Art in Cinema: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society

321 Pages·2006·16.82 MB·English

by  Art in Cinema Society

Art in Cinema
In the series
Wide Angle Books
edited by Erik Barnouw, Ruth Bradley, Scott MacDonald,
and Patricia Zimmermann
Scott MacDonald, Cinema 16: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society
David E. James, ed., The Sons and Daughters of Los: Culture and Community in L.A.
David E. James, ed., Stan Brakhage: Filmmaker
Kate Horsfield and Lucas Hilderbrand, Feedback: The Video Data Bank Catalog
of Video Art and Artist Interviews
Art in Cinema
Documents Toward a
History of the Film Society
Final Selection, Editing, and
Introduction by Scott MacDonald
Original Idea and Selection of Materials
by Robert A. Haller
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia
Temple University Press
1601 North Broad Street
Philadelphia PA 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2006 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992
Title page photo: Frank Stauffacher in his studio on Montgomery Street, during
the editing of Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1952). Photographer unknown;
courtesy Jack Stauffacher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Art in Cinema : documents toward a history of the film society / [edited by]
Scott MacDonald.
p. cm. — (Wide angle books)
Includes numerous letters to and from Frank Stauffacher, director of the film
series, Art in cinema.
Includes a facsimile of Art in cinema, published 1947 by the Art in Cinema
Society.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59213-425-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Art in Cinema Society—History—Sources. 2. Art in Cinema Society—
History. 3. Stauffacher, Frank, 1916—Correspondence. I. MacDonald, Scott,
1942– . II. Stauffacher, Frank, 1916– . Correspondence. Selections. III. Art
in Cinema Society. Art in cinema. IV. Series.
PN1993.A735 2006
791.43'06'07946—dc22 2005048581
Temple University Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the
Temple University School of Communications and Theater in
underwriting the publication of this book.
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Contents
List of Illustrations x
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction 1
The Documents
Conversation with Jack Stauffacher, 8/14/99 13
Letter to Arthur Rosenheimer Jr. from Richard Foster, 7/31/46 16
Letter to Lewis Jacobs from Frank Stauffacher, 8/1/46 20
Letter to Maya Deren from Frank Stauffacher, 8/2/46 21
Letter to Richard Foster from Maya Deren, 8/2/46 22
Letter to James and John Whitney from Frank Stauffacher, 8/3/46 24
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Maya Deren, 8/10/46 25
Letter to Arthur Rosenheimer Jr. from Frank Stauffacher, 8/20/46 27
Letter to Maya Deren from Frank Stauffacher, 8/20/46 28
Letter to Luis Buñuel from Frank Stauffacher, 8/22/46 29
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Douglass Crockwell, 8/24/46 30
Letter to Jay Leyda from Frank Stauffacher, 8/25/46 31
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Douglass Crockwell, 8/31/46 32
Letter to Peggy Guggenheim from Grace L. McCann Morley, 8/31/46 32
Letter to Man Ray from Frank Stauffacher, 9/5/46 33
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Hans Richter, 9/6/46 34
Letter to Hans Richter from Frank Stauffacher, 9/9/46 35
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s First Series, 9/46 37
Letter to James and John Whitney from Frank Stauffacher, 9/22/46 39
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 9/24/46 40
Letter to Mrs. Noble Hamilton from Edward J. Soph, 9/26/46 40
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 9/26/46 41
Letter to Edward J. Soph from Mrs. Noble Hamilton, 9/28/46 42
Alfred Frankenstein, “Art and Music,” from the San Francisco Chronicle, 10/6/46 42
Letter to Richard Foster from Sara Kathryn Arledge, 10/9/46 45
Program Notes for the 10/11/46 Presentation 45
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Grace L. McCann Morley, 10/22/46 47
Letter to Richard Foster from Margaret Wright and Una Atkinson, 10/24/46 48
Program Notes for the 10/25/46 Presentation 49
Letter to Mrs. Noble Hamilton from Paul Ballard, 10/30/46 50
Program Notes for the 11/1/46 Presentation 51
Letter to Herman G. Weinberg from Frank Stauffacher, 11/8/46 54
vi Contents
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Hans Richter, 11/9/46 55
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Lewis Jacobs, 11/12/46 56
Letter to Paul Ballard from Frank Stauffacher, 11/46 57
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Robert Florey, 2/47 [?] 58
Letter to James W. Moore from Frank Stauffacher, 2/6/47 59
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James W. Moore, 2/7/47 60
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James W. Moore, 2/28/47 61
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Eli Willis, 3/7/47 62
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Second Series, 3/47 64
Program Announcement for the First University of California at Berkeley Series 65
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Emlen Etting, 3/26/47 67
Letter to James W. Moore from Frank Stauffacher, 3/27/47 67
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James W. Moore, 3/31/47 68
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Curtis Harrington, 4/3/47 69
Program Notes for the 4/4/47 Presentation 70
Letter to Curtis Harrington from Frank Stauffacher, 4/28/47 72
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Kenneth Anger, 4/29/47 73
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Curtis Harrington, 5/6/47 75
Facsimile of Art in Cinema Catalogue (published late 5/47) 75
Grace L. McCann Morley, “Foreword” 77
Richard Foster and Frank Stauffacher, “Introductory Notes” 78
Henry Miller, “Introduction” 80
Hans Richter, “A History of the Avantgarde” 82
Elie Faure, “The Art of Cineplastics (Excerpts)” 96
Man Ray 99
Luis Buñuel, “Notes on the Making of Un Chien Andalou” 101
John and James Whitney, “Audio Visual Music” 103
Erich Pommer, “The Origin of Dr. Caligari” 107
Oskar Fischinger, “My Statements Are in My Work” 110
Maya Deren, “The Camera As a Creative Medium” 113
George Leite, “The Creative Arts and The Collective Film” 115
“Film Series One Program Notes” 117
“First Program—Some Precursors” 117
“Second Program—The French Avantgarde” 120
“Third Program—Continental Avantgarde” 122
“Fourth Program—Non-objective Form Synchronized with Music” 123
“Fifth Program—The Animated Film as an Art Form” 124
“Sixth Program—Contemporary Experimental Films in America” 126
“Seventh Program—Fantasy into Documentary” 132
“Eighth Program—Experiments in the Fantastic and the Macabre” 133
“Ninth Program—Poetry in Cinema” 134
“Tenth Program—The Surrealists” 147
Paul Velguth, “Notes on the Musical Accompaniment to the Silent Films” 150
Bibliography 155
Contents vii
Letter to Oskar Fischinger from Richard Foster, 6/8/47 159
Letter to Herman G. Weinberg from Frank Stauffacher, 6/21/47 159
Letter to Oskar Fischinger from Harry Smith, 7/25/47 163
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Kenneth Anger, 7/25/47 163
Letter to Kenneth Anger from Harry Smith, 7/28/47 165
Letter to Harry Smith from William Howe, 7/31/47 166
Letter to Harry Smith from Kenneth Anger, 7/31/47 166
Letter to Miss Bullitt from Hans Richter, 8/14/47 167
Letter to Art in Cinema from Amos Vogel, 9/7/47 168
Letter to Amos Vogel from Frank Stauffacher, 9/13/47 169
Letter to Harry Smith from Jim Davis, 9/14/47 169
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Third Series, 9/47 170
Letter to Curtis Harrington from Frank Stauffacher, 9/15/47 172
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Curtis Harrington, 9/24/47 172
Conversation with Jordan Belson, 7/22/00 173
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Elwood Decker, 5/48 175
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Elwood Decker, 6/48 176
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Fourth Series, 8/48 178
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Sidney Peterson, 8/4/48 179
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Maya Deren, 8/8/48 180
James Broughton, “Frank Stauffacher: The Making of Mother’s Day,”
from SPIRAL, No. 1 (1984) 181
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Elwood Decker, 10/3/48 183
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Hans Richter, 10/13/48 183
Letter to Maya Deren from Frank Stauffacher, 1/10/49 184
Letter to Hans Richter from Frank Stauffacher, 1/49 185
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Hans Richter, 1/21/49 186
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Maya Deren, 2/8/49 187
Program Announcement for “Contemporary Experimental
Films of Importance,” 2/49 190
Letter to Hans Richter from Frank Stauffacher, 2/49 191
Letter to Theodore Huff from Frank Stauffacher, 2/49 192
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 3/49 194
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 3/8/49 195
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 3/16/49 195
Letter to Ralph K. Potter from Frank Stauffacher, 3/23/49 195
Letter to Arthur Knight from Frank Stauffacher, 4/2/49 196
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Arthur Knight, 4/16/49 198
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Arthur Knight, 5/30/49 199
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Amos Vogel, 6/7/49 200
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Theodore Huff, 6/20/49 201
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Theodore Huff, 7/16/49 202
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Arthur Knight, 7/17/49 202
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Fifth Series, Fall 1949 203
viii Contents
Letter to Hans Richter from Frank Stauffacher, 10/28/49 206
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Curtis Harrington, 12/1/49 208
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Jim Davis, 2/25/50 208
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Symon Gould, 3/1/50 209
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Jim Davis, 3/21/50 210
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Arthur Knight, 3/30/50 211
Letter to Grace L. McCann Morley from Frank Stauffacher, 4/50 212
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Sixth Series, Spring 1950 214
Letter to Elwood Decker from Frank Stauffacher, 5/17/50 216
Letter to Amos Vogel from Frank Stauffacher, 5/27/50 217
Arthur Knight, “Self-Expression,” Saturday Review, 5/29/50 218
Letter to Elwood Decker from Frank Stauffacher, 6/7/50 221
Letter to Rosalind Kossoff from Frank Stauffacher, 6/14/50 221
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Amos Vogel, 9/4/50 223
Letter to Jim Davis from Frank Stauffacher, 10/4/50 224
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Jim Davis, 10/7/50 225
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Arthur Knight, 10/28/50 226
Letter to Arthur Knight from Frank Stauffacher, 11/1/50 227
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Amos Vogel, 11/28/50 227
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Hilary Harris, 12/1/50 229
Letter to Grace L. McCann Morley from Frank Stauffacher, 1/8/51 230
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Amos Vogel, 1/9/51 230
Letter to Amos Vogel from Frank Stauffacher, 1/13/51 231
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Anne Dubs, with Notes from Maya Deren, 1/30/51 233
Letter to Harold Leonard from Frank Stauffacher, 2/8/51 234
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Seventh Series, Spring 1951 236
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Maya Deren, 3/24/51 239
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from James Broughton, 4/18/51 240
Letter to Vincent Price from Frank Stauffacher, 5/22/51 241
Conversation with Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, 7/18/99 242
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Eighth Series 246
Program Notes for the 11/14/52 Presentation, by Frank Stauffacher 247
Program Notes for the 2/23/53 Presentation, by Frank Stauffacher 248
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Ian Hugo, 7/8/53 249
Letter to Raymond Rohauer from Frank Stauffacher, 8/31/53 250
Letter to Ian Hugo from Barbara Stauffacher, 9/15/53 251
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Ian Hugo, 9/18/53 252
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Ninth Series, Fall 1953 254
Letter to Frank Stauffacher from Ian Hugo, 9/27/53 256
Program Notes for the 10/2/53 Presentation, by Frank Stauffacher 258
Text of Talk by George Stevens Presented at Art in Cinema on 10/2/53 259
Letter to Ian Hugo from Frank Stauffacher, 10/9/53 261
Program Notes for the 10/9/53 Presentation, by Frank Stauffacher 262
Program Notes for the 10/16/53 Presentation, by Frank Stauffacher 264
Contents ix
Letter to Raymond Rohauer from Frank Stauffacher, 11/10/53 265
Letter to Ian Hugo from Frank Stauffacher, 11/10/53 266
Letter to Amos Vogel from Frank Stauffacher, 11/18/53 267
Letter to John Ford from Barbara Stauffacher, 12/17/53 268
Early Description of Art in Cinema’s Tenth and Eleventh Series 269
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Vincent Minnelli, 1/18/54 271
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Willard Van Dyke, 1/25/54 271
Letter to Willard Van Dyke from Barbara Stauffacher, 1/27/54 272
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Fred Zinnemann, 1/29/54 272
Letter to Fred Zinnemann from Frank Stauffacher, 2/1/54 273
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Willard Van Dyke, 2/2/54 274
Letter to Fred Zinnemann from Barbara Stauffacher, 3/18/54 275
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Tenth Series, Spring 1954 277
Letter to Joseph Youngerman from Frank Stauffacher, 4/12/54 278
Luther Nichols, “Dissertations on the Arts of Movie-Making,”
New York Times, 4/25/54 280
Letter to Frank and Barbara Stauffacher from Fred Zinnemann, 5/7/54 281
Letter to Rouben Mamoulian from Frank Stauffacher, 5/12/54 281
Letter to Joseph Youngerman from Frank Stauffacher, 5/20/54 282
Letter to Lou Smith from Barbara Stauffacher, 5/28/54 283
Letter to Frank Capra from Barbara Stauffacher, 5/28/54 284
Letter to Frances H. Flaherty from Barbara Stauffacher, 7/8/54 285
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Frances H. Flaherty, 7/27/54 286
Program Announcement for Art in Cinema’s Eleventh Series, Fall 1954 287
Letter to Francis H. Flaherty from Barbara Stauffacher, 10/18/54 289
Letter to Barbara Stauffacher from Amos Vogel, 8/22/55 290
Index 291