Gimme Shelter is a 1970 American documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin chronicling the last weeks of the Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert and the killing of Meredith Hunter.

[4] The movement revolves around the philosophy of being a "reactive" filmmaker, recording events as they unfold naturally and spontaneously rather than investigating the subject matter through documentary techniques such as interviews, reconstruction and voiceover.

The Rolling Stones in Concert, as well as Charlie Watts and a donkey filmed on the M6 motorway near Birmingham, England during a photography session for the album cover.

The Maysles brothers were selected by tour manager Ronnie Schneider (nephew of ABCKO's Allen Klein) on the recommendation of cameraman Haskell Wexler, after DA Pennebaker/Richard Leacock (Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back), then Robert Downey Sr were approached but found to be unavailable.

The original agreement was for 30-45 minutes of footage for a possible TV special that evolved as the band agreed to appear at a festival in West Palm Beach on the 30th.

The movie also includes a playback of Hells Angels leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger's famous call-in to radio station KSAN's "day after" program about the concert, wherein he recalls, "They told me if I could sit on the edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over."

At one point, Jefferson Airplane lead male singer Marty Balin is knocked out by a Hells Angel; Paul Kantner attempts to confront "the people who hit my lead singer" in response, announcing: "Hey, man, I'd like to mention that the Hells Angels just smashed Marty Balin in the face, and knocked him out for a bit.

Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh arrive, but the Grateful Dead opt not to play after learning of the incident with Balin from Santana drummer Michael Shrieve.

Somewhat unfairly, Gimme Shelter shows the Stones more as instigators than as commentators: Jagger's characteristic strutting at Madison Square Garden, his elbows flapping like the wings of a chicken, seems unfortunately to preface his curious costume at Altamont – the finery of a court jester whose jokes have started going too far.

The balance is only partially restored by the Maysles' own footage of Jagger and Charlie Watts staring through hooded eyes at the screen of the editing bench, squirming with the rest of us.

The website's critical consensus reads "Equal parts essential and chilling, Gimme Shelter provides a spine-tingling look at how the Rolling Stones' music paralleled the end of the counterculture movement."