By the time Clarke made a biopic on Robert Frost for public television, he was a long-celebrated American institution. Though featuring him accepting the Congressional Gold Medal from President Kennedy at the White House, Clarke lingers on the 88-year-old poet busily ambling about his house and property in Vermont and intersperses this with relaxed talks to students at Sarah Lawrence and Amherst Colleges. Jokingly acknowledging his film crew at times, Frost appears comfortable and amused with his place in the sun. Relatively conventional with a verité cognizance, Clarke’s stroll “above ground” earned her the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 1963. – BG