List of avant-garde films of the 1940s

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

Title Director Cast Country Subgenre/Notes
1941
Who Has Been Rocking My Dream BoatKenneth Anger United StatesLost film.[1]
Moods of the SeaSlavko Vorkapić, John Hoffman United StatesBlack & white, sound (Felix Mendelssohn: The Hebrides (overture)[2]
1942
Lambeth Walk - Nazi StyleCharles A. Ridley United KingdomBritish propaganda short, which "remixes" marching Nazis to a pop song.[3]
Tinsel TreeKenneth Anger United 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
A Study in Choreography for CameraMaya DerenTalley BeattyUnited States[12]
Visual Variations on NoguchiMarie Menken United States[13]
Out-Takes From a Study in Choreography for CameraMaya DerenTalley BeattyUnited States[14]
1946
Ritual in Transfigured TimeMaya DerenMaya Deren, Rita Christiani, Frank Westbrook, Anaïs NinUnited States[15]
The Potted PsalmSidney Peterson, James BroughtonBeatrix Perry, Harry Honig United StatesLive action surrealist short.[16]
1947
Dreams That Money Can BuyHans RichterMax ErnstUnited States[17]
Forest MurmursSlavko Vorkapić, John Hoffman United StatesBlack & white, sound; made for MGM, but withheld from release. Jacobs dates it to 1941; most other sources give 1947.[18]
The CageSidney Peterson United States
FireworksKenneth AngerKenneth Anger, Bill Seltzer, Gordon Gray United States[19]
Lady in the LakeRobert MontgomeryRobert Montgomery, Audrey TotterUnited States[20]
Motion Painting No. 1Oskar Fischinger United States[21]
TransmutationJordan Belson United 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 YorkWeegee United States[26][27]
1949
The Lead ShoesSidney Peterson United States
Christmas, U.S.A.Gregory Markopoulos United States
Pacific 231Jean Mitry [28]
MedusaMaya Deren [29]
Puce MomentKenneth Anger United States[30]

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  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. "Visual Variations on Noguchi". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  14. Lewis, David. "A Study in Choreography for Camera". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  15. Lewis, David. "Ritual in Transfigured Time". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  16. MUBI entry
  17. Erickson, Hal. "Dreams That Money Can Buy". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  18. 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.
  19. Crow, Jonathan. "Fireworks". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  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. "Pacific 231". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  29. Lewis, David. "Medusa". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  30. Lewis, David. "Puce Moment". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
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