Friday,
August 10 + Saturday, August 11
Personal
Archive: Maysles Films, Inc.
Co-presented
by The Maysles Institute
Organized
by Michael Chaiken, Curator of Film & New Media, Maysles
Institute and Sean Williams, Chief Archivist, Maysles Films.
Program
I - Friday,
August 10, 2007
Plaza
8
dir.
Andy Warhol, 1966, 16mm, 2 mins, color and b/w, silent
This
ad for a line of women’s underwear features Warhol superstar
Mary Woronov as the Plaza 8 Girl. Edited and photographed by
the late Daniel Williams who was Warhol’s lighting designer
for the Exploding Plastic Inevitable multi-media happenings
and editor of Albert and David Maysles’ Showman (1963)
and What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA (1964).
If
It Moves, Shoot It!
dir.
Simon Hartog, 1970, 16mm, 40 mins, color
Simon
Hartog, underground filmmaker, critic and one of the original
founders of the London Filmmaker’s Co-Op, directed this behind
the scenes documentary on the art of filmmaking around several
American-European co-productions in the late sixties. Highlights
include Jean-Pierre Melville, in trademark cowboy hat, giving
a tour of the set of Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Francois
Truffaut directing Jean-Pierre Leaud in Bed and Board
(1970), Pierre Clementi on the set of Franco Borcani’s Necropolis
(1970) and an interview with Robert Bresson.
Beauty
Knows No Pain
dir.
Elliot Erwitt, 1971, 16mm, 25 mins, color
In
the early 1970s, reknowned Magnum photographer, journalist and
illustrator Elliot Erwitt began shooting motion picture. Along
with Barbara Kopple, Bob Elfstrom and George Lucas, Erwitt was
one of several cameramen employed by Maysles Films during the
shooting of Gimme Shelter (1970). The subject of Beauty
Knows No Pain , Erwitt’s debut as director, is the Kilgore
College Rangerettes in Texas—the most famous dancing drill team
in the nation who have been performing at college football half-time
shows since 1940. Cited by Amos Vogel in his book Film As
A Subversive Art (1974) as a “corrosive critique of bourgeois
America”, the film is all that and more—by turns absurd, funny
and frightening—superbly photographed and edited by Erwitt.
Grand
Funk Railroad: Live at Shea Stadium 1971
1971,
16mm, 50 mins, color
1971.
In Uganda, Idi Amin deposes Milton Obote in a coup to become
president. The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1. Grand Funk Railroad
are at the summit of rock superstardom. Selling out Shea Stadium
faster than The Beatles six years prior, this unreleased concert
film shows Don, Mark and Mel in all of their promethean, sweaty,
70’s rockmen glory ripping through GFR classics “Paranoid”,
“Mean Mistreater” and perennial crowd pleaser “I’m Your Captain”.
Produced by the bands legendary manager Terry Knight, photographed
by Albert Maysles and Ricky Leacock and cut by future Grey
Gardens (1976) editor Muffie Meyer, the centerpiece of
Live at Shea Stadium is a show stopping drum solo
that simply has to be seen to be believed.
Program
II
Saturday
, August 11, 2007
Russia/Moscow
1955-57,
16mm, b/w and color, silent
In
the early fifties, Albert Maysles received his M.A. in psychology
from Boston University where he also taught for three years.
Making the transition from psychology to film in the summer
of 1955, Albert was given the extraordinary opportunity to enter
the former Soviet Union to research the general state of mental
health care. With 16mm in hand, traveling cross-country by scooter,
he was given an unprecedented access inside Russian mental hospitals
at the height of the Cold War. Hours of footage have recently
been discovered within Maysles archive documenting this trip
and a subsequent journey into the Soviet Union with his brother
David a year later. These silent excerpts are from new high
definition transfers of the color and black and white material
shot in Russia between the years 1955-1957.
Yanki
No!
dir.
Robert Drew, 1961, 16mm, b/w
Filmed
in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, Yanki, No!
was the second collaboration between Albert Maysles and Robert
Drew Associates. This excerpt follows a Cuban family as they
move their meager belongings from their decrepit family shack
into a brand new home built for them by the Cuban government.
Showman
(Outtakes)
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1963, 16mm, b/w
This
portrait of legendary producer Joseph E. Levine was the first
film released independently by the Maysles Brothers. This unused
sequence was filmed at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 and
features the radiant Natalie Wood.
Carl
Sandburg
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1963, 16mm, b/w
American
poet, novelist and historian Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) reads
an excerpt from his collection Honey and Salt (1963).
Shot in his home in Flat Rock, North Carolina, this short portrait
was intended to be used as an advert to accompany the recent
publication of Honey and Salt. This new transfer was
made from the original camera negative that was found randomly
among boxes containing materials from the Maysles Bros. Showman
(1963).
Anastasia
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1962, 16mm, b/w
When
Maysles Films was incorporated in 1962, one of Albert and David’s
first projects was this portrait of Anastasia Stevens, an American
ballerina in the Bolshoi Ballet, produced by acclaimed screenwriter
Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Shoot the Moon)
for the NBC news program Update.
What’s
Happening! The Beatles in America
dir.Albert
and David Maysles, 1964, 16mm, b/w
Produced
by Granada Television in the UK, this film documents The Beatles
historic first arrival in the United States in February 1964.
Heavily edited by Granada, this excerpt is from Albert and David’s
version of the film.
With
Love From Truman (1966)/Meet Marlon Brando
(1965): Outtakes
dir.Albert
and David Maysles, 16mm, b/w
One
of the major discoveries within the archive has been the enormous
amount of outtake material from Albert and David’s well-known
shorts and features. With Meet Marlon Brando, it was
discovered that the entire original negative exists, complete
and uncut, on their original camera rolls. In the case of With
Love From Truman, originally produced for WNET television,
the negative of the completed film is believed to have been
lost, though hours of unseen outtakes have recently been discovered.
These outtake clips have been transferred from both work print
and negative and highlight some of the best moments left out
of the original two films.
Cut
Piece
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1965, 16mm, b/w, 8 mins
Filmed
at New York's Carnegie Hall, Cut
Piece documents one of
Yoko Ono's most powerful conceptual pieces. Sitting motionless
on the stage, Ono invites the audience to come up and cut away
her clothing in a denouement of the reciprocity between victim
and assailant.
Off
to War
1965,
16mm, b/w, silent
This
footage of young men on their way to basic training was shot
in downtown Providence, RI as part of an unfinished Maysles
Brothers project documenting the mobilization of American troops
to Southeast Asia.
Salvador
Dali’s
Fantastic Dream
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1966, 16mm, b/w
Produced
by 20 th Century Fox, this Maysles Brothers short was intended
to help promote the release of Disney’s Fantastic Voyage
(1966) for which Salvador Dali was artistic consultant.
Shot in and around New York, the film features a cameo by a
bikini clad Raquel Welch, star of Fantastic Voyage
and Dali’s muse for a series of portraits of Hollywood starlets.
Orson
Welles in Spain
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1966, 16mm,
color
Orson
Welles pitches his never realized film about people in Spain
who live for bullfights. In front of an audience of wealthy
arts patrons, Welles pontificates on the state of cinema, the
filmmaking process and the art of bullfighting.
MGM
Press Junket
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1966, 16mm, b/w, sound
This
showreel, produced by MGM Studios as a way to help sell upcoming
releases to theatres, was shot in and around London in late
1966. Highlights include footage of Roman Polanski directing
wife Sharon Tate in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
and Tate and Blow Up (1966) star David Hemmings dancing
in a London nightclub.
Mother
1968,
16mm, b/w, sound
Excerpted
from an unfinished Maysles Brothers autobiographical film. This
scene features Albert and David’s mother Ethel accepting the
position of President of the Boston chapter of the National
Jewish Congress.
Gimme
Shelter (Outtakes)
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1969, 16mm, color, sound
Some
30 hours of outtake material exist from Gimme Shelter
(1970) including a number of unseen performances by the Rolling
Stones, Ike and Tina Turner and B.B. King at Madison Square
Garden on November 27th and 28th. This unused version of “Sympathy
For the Devil” is from the evening performance of November 28th.
McGovern
1972,
16mm, color, sound
Featuring
Paul Newman, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Goldie
Hawn, Dennis Weaver, Dustin Hoffman and others, this is a behind-the-scenes
look at a George McGovern rally at Madison Square Garden. After
making his speech, McGovern is hustled off to his car, driving
away with his lapel microphone still recording. Candid comments
are heard until his car is out of range.
Muhammad
Ali in Zaire
1974,
16mm, color
In
1974, Albert was one of a number of cameramen covering the “Rumble
in the Jungle” heavyweight championship boxing match in Zaire
between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Famously documented
in Leon Gast’s When We Were Kings (1997), much of the
footage Albert shot has gone previously unseen. This short excerpt
has Albert going toe to toe with Ali.
Grey
Gardens
(Outtakes)
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 1976, 16mm, color
In
2006, as an added bonus to the Criterion DVD re-release of the
original Grey Gardens, a new feature
derived entirely from outtakes of the film titled The Beales
of Grey Gardens was released. Presented here
are a few of the outtakes from the outtakes.
Maysles
For Hire
dir.
Albert and David Maysles, 16mm, color and b/w
In
a career spanning a half century, Albert and David have filmed
many of the people and events that shaped our times: John Kennedy
on the campaign trail, Castro’s Cuba in the aftermath of the
revolution, The Beatles’ arrival in America, Truman Capote at
the height of his literary fame, The Rolling Stones at Altamont.
Not as celebrated has been their work with Kermit the Frog and
for Purina Dog Chow. Like many independent filmmakers, Albert
and David have worked for years in the commercial industry as
a way to help finance their personal projects. Presented here
are a few of The Maysles Bros. best commercials including a
beautiful advert for Air France that transcends the limitations
of a 30 second television spot and holds up as a short film
in its own right.
In
Transit
dir.
Albert Maysles, 16mm, color
An
excerpt from Albert’s work in progress In Transit
documenting his chance encounters on board long distance trains.
Filmed in six countries around the world.
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