'Detroit: Comeback City' documentary is personal, and that's a good thing

Julie Hinds | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption History's 'Detroit: Comeback City' trailer History presents an original documentary special, “Detroit: Comeback City,” which recounts the saga of the rise, fall and rebirth of Detroit through the iconic Michigan Central Station. The special premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, July 1.

"This building has soaked up a lot of happiness," says a woman in a segment of "Detroit: Comeback City," as she recalls meeting relatives long ago at Michigan Central Station.

The documentary airing Sunday night on the History network gives a good, honest squeeze to the memory sponge of the Motor City and lets the emotions flow.

Good and bad. Boom and bust. The triumphs of a glistening monument to Detroit's industrial might and the tragedies of the decaying symbol it became as the city struggled to survive.

That's the best part of this collaboration between Ford Motor Company and History: a TV special inspired by Ford's recent purchase of the 1913 train station and plans to transform the Corktown landmark into a hub for a veritable transportation revolution.

It shines the most when it gets personal about what once was the city's crown jewel and could be again soon.

"Detroit: Comeback City" was screened Friday morning at an invitation-only event in Midtown. It revealed that the hour-long TV special (featuring about 43 minutes of actual documentary) is a solid condensing of the past 100 years of Detroit's economic journey, a roller coaster of cyclical highs and lows.

As the historical big picture takes shape, the narrative returns frequently to the microcosm of the train station. Like a canary in a coal mine, its condition indicates what's happening to the city at large. Even now, it's sending off vibes to many that the city's upward trajectory will continue, now that Ford owns it.

For outsiders, this compressed history will be illuminating. Detroit's dramatic swings are a natural for storytelling, from its rise as an automotive capital to its searing losses during the Depression, from its comeback as World War II's arsenal of democracy to the persistent racial discrimination that sparked the 1967 rebellion.

And then there are the long, exhausting decades leading up to the city's 2013 bankruptcy. Was that only five years ago?

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Give Ford some credit for facing hard truths, like the retelling of the 1973 oil crisis that pushed consumers away from American gas guzzlers and toward foreign economy rides. It's probably impolite to note that such institutional memory may have lapsed when Ford decided to phase out most of its cars and focus on trucks and SUVs. But the facts are presented here clearly, without hesitation.

And kudos for the overall sensitive, sophisticated approach that covers topics like the Great Migration of African-Americans from the segregated South, which brought new layers of meaning to train station arrivals. It's one thing to show silent-screen star Gloria Swanson dropping by for a glamorous visit, which the film also does. But the deeper dives into who came here and why is much more rewarding — and explains why the jobs and wages of Detroit turned it into a portal to the American dream.

Local experts like Detroit author and historian Ken Coleman and national ones like Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. bring valuable context to the array of vintage photos and films clips. Celebrities ranging from Tim Allen and Smokey Robinson to executive producer Big Sean bring a pop of excitement to the anecdotes.

But first and foremost, this is a story about Detroit's impact on the heart. It's easy to forget that architecture has a language of hopes and aspirations. Michigan Central Station represented opportunity. That's what made it so cruel when rail traffic diminished from 200 departures a day to about 20 to finally, none in 1988, the year the train station closed for what seemed like forever.

It took a fierce grassroots battle to save the site from a 2009 resolution requesting demolition. In many ways, as History network historian Steve Gillon notes, the station became "a reminder of all that had been lost."

Ford purposely takes a back seat for much of the running time, although it would have behooved the filmmakers to include meaningful representation of General Motors and Chrysler. And near the end, the conceptual depictions of mobility in the future are more suitable for corporate presentations than prime-time programs.

But there is no denying the love evoked by "Detroit: Comeback City," especially through the people who share their feelings about the city — and the stately building that has kept its pride, even as it has peeled and crumbled with neglect.

Photographer Allan Barnes shares how the train station is one of the buildings that drew him to his art form, not to revel in destruction, but to preserve images of dignity against all odds.

Entrepreneur Pashon Murray, who started Detroit Dirt, a composting and waste collection company that wants to change the city's carbon footprint, shares her vision of the Detroit to come. "If the city is going to thrive and be successful, all of us have to be included," she pledges.

As Gillon told the audience after Friday's screening, there have been many so-called renaissances over the past 50 years that never came to full fruition. But now, "there's a sense that this is the real one."

You can't fake such sentiment, not convincingly. "Detroit: Comeback City" hits its stride when it highlights the real deal, a.k.a. the voices of Detroiters.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture writer Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

'Detroit: Comeback City'

9 p.m. Sun.

History