List of avant-garde films of the 1940s

A list of avant-garde and experimental films released in the 1940s.

TitleDirectorCastNationNotes
1941
Moods of the SeaSlavko Vorkapić, John HoffmanUnited StatesBlack & white, sound (Felix Mendelssohn: The Hebrides (overture)[1]
Who Has Been Rocking My Dream BoatKenneth AngerUnited StatesLost film.[2]
1942
By Night with Torch and Spear Joseph Cornell United States
Lambeth Walk - Nazi StyleCharles A. RidleyUnited KingdomBritish propaganda short, which "remixes" marching Nazis to a pop song.[3]
Tinsel TreeKenneth AngerUnited StatesLost film[4]
1943
The Geography of the BodyWillard MaasWillard Maas, Marie MenkenUnited StatesFilm poem, text written and read by George Barker (poet)[5][6]
Meshes of the AfternoonMaya Deren, Alexander HammidMaya Deren, Alexander HammidUnited StatesBlack & white; sound by composer Teiji Ito added in 1959. Established the movement known as "New American Cinema."[7][8]
The Witch's CradleMaya Deren, Marcel DuchampMarcel Duchamp, Pajarito MattaUnited StatesBlack & white; silent. Never finished; survives as workprint or gathering of trims.[9][10]
1944
At LandMaya DerenMaya Deren, Alexander Hammid, Parker Tyler, John CageUnited States[11]
1945
The Eye and the Ear Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson United Kingdom
Le Vampire Jean Painlevé France
Out-Takes From a Study in Choreography for CameraMaya DerenTalley BeattyUnited States[12]
A Study in Choreography for CameraMaya DerenTalley BeattyUnited States[13]
Visual Variations on NoguchiMarie MenkenUnited States[14]
1946
The Potted PsalmSidney Peterson, James BroughtonBeatrix Perry, Harry HonigUnited StatesLive action surrealist short.[15]
Ritual in Transfigured TimeMaya DerenMaya Deren, Rita Christiani, Frank Westbrook, Anaïs NinUnited States[16]
1947
The CageSidney PetersonUnited States
Dreams That Money Can BuyHans RichterMax ErnstUnited States[17]
FireworksKenneth AngerKenneth Anger, Bill Seltzer, Gordon GrayUnited States[18]
Forest MurmursSlavko Vorkapić, John HoffmanUnited StatesBlack & white, sound; made for MGM, but withheld from release. Jacobs dates it to 1941; most other sources give 1947.[19]
Lady in the LakeRobert MontgomeryRobert Montgomery, Audrey TotterUnited States[20]
Motion Painting No. 1Oskar FischingerUnited States[21]
Private Life of a Cat Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid United States
Le Tempestaire Jean Epstein France
TransmutationJordan BelsonUnited StatesBelson's first film, shown at Art in Cinema screenings in San Francisco in the early '50s; lost film.[22]
1948
Meditation on ViolenceMaya DerenChao Li ChiUnited States[23]
The Petrified DogSidney PetersonGail Randall, Marie Hirsh, Jo LandorUnited States[24][25]
Weegee's New YorkWeegeeUnited States[26][27]
1949
Christmas, U.S.A.Gregory MarkopoulosUnited States
The Lead ShoesSidney PetersonUnited States
MedusaMaya DerenUnited States[28]
Pacific 231Jean MitryFrance[29]
Puce MomentKenneth AngerUnited States[30]

Notes

  1. Horak, Jan Christopher (1995). Lovers of Cinema: The First American Film Avant-Garde, 1919-1945. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-299-14680-4.
  2. Sitney, P. Adams (2002). Visionary Film: The American Avant Garde 1943-2000 third edition. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-19-514885-1.
  3. Public Domain Review, "Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style"
  4. Lewis, David. "Tinsel Tree". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  5. P. Adams Sitney, "Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943–2000. Oxford University Press, 2002 pg. 75
  6. Lewis, David. "Geography of the Body". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  7. MOMA Object Page
  8. Lux Entry
  9. Dangerous Minds: ‘The Witch’s Cradle’: Watch Maya Deren and Marcel Duchamp’s stunning occult short
  10. Charney, Leo. "Meshes of the Afternoon". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  11. Lewis, David. "At Land". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  12. Lewis, David. "A Study in Choreography for Camera". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  13. Lewis, David. "A Study in Choreography for Camera". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  14. Lewis, David. "Visual Variations on Noguchi". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  15. MUBI entry
  16. Lewis, David. "Ritual in Transfigured Time". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  17. Erickson, Hal. "Dreams That Money Can Buy". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  18. Crow, Jonathan. "Fireworks". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  19. Lewis Jacobs, "Experimental Cinema in America II," Hollywood Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, Spring 1948, reprinted in Smoodin, Eric Loren; Martin, Ann (2002). Hollywood Quarterly: Film Culture in Postwar America, 1945-1957. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 43. ISBN 0-520-23274-7.
  20. Jake Hinkson -- Through the Camera's Eye: Experiments with Subjective Camera in Film Noir
  21. "Motion Painting No. 1". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  22. Experimental Cinema -- Jordan Belson
  23. "Meditation on Violence". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  24. The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre review
  25. The Sound of Eye: The Petrified Dog
  26. Visionary Film: Weegee
  27. ICP: Weegee's New York
  28. Lewis, David. "Medusa". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  29. "Pacific 231". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  30. Lewis, David. "Puce Moment". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
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