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Unseen cinema. 2, The devil's playground. Episode 10, Tomato is another day /

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THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. A film designed to show the absurdity of talkies that recorded action in pictures with unnecessary explanations of the action recorded in sound. Film was shown for o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wilder, Alec (Composer)
Other Authors: Watson, James S. (James Sibley), 1894-1982 (Director)
Format: Video
Language:English
Language Notes:In English.
Published: [United States] : Filmmakers Showcase, 1930.
Series:Academic Video Online
Subjects:
Triangles (Interpersonal relations) > Drama.
Surrealism in motion pictures.
Experimental films > United States.
Motion pictures > United States.
Surréalisme au cinéma.
Cinéma > États-Unis.
Experimental films
Motion pictures
Surrealism in motion pictures
Triangles (Interpersonal relations)
United States
Feature films
Drama
Fiction films
Romantic comedy films
Short films
Short films.
Experimental films.
Romantic comedy films.
Fiction films.
Feature films.
Courts métrages.
Films expérimentaux.
Comédies romantiques (Films)
Films de fiction.
Online Access:Connect to this streaming video (Alexander Street Press)
Description
Summary:THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. A film designed to show the absurdity of talkies that recorded action in pictures with unnecessary explanations of the action recorded in sound. Film was shown for one night in a Boston theater but not appreciated by the audience. Harold Lloyd, directed by Sennett, might have brought it off. --J.S. WATSON, JR.Watson's 1930/1933 avant-garde film is a unique example of Dadaist aesthetics in early sound cinema. A minimalist and virtually expressionless acting style on a claustrophobic set characterizes the melodramatic love triangle. Watson considered the film a failure, though it appears extremely modern today, and he suppressed its existence. --JAN-CHRISTOPHER HORAK Born to wealth, James Sibley "J.S." Watson, Jr. was considered a Renaissance man in each of his chosen fields: medical doctor and researcher, man of letters, preservationist, philanthropist, and filmmaker. After graduating medical school, Watson bought and published "The Dial" between 1920-29, a literary journal founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1840. By the mid-1920s, he became fascinated with motion pictures and produced a striking series of films: "The Fall of the House of Usher "(1927), "Tomatos Another Day" (1930), and "The Eyes of Science" (1931), among others. --JAN-CHRISTOPHER HORAK / BRUCE POSNER. Alternate title: "Tomatos Another Day", "It Never Happened". 35mm 1.20:1 black and white sound 6:43 minutes. Courtesy: James Sibley Watson Jr., Nancy Watson Dean.
Item Description:Title from resource description page (viewed June 16, 2020).
"American surrealism".
"Early American avant-garde film, 1893-1941".
Physical Description:1 online resource (8 minutes)
Playing Time:00:07:41
Production Credits:Composer: Alec Wilder.