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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 Boat Kenneth Anger Lost film.[ 1]
Moods of the Sea Slavko Vorkapić , John Hoffman Black & white, sound (Felix Mendelssohn : The Hebrides (overture) [ 2]
1942
Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style Charles A. Ridley
British propaganda short, which "remixes" marching Nazis to a pop song.[ 3]
Tinsel Tree Kenneth Anger Lost film[ 4]
1943
The Geography of the Body Willard Maas Willard Maas , Marie Menken Film poem, text written and read by George Barker (poet) [ 5] [ 6]
Meshes of the Afternoon Maya Deren , Alexander Hammid Maya Deren , Alexander Hammid Black & white; sound by composer Teiji Ito added in 1959. Established the movement known as "New American Cinema."[ 7] [ 8]
The Witch's Cradle Maya Deren , Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp , Pajarito MattaBlack & white; silent. Never finished; survives as workprint or gathering of trims.[ 9] [ 10]
1944
At Land Maya Deren Maya Deren , Alexander Hammid , Parker Tyler , John Cage [ 11]
1945
A Study in Choreography for Camera Maya Deren Talley Beatty [ 12]
Visual Variations on Noguchi Marie Menken [ 13]
Out-Takes From a Study in Choreography for Camera Maya Deren Talley Beatty [ 14]
1946
Ritual in Transfigured Time Maya Deren Maya Deren , Rita Christiani , Frank Westbrook , Anaïs Nin [ 15]
The Potted Psalm Sidney Peterson , James Broughton Beatrix Perry, Harry Honig
Live action surrealist short.[ 16]
1947
Dreams That Money Can Buy Hans Richter Max Ernst [ 17]
Forest Murmurs Slavko Vorkapić , John Hoffman Black & white, sound; made for MGM, but withheld from release. Jacobs dates it to 1941; most other sources give 1947.[ 18]
The Cage Sidney Peterson [citation needed
Fireworks Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger , Bill Seltzer , Gordon Gray[ 19]
Lady in the Lake Robert Montgomery Robert Montgomery , Audrey Totter [ 20]
Motion Painting No. 1 Oskar Fischinger [ 21]
Transmutation Jordan Belson Belson's first film, shown at Art in Cinema screenings in San Francisco in the early '50s; lost film.[ 22]
1948
Meditation on Violence Maya Deren Chao Li Chi
[ 23]
The Petrified Dog Sidney Peterson Gail Randall, Marie Hirsh, Jo Landor
[ 24] [ 25]
Weegee's New York Weegee [ 26] [ 27]
1949
The Lead Shoes Sidney Peterson [citation needed
Christmas, U.S.A. Gregory Markopoulos [citation needed
Pacific 231 Jean Mitry [ 28]
Medusa Maya Deren [ 29]
Puce Moment Kenneth Anger [ 30]
Notes
^
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
^
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
^ Public Domain Review, "Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style" [1]
^ Lewis, David. "Tinsel Tree" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ P. Adams Sitney, "Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943–2000. Oxford University Press, 2002 pg. 75
^ Lewis, David. "Geography of the Body" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ MOMA Object Page [2]
^ Lux Entry [3]
^ Dangerous Minds: ‘The Witch’s Cradle’: Watch Maya Deren and Marcel Duchamp’s stunning occult short [4]
^ Charney, Leo. "Meshes of the Afternoon" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "At Land" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "A Study in Choreography for Camera" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "Visual Variations on Noguchi" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "A Study in Choreography for Camera" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "Ritual in Transfigured Time" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ [5] MUBI entry^ Erickson, Hal . "Dreams That Money Can Buy" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .^ 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
^ Crow, Jonathan. "Fireworks" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Jake Hinkson -- Through the Camera's Eye: Experiments with Subjective Camera in Film Noir [6]
^ "Motion Painting No. 1" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .^ Experimental Cinema -- Jordan Belson [7]
^ "Meditation on Violence" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .^ The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre review [8]
^ The Sound of Eye: The Petrified Dog [9]
^ Visionary Film: Weegee [10]
^ ICP: Weegee's New York [11]
^ "Pacific 231" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .^ Lewis, David. "Medusa" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 . ^ Lewis, David. "Puce Moment" . Allmovie . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .
