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Three film diaries of Taylor Mead, a superstar of underground film. Includes: My Home Movies (1964), Home Movies Rome/Florence/Venice/Greece (1965), and Home Movies/N.Y.C. to San Diego (1968).
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Taylor Mead was an American writer, actor and performer who appeared in several of Andy Warhol’s underground films filmed at Warhol’s Factory, as well as in works by Robert Downey Sr., Adolfas Mekas, and Ron Rice.Read More »
Quote: In 2018, after years of work, Anthology completed the restoration of Ron Rice’s longest film, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA MEETS THE ATOM MAN (1963/81). Rice completed only three films during his short lifetime (THE FLOWER THIEF, SENSELESS, and CHUMLUM), and at his untimely death in 1964, at the age of 29, he left behind a rough cut of his magnum opus, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA. In 1981 Anthology commissioned Rice’s collaborator and star, Taylor Mead, to complete the film. Mead compiled a score and edited the 16mm footage into its final form, and his version was the basis for Anthology’s 2018 16mm-to-35mm restoration. This spring, as we continue to offer online programming, we’re pleased to make the restoration available to stream, in High Definition.Read More »
Quote: Taylor Mead plays the president of the United Status, who, when he isn’t at the White House—a dilapidated Victorian—conducts his top-secret affairs on a deserted beach. Robert Downey Sr.’s first feature is a rollicking, slapstick, ultra-low-budget 16 mm comedy experiment that introduced a twisted new voice to the New York underground.Read More »
Quote: At a New York City restaurant, the patrons are men, nude but for a G-string, waited on by one woman, also clad in a G-string (played by Viva) and a G-bestringed (bestrung?) waiter. Some of the “nude” patrons leave the establishment, their places taken by new customers, also nearly in the buff. There are numerous in-camera jump cuts (known as ‘strobe cuts’) and the camera weaves around a bit. The waiter and waitress move from table to table, talking to the customers. Taylor Mead sits smirking at the fountain, where eventually he partakes in a long conversation with Viva about her Catholic childhood. Viva, the waitress if not the actual person, seemingly is obsessed with the subject of lascivious priests. There is more strobe cutting and at one point, Viva turns to the camera and asks that it be turned off. The camera is turned off and, after an interlude, is turned back on again, after which Viva continues with her monologue. More patrons arrive while others go, perhaps thinking — if not speaking — of Michelangelo. Written by Tummy AuGratinRead More »