Flanked by the Hollywood storytelling machine to the West, and the legacy of art cinema and cinema-verite documentary to the East, film production in the Chicago metropolis has historically been relegated to the realm of the industrial, commercial, and educational film. In collaboration with the exhibition ‘The Big Picture: A New View of Painting in Chicago’ at the Chicago History Museum, these programs explore the connections between these traditions of industrial production and the under-valued amateur and artistic cinematic output of filmmakers working in Chicago and the Midwest.
These programs are a co-presentation of the Chicago Film Archives, the Chicago History Museum, and the Gene Siskel Film Center. Programming and notes by Michelle Puetz and Andy Uhrich of the Chicago Film Archives.
Program Schedule:
Saturday, November 3 at 3:00pm, Tuesday, November 6 at 6:00pm
Cityscape As Landscape: The City As An Ever Variable Constant
Cityscape As Landscape presents the ever-changing Chicago skyline as a backdrop for various cinematic interpretations of urban life. Mid-century films such as Wayne Boyer’s The Building: Chicago Stock Exchange (1975), Jack Behrend’s time-lapse footage of the construction of the Equitable building (1964), James Benning’s Chicago Loop (1976), and Kenji Kanesaka’s Super Up (1966), provide complex portraits of Chicago as rapidly changing
industrial city. Approx running time 75 minutes. (Puetz/Uhrich)
Chicago Loop, James Benning, 1976, 9m
13 Tokens, A Challenge, Central Cinematographers, 1967, 15m
The Building: Chicago Stock Exchange, Wayne Boyer, 1975, 12m
Chicago Breakdown, Gary Brown, 1970’s, 14m
Super Up, Kenji Kanesaka, 1966, 14m
Equitable Building – Time Lapse Footage, Jack Behrends, 1964, 4m
Caille Family Home Movies – “Riverview”, Caille Family from the collection of
Dave Drazin, 1932-43, 7m
Saturday, November 10 at 3:00pm, Tuesday, November 13 at 6:00pm
Domestic Portraiture
This program illustrates the manner in which cinematic conventions are embedded in amateur film production, as well as the various ways in which non-professional films challenge the candy-coated portraits of domestic life presented by Hollywood and television. The home becomes a battleground of sorts in Margaret Conneely’s wonderful illustration of a group of fed-up housewives’ revenge on their husbands in Mister E (1959), while in Peter Kuttner’s Mary Had a Little Lamb (1966), a young African American couple’s budding romance is the front line in the struggle between the sacred and the secular. Approx running time 77 minutes. (Puetz/Uhrich)
Mr. E, Margaret Conneely, 1959, 12m
The 45, Margaret Conneely, 1960, 14m
Mary Had a Little Lamb, 1966, 8m
The Dedication of Temple Sholom, Abraham and Edward Weiss, 1928, 10m
Ricky and Rocky, Tom Palazzolo and Jeff Kreines, 1972, 15m
Caille Family Home Movies – “The Brat”, Caille Family from the collection of Dave Drazin, 1932-43, 6m
Dance Party Home Movie, excerpt, from the collection of Nick Osborn,
1950’s, 8m
Double Exposed Baby Home Movie, excerpt, from the collection of
Nick Osborn, 4m
Sunday, November 18 at 5:00pm, Tuesday, November 20 at 8:00pm
Form Becomes Function: The Institute Of Design And The Art In Industry
Founded in 1937, László Moholy-Nagy’s Institute of Design has left a lasting legacy on the industrial and commercial creative output of the city of Chicago. Joining films directed by Moholy-Nagy with the work of his students and associates, this program examines the intersection of art and functionality, inspiration and occupation, and the visionary and the market driven in works that range from pure abstraction to the purely utilitarian. Films screening include László Moholy-Nagy’s Ein Lichtspiel – schwarz weiss grau (1930), Morton and Millie Goldsholl’s Union Pier Film Experiments (1942), and Ken Josephson’s 33rd and LaSalle (1962). Approx running time 72 minutes. (Puetz/Uhrich)
Lichtspiel: Schwarz-Weiss-Grau, László Moholy-Nagy, 1930, 5m
Union Pier 1942 Film Experiments, Morton & Millie Goldsholl, 1942, 14m
Golf High Speed Footage, Jack Behrends, 1960’s, 1.5m
Do Not Disturb, Institute of Design Students under the direction of László
Moholy Nagy, 1945, 20m excerpt
Design Workshop, László Moholy-Nagy, 1944, 15m excerpt
33rd and Lasalle, Ken Josephson, 1962, 10m
Drop City, Wayne Boyer, 1968, 6m
Sunday, November 25 at 3:00pm, Tuesday, November 27 at 8:15pm
An Accidental Avant-garde
This final program emphasizes Chicago’s unique contribution to art cinema and the filmic avant-garde. While most of these films can be categorized as experimental in form, they were produced by filmmakers who made a living by making films ranging from commercials and educational films to soft-core pornography. Films screening will include an unusual selection of regional home movies, Red Grooms’ Tappy Toes (1969), a comic-musical depiction of the late-60’s art group the “Hairy-Who” starring Ed Paschke, and Don Klugman’s Nightsong (1965), a portrait of Chicago’s Near-North nightclub scene which features legendary African-American folk singer Willie Wright. Approximate running time 77 minutes. (Puetz/Uhrich)
Tappy Toes, Red Grooms, 1969, 19m
Nightsong, Don Klugman, 1965, 22m
The Saga of the First and Last, Margaret Conneely, 1954, 4m
Babbit Blast, Jack Behrends, 1961, 12m
Night Driving, Morton & Millie Goldsholl, 1957, 9m
Lunar and Solar Eclipse Home Movies, from the collection of Nick Osborn,
1960’s, 6m
Caille Family Home Movies – “Let’s Make a Picture!”, Caille Family from the
collection of Dave Drazin, 1932-43, 5m