She knew Bob Marley when he lived in Wilmington. Here's what she thinks of 'One Love' film

Early in the new Paramount Pictures film "Bob Marley: One Love," Marley is shown delivering the first of several Delaware mentions in the biopic ― with a thick Jamaican accent, of course.

At a Philadelphia preview screening of the film Monday night, a smile crawled across the face of Genoveva "Genny” Pitts at the shout-out.

For the past 30 years, she has helped run the annual Wilmington Peoples Festival in honor of Marley, who lived in the city (along with his mother, Cedella Booker) off and on from the mid-'60s to the late '70s.

In fact, the festival was born when Booker made a surprise announcement at a party, putting Pitts and her late husband, Ibis, in charge of the effort.

In addition to the First State references, the film, released in theaters Valentine's Day, also features a scene showing Marley's wife, Rita, in Wilmington speaking to her husband on the phone while their children play in their snowy backyard at 23rd and Tatnall streets.

Wilmington native and film co-writer Zach Baylin told Delaware Online/The News Journal earlier this month that he made sure there were references to his home state in the film, even if in passing.

For Pitts, who is hosting a sold-out red carpet VIP premiere event of the film in Wilmington on Wednesday, it was an important gesture.

"I'm glad Delaware was pointed out," she said after seeing the film. "It's also part of the Peoples Festival mission, which was to make sure his time here in Delaware remains relevant when they tell the story of Bob because it could easily have been forgotten."

Marley performance scenes shine

"Bob Marley: One Love" focuses heavily on only a short time of Marley's life, albeit a busy period covering 1976 to 1978.

It opens with the 1976 failed assassination attempt when a gunman shot Marley, wife Rita and manager Don Taylor in Marley's home in Jamaica. It then shows his decision to leave Jamaica for London, the recording of the legendary "Exodus" album and his eventual return to his homeland before his death.

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Flashbacks show short scenes from Marley's childhood, mostly tracking the love story of Bob and Rita, who is now 77 and living in Florida.

In what may not come as a surprise, the music and performance scenes in "Bob Marley: One Love" deliver the film's most shining moments.

They include a teenage Marley performing the 1965 high-tempo Wailing Wailers ska song "Simmer Down" in the studio and the emotional rendition of "War" to 80,000 people at the "Smile Jamaica" concert only two days after he was shot, showing the crowd his wounds.

Thankfully, original Marley recordings are used featuring his distinctive voice instead of having the actor who plays him, Kingsley Ben-Adir, attempt to re-create the magical sound. Marely's son Stephen serves as music supervisor for the film. He and other members of the family, including Rita and Ziggy Marley, also serve as producers.

The performance scenes from "Smile Jamaica" and his return to Jamaica for 1978's "One Love Peace" unity show showed the celebratory nature of his concerts, bringing back a flood of memories for Pitts.

She first met Marley when she and Ibis were living in Santa Monica, California, attending several nights of Marley's 1975 residency at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, watching his sets from the side of the stage.

She was 23 at the time and had never heard of Marley. But the moment she met him backstage and heard him speak, she was transfixed.

"I had to practically bow to him. His spirit was so different," she said. "My heart left my body. When he spoke, I could feel his power penetrate my system. He vibrated. He was speaking to my soul."

She would go on to see him several more times in Philadelphia when he came back to our region, driving up with his family and hanging out backstage. They were to see him at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia on September 26, 1980, but he canceled the rest of his tour following his show in Pittsburgh only three days prior due to illness.

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That would turn out to be his final performance. He died of melanoma on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36.

Pitts said the film's concert scenes showing the joyful faces in the crowd as they were mesmerized by Marley and his music reminded her of what she saw from the stage at those Roxy shows and later in Philadelphia.

"It was like a revival. His shows lifted you right up off the ground. It just carried you. You were floating," said Pitts, who lived with Marley and his mother for several months when she and her husband moved to Wilmington in 1976.

Ibis Pitts had already lived in Wilmington previously. That is how he first met Rita ― as she shopped in his Afrocentric shop at 24th and Market streets around 1968 ― leading to his friendship with Bob starting around 1968 when the performer was only 23 and largely unknown.

While living in Delaware with the Marleys, Genny Pitts would try to convince Rita Marley and singer Judy Mowatt to add her as a background singer for Bob's tour: "I always begged them: 'Look, girls, I know the steps! I practice all the time!' It was a lot of fun."

'They will remember Bob forever'

While Pitts was pleasantly surprised by "Bob Marley: One Love" after hearing some initial negative commentary, she stressed it depicted only a small fragment of his life. She was especially surprised that only passing glimpses of his mother were included.

"They were so close. She was his anchor," she said.

Early reviews of the film have not been kind, clocking in with a 40% rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

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"Too often, 'One Love' feels like the downbeat, neurotic middle act of a conventional biopic — the hero lost in his identity crisis, hemmed in by fame — stretched out to feature length. The film tells you a lot about Bob Marley, yet it never quite figures out what his journey is," wrote Variety critic Owen Gleiberman.

The A.V. Club's Murtada Elfadl snapped, "[Director Reinaldo Marcus Green] and his collaborators in 'Bob Marley: One Love" make all the wrong choices, ending up with a lifeless biopic that never manages to tell its audience why Bob Marley became a legend nor how he still matters to millions of people to this day."

And the Associated Press' Jake Coyle wrote, "When footage of the real Marley inevitably plays over the credits, it’s a painful comparison to the ruminative but inert movie that played before it."

Even if it isn't a critic's darling, Pitts is happy Marley is getting the full Hollywood treatment nearly 43 years after his death, exposing his music and life story to younger generations.

"I was thinking of that during the movie: 'Look at Bob.' This is going to expose him and his message to millions of new people who will listen to his music," she said. "He's stronger now than ever. They will remember Bob forever."

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Memories resurface after preview screening of 'Bob Marley: One Love'