Below is a list of significant events and films in underground film history between the years 1950 and 1959. Reference key of sources appears at the bottom of the page.
1950
MAJOR EVENTS
Andy Warhol graduates from the Carnegie Institute in art.
S.R.
Kenneth Anger moves to Paris.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
FRANCE
Jean Cocteau
Orphée
D.C.
Jean Genet
Un Chant d’Amour
J.S.
S.M. lists as 1952
U.S.
Rudy Burckhardt
Mounting Tension
starring Larry Rivers
S.R.
James Davis
Color and Light No. 1
S.R.
Charles Eames
Blacktop
S.R.
Parade
S.R.
Ian Hugo
Ai-Ye
S.R.
S.M. lists as 1951
Swain
P.A.S.
S.R. lists as 1951
Robert C. Freeman Jr. chose locations and mechanically operated the camera
1951
MAJOR EVENTS
Amos Vogel publishes his first brochure of “20 Experimental/Rental Films, from Cinema 16.”
S.M.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Le Jeune Homme et La Mort
short film of Cocteau’s ballet made in hopes of raising money for a feature-length version — not enough funds were raised
P.A.S.
S.R. lists as 1953 and says only B&W version exists
Four in the Afternoon
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Loony Tom
S.R.
D.C. lists as Loony Tom the Happy Lover
James Davis
Reflections No. 11
S.R.
Refractions No. 1
S.R.
Chester Kessler
Plague Summer
S.R.
Philip Leff
Symphony
S.R.
Flowers of Asphalt (aka Xmas USA 1949; Jackdaw; Father’s Day)
S.R.
P.A.S. just gives title Flowers of Asphalt
Roger Bruce Rogers
Rhapsody Motion Painting III
S.R.
John Whitney
Celery Stalks at Midnight (B&W)
S.R.
1952
MAJOR EVENTS
Robert Breer starts filming while living in Paris.
S.R.
Stan Vanderbeek goes to Black Mountain School of Art, not to study, but to tend to the school farm and work on painting and calligraphy.
S.R.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
ENGLAND
Len Lye
Colour Cry
S.R.
D.C.
FRANCE
Dimitri Kirsanov
Arrière Saison
S.R.
U.S.
Jordan Belson
Mambo
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as 1951
Caravan
S.R.
P.A.S.
Richard S. Brummer
The Drum
S.R.
First Fear
S.R.
James Davis
Color Dances No. 1
S.R.
Wheaton Gelentine
Water Stars
S.R.
Curtis Harrington
Dangerous Houses
S.R.
D.C.
Hy Hirsch
Divertissement Rococo
S.R.
Ian Hugo
Bells of Atlantis
starring Anais Nin; technical assist from Len Lye; electronic sound by Louis and Bebe Barron; inspired by Nin’s poem “House of Incest”
Venice Etude No. 1
S.R.
Weldon Kees
Hotel Apex
S.R.
Frank Stauffacher
Notes on the Port of St. Francis
S.R.
S.M.
1953
MAJOR EVENTS
Jan 6 — April 21: The School Of The Museum Of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston holds a series of avant-garde film screenings, including films by Fernand Leger, Jean Cocteau, James Davis and more. View program here.
Oct. 28: Willard Maas, Maya Deren, Parker Tyler, Arthur Miller and Dylan Thomas gather at Cinema 16 to discuss applying poetic styles to filmmaking.
P.A.S.
Jonas Mekas, Christopher MacLaine and Stan Brakhage finish their first films.
S.R.
Christopher MacLaine’s The End signifies the end of a highly productive time of underground filmmaking in San Francisco that began with 1946’s The Potted Psalm.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
ENGLAND
Len Lye
Rhythm
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
U.S.
Jordan Belson
Bop Scotch (1952-53)
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as just 1953
Mandala (1952-53)
S.R.
D.C. lists as just 1952
P.A.S. lists as just 1953
Rudy Burckhardt
The Automotive Story
S.R.
James Davis
Analogies No. 1
S.R.
Morris Engel
The Little Fugitive
S.R.
Oskar Fischinger
Muntz TV
D.C.
Curtis Harrington
The Assignation
S.R.
D.E.J. lists as 1952
Wormwood Star
D.C.
S.R. lists as 1955 and begins title with “The“
D.E.J. lists as 1956 and also begins title with “The“
Christopher MacLaine
The End
S.R.
P.A.S.
Patricia Marx
Obmaru
S.R.
Things to Come
S.R.
Robert Vickrey
Texture of Decay (1947-53)
S.R.
Oedipus (1950-53)
S.R.
Appointment With Darkness (1950-53)
S.R.
Carnival (1950-53)
S.R.
1954
MAJOR EVENTS
Larry Jordan, the Kuchar brothers, Carmen D’Avino and Stan Vanderbeek finish their first films.
S.R.
Kenneth Anger goes back to California to settle a family inheritance.
P.A.S.
D.E.J. says Anger returned to L.A. in 1953 following his mother’s death
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
FRANCE
Dimitri Kirsanov
Mort D’un Cerf
S.R.
U.S.
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954, recut 1966)
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists film as having three versions: this one, a 1958 version and a ’66 version
D.E.J. notes film was shot in 1953 in the bungalow owned by Samson De Brier in the Hollywood Hills
Desistfilm
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
P.A.S. says that Larry Jordan appears in the film; and also has one reference to this being a 1953 film, which may be a typo
The Extraordinary Child
S.R.
Jordan Belson
LSD
D.C.
Form Phases IV
S.R.
Image by Images I
S.R.
P.A.S.
A Miracle
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as Un Miracle
James Davis
Thru the Looking Glass
S.R.
Allen Down
Freight Stop
S.R.
Oskar Fischinger
Oklahoma
D.C.
Wheaton Gelentine
Treadle and Bobbin
S.R.
Ian Hugo
Jazz of Lights
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Morning Game
S.R.
The Child’s Hand
S.R.
1955
MAJOR EVENTS
Bruce Baillie earns a degree in art at the University of Minnesota.
S.R.
Jonas Mekas publishes the first issue of Film Culture. It includes an article by Hans Richter, who taught Jonas and his brother Adolfas at the Film Institute of City College of New York.
P.A.S.
D.C. just says that Mekas “founds” Film Culture.
Kenneth Anger completes a documentary of the erotic paintings of Aleister Crowley, but it is either lost or Anger just refuses to show it.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
AUSTRIA
Peter Kubelka
Mosaik im Vertrauen (1954-55)
P.A.S.
FRANCE
Alexandre Alexeieff
Seve de la Terre
with Clair Parker, his wife
D.C.
U.S.
Thelema Abbey
documentary for BBC
S.R.
P.A.S. claims Anger “lost” a documentary during this year — see above — but it’s unclear if he means Thelema Abbey or another project
In Between
S.R.; D.C.; P.A.S.
The Way to the Shadow Garden
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Reflections on Black
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
The Wonder Ring
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Rudy Burckhardt
Under the Brooklyn Bridge
S.R.
Art Clokey
Gumbasia
S.R.
James Davis
Becoming
S.R.
Evolutions
S.R.
Writ in Water
S.R.
Charles Eames
House
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Romantic Adventure of Edward (1955, recut 1957, 1965)
S.R.
Man Is in Pain
S.R.
P.A.S.
Willard Maas
The Mechanics of Love
with Ben Moore
S.R.
D.C.
Norman McLaren
Blinkety Blank
D.C.
James Whitney
Yantra
S.R.
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1950-57
Christopher Young
Subject Lesson (1953-55)
S.R.
1956
MAJOR EVENTS
Ken Jacobs and Jack Smith finish their first films.
S.R.
Cinema 16 hosts the New York premiere of Kenneth Anger‘s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.
P.A.S.
Stan Brakhage, age 23, comes to Hollywood in the fall, hoping to work on Charles Laughton’s The Naked and the Dead, except that Laughton by then was off the project. Instead, he ended up taking odd jobs at commercial filmmaking houses. He also met Sidney Peterson, Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington.
D.E.J.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Zone Moment
S.R.
Night Cats
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
D.E.J.
Flesh of the Morning
D.C.
S.R. lists as 1956-57
P.A.S. & D.E.J. call film Flesh of Morning
Rudy Burckhardt
What Mozart Saw on Mulberry Street
S.R.
Morris Engel
Lovers and Lollipops
S.R.
Weddings and Babies
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Trumpit (1955-56)
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as just 1956
3 (1955-56)
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as just 1956
Undertow
(S.R.)
Willard Maas
Narcissus
starring Ben Moore
P.A.S. also lists film as 1958
Robert Vickrey
Miracle for Sale Cheap
S.R.
James Whitney
Lapis (1953-56)
D.C.
S.R. lists as 1963-66
1957
MAJOR EVENTS
October 11: Raymond Rohauer is arrested in Los Angeles for screening “obscene” films. The films are Kenneth Anger‘s Fireworks and John E. Schmitz’s The Voices.
Vortex Concerts, curated by Henry Jacobs, begin at the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The concerts ran until 1959 and included footage by James Whitney, Jordan Belson and Hy Hirsch.
S.R.
D.C. claims Jordan Belson made films for the concert series 1957-60
Marie Menken returns to film.
S.R.
Joseph Marzano and George Manupelli begin their film careers.
S.R.
Bob Pike founds the Creative Film Society in Los Angeles to help underground filmmakers share their ideas and equipment; and to distribute their films.
S.M.
D.C. also lists founding members as Wallace Berman, Curtis Harrington, John and James Whitney, Ray and Charles Eames and Oskar Fischinger
Although Film Culture was originally hostile to the experimental film scene, the November issue devotes half of its pages to presenting “The Experimental Scene” in a positive light.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
AUSTRIA
Peter Kubelka
Adebar
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1956-57
GERMANY
Werner Nekes
Gurtrug 1
D.C.
Gurtrug 2
D.C.
U.S.
Daybreak and Whiteye
P.A.S.
S.R. calls film just Whiteye
Loving
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1956
S.R. lists as 1957-58
Jamestown Baloos
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
A Man and His Dog Out for Air
S.R.
P.A.S.
Par Avion
S.R.
P.A.S.
Recreation I (1956-57)
S.R.
P.A.S.
D.C. lists just as 1956 and as Recreation
Recreation II (1956-57)
S.R.
Rudy Burckhardt
Eastside Summer
S.R.
John Cassavetes
Shadows
S.R.
A Moment in Love
S.R.
D.C. doesn’t include “A” in the title and does include credit “with Anna Sokolow”
Jane Conger
Logos
S.R.
James Davis
Energies
S.R.
Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice: TV Plug: Little Cobra Dance
starring Jack Smith
S.R.
J.S. gives titles as Little Cobra Dance: Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice
Star Spangled to Death (1957– )
unfinished
starring Jack Smith
S.R.
Charles Eames
Toccata for Toy Trains
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Water Light
S.R.
Hans Richter
Dadascope 1 and 2
D.C.
8×8 (1952-7)
involving Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp and Jean Cocteau
D.C.
S.R. lists film as just 1957 and only mentions Richter
Lionel Rogosin
On the Bowery
S.R.
Francis Thompson
N.Y., N.Y.
S.R.
D.C.
Robert Vickrey
Ellen in Window Land (1956-57)
S.R.
Playground
S.R.
John Whitney
Celery Stalks at Midnight
Color
S.R.
Multiscreen collaboration with Charles Eames for a Moscow exhibition
1958
MAJOR EVENTS
February 20: Raymond Rohauer is found guilty in a jury trial in Los Angeles for screening “obscene” films. The films are Kenneth Anger‘s Fireworks and John E. Schmitz’s The Voices.
November 12: The Village Voice publishes Jonas Mekas‘s first “Movie Journal” column.
J.M.
P.A.S. just says that Mekas became the film critic of the Village Voice.
Article
The fifth Vortex Concert is held at the Brussels World’s Fair.
S.R.
Robert Branaman, Bruce Conner and Richard Preston begin film careers.
S.R.
Brussels Experimental Film Festival is held. “When the awards were given out, the Americans were well represented, by people like [Stan] Brakhage, Hirsch, Kenneth Anger, Hilary Harris, and Len Lye.”
S.R.
P.A.S. notes this was the 2nd edition of the festival
Kenneth Anger screens 2nd version of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954, recut 1966) at Brussels Experimental Film Festival.
S.R.
P.A.S. adds that film has a three-screen synchronous projection for the finale.) (D.E.J. also notes the three-screen film wins the Prix de l’Age d’or.
At the international experimental film competition in Brussels, Len Lye won 2nd Prize ($5,000) for Free Radicals.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
AUSTRIA
Peter Kubelka
Schwechater
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1957-58
ENGLAND
Len Lye
Free Radicals
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
U.S.
Jordan Belson
Flight
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Hy Hirsch
Gyromorphosis
S.R.
Ian Hugo
Melodic Inversion
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Tryptych
S.R.
John Whitney
Opening title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo
in association with Saul Bass
D.C.
1959
MAJOR EVENTS
February 27: Raymond Rohauer has his obscenity conviction reversed by a Superior Court in Los Angeles. He had been convicted of screening films with homosexual content and a naked woman. The films were Kenneth Anger‘s Fireworks and John E. Schmitz’s The Voices.
Late February: Maya Deren premieres The Very Eye of Night at a retrospective of her work at The Living Theatre. There were then two command performances at the Cherry Lane.
J.M.
May 5: Jonas Mekas meets Ron Rice for the first time. Rice is anxious to start making movies.
Mid November: Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie’s Pull My Daisy premieres at the Cinema 16 screening series in NYC.
J.M.
Film Culture (Number 19, Spring, 1959) prints article “Morning for the Experimental Film” by Lewis Jacobs that reads: “film which for most of its life has led an underground existence.”
S.R.
Film Culture establishes the Independent Film Award.
Bruce Baillie enters the London School of Film Technique.
S.R.
Ed Emshwiller finishes first film.
S.R.
During the summer, Maya Deren gives a series of lectures in Woodstock, N.Y.
P.A.S.
Maya Deren has her essay “Amateur versus Professional” published.
D.E.J.
Robert Breer resettles in the U.S. in Palisades, N.Y. after studying art in Paris.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
FRANCE
Jean Cocteau
Le Testament d’Orphée
D.C.
U.S.
Jordan Belson
Raga
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Seance
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Charles Boultenhouse
Hand Written
D.C.
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.M.
Sirius Remembered
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Cat’s Cradle (1958-59)
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as just 1959
Rudy Burckhardt
Millions in Business as Usual
S.R.
Alfred Leslie and Robert Frank
Pull My Daisy
J.M. says film premiered in NYC in November
S.R. gives a year of 1958
Lionel Rogosin
Come Back Africa
S.R.
Number 12 (1943-58)
aka The Magic Feature per Jonas Mekas
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as “approx. 1950-60” and calls film Heaven and Earth Magic
REFERENCE KEY:
D.C: David Curtis. Experimental Cinema. New York: Dell Pub., 1978.
D.E.J.: David E. James. The Most Typical Avant-garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles. Berkeley: University of California, 2005.
J.M.: Jonas Mekas. Movie Journal: The Rise of a New American Cinema, 1959-1971. Collier Books, 1972.
J.S.: Jack Sargeant. Deathtripping: the Extreme Underground. Brooklyn: Soft Skull, 2008. (Originally published: London: Creation, 1995.)
P.A.S.: P. Adams Sitney. Visionary Film: the American Avant-garde, 1943-2000. New York: Oxford UP, 2002.
S.M.: Scott MacDonald. Canyon Cinema: the Life and times of an Independent Film Distributor. Berkeley: University of California, 2008.
S.R.: Sheldon Renan. An Introduction to the American Underground Film. New York: Dutton, 1967.