New film explores legacy of Boston’s Cocoanut Grove fire

BOSTON (AP) — Seventy-seven years ago, a fire tore through the swankiest spot in Boston.

Four hundred ninety-two people were killed in the blaze at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub.

A documentary film has now been made about the Nov. 28, 1942, disaster that led to an overhaul and stricter enforcement of building safety codes that exist to this day.

“Six Locked Doors: The Legacy of Cocoanut Grove” has been screened locally several times. Producer Michele Shapiro and director-writer Zachary Graves-Miller are trying to raise money to distribute it more widely.

The nearly 70-minute film features interviews with survivors, archival footage and an examination of the incompetence and corruption that allowed the conditions that led to the tragedy.