City of Visitors,” a documentary that follows the political history of Hot Springs as well as the difficult choices the townspeople make as they struggle to reconcile moral issues with the increasing wealth such entertainment produces. 

The Broadcast Education Association has chosen “City of Visitors” the best documentary in the 2005 Faculty Video Competition, as well as given it a special award for technical merit. The association is a national organization of more than 1,400 professors, professionals and graduate students interested in media and multimedia enterprises.

“As I learned more about the town, what fascinated me most was how much it has changed,” said Carpenter. “At one point Hot Springs was one of the most popular resort destinations in the U.S., a thriving, cosmopolitan town in a small Southern state struggling to emerge from the Civil War.”

Carpenter discovered that the town’s citizens were constantly dealing with the question of how openly the illegal forms of entertainment should be allowed to operate.

“Hot Springs developed a case of civic schizophrenia, and the story of the town’s political history is a fascinating tale of people balancing prosperity with morality. This conflict burned strongly up into the 1960s,” said Carpenter.

Federal laws passed in the 1960s forced the state to close illegal gambling for good. The state legislature passed a bill to legalize gambling, but Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller vetoed it. Since becoming legal in 1933, Oaklawn racetrack is the only remaining outlet for gambling in Hot Springs.

Over the years, the city hosted illustrious and notorious visitors alike from around the world, such as Al Capone, Wyatt Earp, President Herbert Hoover, Bonnie and Clyde, Babe Ruth and Helen Keller. Gangsters from New York, Chicago and Detroit would flee to Hot Springs for sanctuary, protected from prosecution by the local authorities.

“There are still people in Hot Springs who wistfully remember the glamorous days of illegal gambling and wish for their return. The documentary ends with people reflecting on this. It doesn’t go into much about Hot Springs today. At the premiere during the Hot Springs documentary film festival, several people angrily said they found the film to be biased toward gambling. I don’t think it is, but gambling is still an underlying issue in Hot Springs,” said Carpenter.

Three years ago, Arkansas public television station AETN hired Carpenter to develop the idea for the film. He had just finished “The Sound of Dreams,” a documentary about the Hot Springs Music Festival. “City of Visitors” will air at 7 p.m. March 17 on AETN and then be distributed to Arkansas public schools, along with a teacher’s guide. A special campus screening will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Arkansas Union Theater.  James Greeson, a UA music professor, composed the film’s score.

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation provided major funding for the program, and additional funding came from the Morris Foundation, the Munro Foundation, and the C. Louis and Mary C. Cabe Foundation.

Carpenter has won 50 regional and national awards since 1986 for his documentary films, including Gold Medals from the New York Festivals, a Golden Cindy award, the Iris award and an Emmy award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.