Unseen cinema. 2, The devil's playground. Episode 7, The life and death of 9413 : a Hollywood extra [1927] / Cineric, Inc. presents ; conceived and realized by Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Florey, Robert, 1900-1979, director, producer.

Vorkapich, Slavko, director.

Cineric (Firm), presenter.

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

No linguistic content

Subjects (All):

Surrealism in motion pictures.

Experimental films--United States.

Experimental films.

Motion pictures--United States.

Motion pictures.

Genre:

Short films.

Silent films.

Experimental films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (15 minutes)

Other Title:

Devil's playground : American surrealism

Unseen cinema : early American avant-garde film, 1893-1941

Place of Publication:

[United States] : Filmmakers Showcase, [1927]

Language Note:

Silent with musical accompaniment.

System Details:

video file

Summary:

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. Florey and Vorkapich's fictional short features an expressionistic design made almost exclusively with miniature sets and photographed with live actors through mirrors. An elliptical narrative concerns the plight of Hollywood extras at the time much abused by producers. Supposedly made for $97, the film ran commercially in art houses. -JAN-CHRISTOPHER HORAK. Perhaps the most popular experimental film made in the United States prior to Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon", the film has direct ties to German expressionistic and French avant-garde cinema. The filmmakers fabricated much of the atmosphere through clever lighting and cutouts to depict the business of Hollywood. The low-budget production received wide exposure at art cinemas, then in vogue across the country, and it generated much discussion among the public and cinéphiles. -BRUCE POSNER. Serbian-born artist, Slavko Vorkapich settled 1925 in Santa Barbara as a portrait painter, and by 1928, inspired by director Rex Ingram, he entered Hollywood studios as a "montage" specialist. His name eventually became a noun describing the sequences for which he was famous. In later years, he made Pepsi commercials and lectured on principles of film art. -DAVID SHEPARD. Robert Florey, a French cinéaste, journalist, author and film and television director, came to Hollywood in 1921 and worked as an assistant director before collaborating on "The Life and Death of 9413 - A Hollywood Extra". He made at least three other short experimental films and directed over 50 Hollywood features during the 1930-40s. In 1953, he moved to television. Cinematographer Gregg Toland is acknowledged for his innovative use of fast lenses and creative lighting to record "deep-focus," great depths of field to hold sharp focus from close foreground to distant background. Between 1936-1942, he developed this technique in collaboration with directors John Ford, William Wyler and Orson Welles. -BRUCE POSNER 35mm 1.33:1 black and white silent with music 20fps 13:20 minutes. Camera: Gregg Toland, Paul Ivano, Robert Florey, Slavko Vorkapich.

Participant:

Featuring: Jules Raucourt, Voya George, Adriane Marsh, Slavko Vorkapich, Robert Florey.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed June 16, 2020).

"American surrealism".

"Early American avant-garde film, 1893-1941".

OCLC:

1191033190

Publisher Number:

ASP5053245/marc