CinemaTexas Notes: The Early Days of Austin Film Culture
edited by Louis Black and Collins Swords
University of Texas Press, 2018 Cloth: 978-1-4773-1543-9 | eISBN: 978-1-4773-1545-3 | Paper: 978-1-4773-1544-6 Library of Congress Classification PN1993.5.U78C56 2018 Dewey Decimal Classification 791.430976431
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Austin’s thriving film culture, renowned for international events such as SXSW and the Austin Film Festival, extends back to the early 1970s when students in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin ran a film programming unit that screened movies for students and the public. Dubbed CinemaTexas, the program offered viewers a wide variety of films—old and new, mainstream, classic, and cult—at a time when finding and watching films after their first run was very difficult and prohibitively expensive. For each film, RTF graduate students wrote program notes that included production details, a sampling of critical reactions, and an original essay that placed the film and its director within context and explained the movie’s historical significance. Over time, CinemaTexas Program Notes became more ambitious and were distributed around the world, including to luminaries such as film critic Pauline Kael.
This anthology gathers a sampling of CinemaTexas Program Notes, organized into four sections: “USA Film History,” “Hollywood Auteurs,” “Cinema-Fist: Renegade Talents,” and “America’s Shadow Cinema.” Many of the note writers have become prominent film studies scholars, as well as leading figures in the film, TV, music, and video game industries. As a collection, CinemaTexas Notes strongly contradicts the notion of an effortlessly formed American film canon, showing instead how local film cultures—whether in Austin, New York, or Europe—have forwarded the development of film studies as a discipline.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Louis Black was one of the original writers of the CinemaTexas Program Notes. He cofounded The Austin Chronicle, where he was the editor for thirty-six years, and SXSW, where he is a director, and was a founding board member of the Austin Film Society. He has written extensively on film, music, and politics. In 2016, he and Karen Bernstein directed the documentary Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny, which made its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival.
A recent MA graduate of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, Collins Swords is a creative assistant to Louis Black, with whom he works in project development, promotion, outreach, editing, and archival research.
REVIEWS
Austin is known as a film-watching city, but that reputation doesn't come from nowhere. Its seeds were planted in CinemaTexas, the film programming unit of UT's Department of Radio-Television-Film... [the CinemaTexas Program Notes] were Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, and Cahiers du Cinéma melded into zine form.
— Austin Chronicle
In the early 1970s film scholarship was still in its (relative) infancy, hampered by the difficulty of gaining access to the films themselves. At the University of Texas, Austin, a group of ambitious graduate students took on the challenge of writing program notes for a wide-ranging film series, based on fresh viewings of the movies. . . [There is] a nostalgia for the time and place these essays evoke, before the emergence of home video and streaming. Contributor Charles Ramirez Berg accurately describes them as “love letters to the cinema” and they are well worth reading.
— Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com
Put this on your Austin shelf next to Alison Macor's essential history, Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids, and Mike Blizzard's documentary film Also Starring Austin. ...Along with a bit of history, we are lucky enough to read in this book the incredibly well-researched--especially for the pre-internet days—program notes from CinemaTexas days.
— austin360
This collection is nothing less than the DNA of Austin’s film culture. It paints a fascinating picture of the attitudes and tastes that formed the beginning of Austin’s very idiosyncratic film scene. It’s a very interesting walk through the Austin time tunnel and an important cultural and historical resource.
— Lars Nilsen, lead programmer for the Austin Film Society
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction to CinemaTexas, by Charles Ramírez Berg
Reflections on CinemaTexas, by George Lellis, Lauren Rabinovitz, D. N. Rodowick, and Louis Black
I. USA Film History
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Intolerance (dir. D. W. Griffith, 1916), by Charles Ramírez Berg
Sunrise (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1927), by Warren Spector
Long Pants (dir. Frank Capra, 1927), by D. N. Rodowick
Sherlock Jr. (dir. Buster Keaton, 1924), by D. N. Rodowick
All Quiet on the Western Front (dir. Lewis Milestone, 1930), by George Lellis
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (dir. Frank Capra, 1939), by Marie Mahoney
Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941), by John Henley
North by Northwest (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959), by Ed Lowry
Corruption of the Damned (dir. George Kuchar, 1965), by Nick Barbaro
Necrology (dir. Standish Lawder, 1971), by Nick Barbaro
Five Easy Pieces (dir. Bob Rafelson, 1970), by Michael Selig
Nashville (dir. Robert Altman, 1975), by Lauren Rabinovitz
II. Hollywood Auteurs: Ford, Hawkes, Sturges, Minnelli, Sirk
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Stagecoach (dir. John Ford, 1939), by Ed Lowry
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (dir. John Ford, 1962), by Don Hartack
His Girl Friday (dir. Howard Hawks, 1940), by Lauren Rabinovitz
Red River (dir. Howard Hawks, 1948), by Charles Ramírez Berg
Sullivan’s Travels (dir. Preston Sturges, 1941), by Ann Laemmle
Hail the Conquering Hero (dir. Preston Sturges, 1944), by Michael Selig
Meet Me in St. Louis (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1944), by George Lellis
Band Wagon (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1953), by Ed Lowry and D. N. Rodowick
All That Heaven Allows (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1955), by Valentin Almendarez
Imitation of Life (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1959), by D. N. Rodowick
III. Cinema-Fist: Renegade Talents: Ulmer, Ray, Aldrich, Fuller, Welles, Peckinpah
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Detour (dir. Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945), by D. N. Rodowick
They Live by Night (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1948), by Marjorie Baumgarten
In a Lonely Place (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1950), by Ellen Draper
Kiss Me Deadly (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1955), by Steve Fore
Ulzana’s Band (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1972), by Steve Fore
Forty Guns (dir. Samuel Fuller, 1957), by Valentin Almendarez
Naked Kiss (dir. Samuel Fuller, 1964), by Ed Lowry
Touch of Evil (dir. Orson Welles, 1958), by D. N. Rodowick
The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1969), by Nick Barbaro
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1974), by Louis Black
IV. America’s Shadow Cinema: B Movies, Exploitation Films, and the Avant-Garde
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Hollywood’s Shadow Cinema
My Name is Julia Ross (dir. Joseph H. Lewis, 1945), by Louis Black
Gun Crazy (dir. Joseph H. Lewis, 1950), by Ed Lowry
Films of Maya Deren (dir. Maya Deren, 1943–1958), by Lauren Rabinovitz and Marjorie Baumgarten
Scorpio Rising (dir. Kenneth Anger, 1964), by Ed Lowry
Two Thousand Maniacs! (dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964), by Brian Hanson, Warren Spector, and Louis Black
The Last Movie (dir. Dennis Hopper, 1971), by Nick Barbaro, Louis Black, and Ed Lowry
Cage Heat (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1974), by Louis Black
Caged Heat: Second Thoughts, by Marjorie Baumgarten
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974), by Rita TheBerge, Ed Lowry, and Louis Black
Assault on Precinct 13 (dir. John Carpenter, 1976), by Ann Laemmle
Appendix. Original Scanned CinemaTexas Note: Night of the Living Dead (dir. George Romero, 1968), by Kelly Greene
CinemaTexas Notes: The Early Days of Austin Film Culture
edited by Louis Black and Collins Swords
University of Texas Press, 2018 Cloth: 978-1-4773-1543-9 eISBN: 978-1-4773-1545-3 Paper: 978-1-4773-1544-6
Austin’s thriving film culture, renowned for international events such as SXSW and the Austin Film Festival, extends back to the early 1970s when students in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin ran a film programming unit that screened movies for students and the public. Dubbed CinemaTexas, the program offered viewers a wide variety of films—old and new, mainstream, classic, and cult—at a time when finding and watching films after their first run was very difficult and prohibitively expensive. For each film, RTF graduate students wrote program notes that included production details, a sampling of critical reactions, and an original essay that placed the film and its director within context and explained the movie’s historical significance. Over time, CinemaTexas Program Notes became more ambitious and were distributed around the world, including to luminaries such as film critic Pauline Kael.
This anthology gathers a sampling of CinemaTexas Program Notes, organized into four sections: “USA Film History,” “Hollywood Auteurs,” “Cinema-Fist: Renegade Talents,” and “America’s Shadow Cinema.” Many of the note writers have become prominent film studies scholars, as well as leading figures in the film, TV, music, and video game industries. As a collection, CinemaTexas Notes strongly contradicts the notion of an effortlessly formed American film canon, showing instead how local film cultures—whether in Austin, New York, or Europe—have forwarded the development of film studies as a discipline.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Louis Black was one of the original writers of the CinemaTexas Program Notes. He cofounded The Austin Chronicle, where he was the editor for thirty-six years, and SXSW, where he is a director, and was a founding board member of the Austin Film Society. He has written extensively on film, music, and politics. In 2016, he and Karen Bernstein directed the documentary Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny, which made its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival.
A recent MA graduate of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, Collins Swords is a creative assistant to Louis Black, with whom he works in project development, promotion, outreach, editing, and archival research.
REVIEWS
Austin is known as a film-watching city, but that reputation doesn't come from nowhere. Its seeds were planted in CinemaTexas, the film programming unit of UT's Department of Radio-Television-Film... [the CinemaTexas Program Notes] were Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, and Cahiers du Cinéma melded into zine form.
— Austin Chronicle
In the early 1970s film scholarship was still in its (relative) infancy, hampered by the difficulty of gaining access to the films themselves. At the University of Texas, Austin, a group of ambitious graduate students took on the challenge of writing program notes for a wide-ranging film series, based on fresh viewings of the movies. . . [There is] a nostalgia for the time and place these essays evoke, before the emergence of home video and streaming. Contributor Charles Ramirez Berg accurately describes them as “love letters to the cinema” and they are well worth reading.
— Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com
Put this on your Austin shelf next to Alison Macor's essential history, Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids, and Mike Blizzard's documentary film Also Starring Austin. ...Along with a bit of history, we are lucky enough to read in this book the incredibly well-researched--especially for the pre-internet days—program notes from CinemaTexas days.
— austin360
This collection is nothing less than the DNA of Austin’s film culture. It paints a fascinating picture of the attitudes and tastes that formed the beginning of Austin’s very idiosyncratic film scene. It’s a very interesting walk through the Austin time tunnel and an important cultural and historical resource.
— Lars Nilsen, lead programmer for the Austin Film Society
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction to CinemaTexas, by Charles Ramírez Berg
Reflections on CinemaTexas, by George Lellis, Lauren Rabinovitz, D. N. Rodowick, and Louis Black
I. USA Film History
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Intolerance (dir. D. W. Griffith, 1916), by Charles Ramírez Berg
Sunrise (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1927), by Warren Spector
Long Pants (dir. Frank Capra, 1927), by D. N. Rodowick
Sherlock Jr. (dir. Buster Keaton, 1924), by D. N. Rodowick
All Quiet on the Western Front (dir. Lewis Milestone, 1930), by George Lellis
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (dir. Frank Capra, 1939), by Marie Mahoney
Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941), by John Henley
North by Northwest (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959), by Ed Lowry
Corruption of the Damned (dir. George Kuchar, 1965), by Nick Barbaro
Necrology (dir. Standish Lawder, 1971), by Nick Barbaro
Five Easy Pieces (dir. Bob Rafelson, 1970), by Michael Selig
Nashville (dir. Robert Altman, 1975), by Lauren Rabinovitz
II. Hollywood Auteurs: Ford, Hawkes, Sturges, Minnelli, Sirk
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Stagecoach (dir. John Ford, 1939), by Ed Lowry
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (dir. John Ford, 1962), by Don Hartack
His Girl Friday (dir. Howard Hawks, 1940), by Lauren Rabinovitz
Red River (dir. Howard Hawks, 1948), by Charles Ramírez Berg
Sullivan’s Travels (dir. Preston Sturges, 1941), by Ann Laemmle
Hail the Conquering Hero (dir. Preston Sturges, 1944), by Michael Selig
Meet Me in St. Louis (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1944), by George Lellis
Band Wagon (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1953), by Ed Lowry and D. N. Rodowick
All That Heaven Allows (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1955), by Valentin Almendarez
Imitation of Life (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1959), by D. N. Rodowick
III. Cinema-Fist: Renegade Talents: Ulmer, Ray, Aldrich, Fuller, Welles, Peckinpah
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Detour (dir. Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945), by D. N. Rodowick
They Live by Night (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1948), by Marjorie Baumgarten
In a Lonely Place (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1950), by Ellen Draper
Kiss Me Deadly (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1955), by Steve Fore
Ulzana’s Band (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1972), by Steve Fore
Forty Guns (dir. Samuel Fuller, 1957), by Valentin Almendarez
Naked Kiss (dir. Samuel Fuller, 1964), by Ed Lowry
Touch of Evil (dir. Orson Welles, 1958), by D. N. Rodowick
The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1969), by Nick Barbaro
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1974), by Louis Black
IV. America’s Shadow Cinema: B Movies, Exploitation Films, and the Avant-Garde
Introduction, by Steve Fore and Louis Black
Hollywood’s Shadow Cinema
My Name is Julia Ross (dir. Joseph H. Lewis, 1945), by Louis Black
Gun Crazy (dir. Joseph H. Lewis, 1950), by Ed Lowry
Films of Maya Deren (dir. Maya Deren, 1943–1958), by Lauren Rabinovitz and Marjorie Baumgarten
Scorpio Rising (dir. Kenneth Anger, 1964), by Ed Lowry
Two Thousand Maniacs! (dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964), by Brian Hanson, Warren Spector, and Louis Black
The Last Movie (dir. Dennis Hopper, 1971), by Nick Barbaro, Louis Black, and Ed Lowry
Cage Heat (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1974), by Louis Black
Caged Heat: Second Thoughts, by Marjorie Baumgarten
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974), by Rita TheBerge, Ed Lowry, and Louis Black
Assault on Precinct 13 (dir. John Carpenter, 1976), by Ann Laemmle
Appendix. Original Scanned CinemaTexas Note: Night of the Living Dead (dir. George Romero, 1968), by Kelly Greene
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC