Curt McDowell
Nascimento : 1945-01-09, Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Morte : 1987-06-03
História
Curt McDowell worked in San Francisco from the late 1960s until his death in 1987 – a period that witnessed the Summer of Love, gay liberation, and the onset of HIV/AIDS, to which he succumbed at the age of forty-two. The author of numerous films that recast the American dream of plenty in pansexual terms, McDowell, like so many artists of his generation, indulged in the era’s carnal abundance, and his appetites and experiences are reflected in his work, which alternates between the revealing and the puerile.
Self (archive footage)
It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits.
The comings and goings of the late underground filmmaker, Curt McDowell—and the people and activities that came and went along with him—are the themes that run through this existential diary of daily life. McDowell was dying from AIDS-related illnesses during the production of the diary. “An elegy for McDowell, the videowork captures Kuchar’s mournful remembrances of his long-lasting friendship with the young filmmaker. But it also has the inquisitive charm, perverse humor, and quirky candor that places Kuchar’s visual expressions in a gritty niche all their own.”
Himself
"In Xmas 1986, George Kuchar’s mother Stella has come to stay with him for the holidays. After a series of dinners with friends, Stella’s repeated discussions about her shingles and Kuchar’s ominous film-noirish narration, Kuchar rescues the morale of a dinner party gone bad thanks to an undercooked ham by presenting his hosts with a very memorable holiday gift." – Kyle Riley
Cinematography
A brother and sister who run a bordello worry that their conservative mother will find out what they do for a living. But all of their worlds are rocked when a mysterious magic man unexpectedly arrives at their mother's door.
Writer
A brother and sister who run a bordello worry that their conservative mother will find out what they do for a living. But all of their worlds are rocked when a mysterious magic man unexpectedly arrives at their mother's door.
Director
A brother and sister who run a bordello worry that their conservative mother will find out what they do for a living. But all of their worlds are rocked when a mysterious magic man unexpectedly arrives at their mother's door.
Writer
From filmmaker Zachary Youngblood (Deep Tango) comes Little Showoffs, an intimate study of the sexual fantasies of real people, brought to the screen. From the surreal, to the highly personal, Little Showoffs explores the range of erotic desire through six vignettes framed by and starring the actual people who conceived them.
Director
From filmmaker Zachary Youngblood (Deep Tango) comes Little Showoffs, an intimate study of the sexual fantasies of real people, brought to the screen. From the surreal, to the highly personal, Little Showoffs explores the range of erotic desire through six vignettes framed by and starring the actual people who conceived them.
Himself - Interviewer (as Roger Halcyon)
From filmmaker Zachary Youngblood (Deep Tango) comes Little Showoffs, an intimate study of the sexual fantasies of real people, brought to the screen. From the surreal, to the highly personal, Little Showoffs explores the range of erotic desire through six vignettes framed by and starring the actual people who conceived them.
Editor
A documentary portrait of filmmaker George Kuchar conducting a tour of his apartment where he displays memorabilia and his toys which were used for props.
Himself
A documentary portrait of filmmaker George Kuchar conducting a tour of his apartment where he displays memorabilia and his toys which were used for props.
Self
Barbara Hammer’s Audience is a fascinating deep cut from the director’s prodigious filmography. Relatively raw in its design, this 16mm diary of audience reactions at retrospectives of Hammer’s work in San Francisco, London, Toronto, and Montreal in the early 1980s bears none of the distinctive visual flourishes and essayistic form one usually finds in her filmmaking. Today, Audience serves as an invaluable historical archive, providing quick but complex portraits of lesbian scenes in different cities and countries: the San Francisco women are bold and raucous, treating Hammer like a celebrity; the London crowd more reserved and tentative; the Canadians politely critical after initial hesitation. It also functions as a testament to the power of Hammer herself as a figure of lesbian culture, showing how fully she engages audiences to incite new forms of discourse about representation.
Sound Recordist
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Editor
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Cinematography
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Producer
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Self
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Writer
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Director
Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Editor
Blend of documentary and domestic melodrama featuring a series of sexually charged vignettes inspired by a piece of toilet graffiti.
Director of Photography
Blend of documentary and domestic melodrama featuring a series of sexually charged vignettes inspired by a piece of toilet graffiti.
Music
Blend of documentary and domestic melodrama featuring a series of sexually charged vignettes inspired by a piece of toilet graffiti.
Writer
Blend of documentary and domestic melodrama featuring a series of sexually charged vignettes inspired by a piece of toilet graffiti.
Director
Blend of documentary and domestic melodrama featuring a series of sexually charged vignettes inspired by a piece of toilet graffiti.
Himself
A man, his dog, and the regions they inhabited, each leaving his own distinctive mark on the landscape. Not even time can wash the residue of what they left behind.
Symphony for a Sinner (1979) was a long, lavishly photographed color film generally considered the magnum opus of the class productions.
"This film is about depression, although it's not that depressing. I suppose it has a message of faith and hope in it ... it does for me .... But then again my interest may not match yours. It was shot in San Francisco and in Central Oklahoma with a cast of one man and four women. Crushing emotions are indulged in against a massive meteorological background that brings inspiration and terror to the characters involved."
Medusa / Gerald Hammond (as Pamela Primate)
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers (four men, three women and one gorilla) who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Director of Photography
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers (four men, three women and one gorilla) who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Editor
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers (four men, three women and one gorilla) who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Story
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers (four men, three women and one gorilla) who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Director
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers (four men, three women and one gorilla) who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Frank
"One of Kuchar’s few feature-length works is this ribald pastiche to postwar Hollywood melodrama, that period when the studios were trying very hard to be adult. The intricate, overheated plot involves a nurse trapped in an unhappy marriage who escapes the big city in search of greener pastures in Blessed Prairie, Oklahoma. Swerving from earnest homage to dark satire, Kuchar simultaneously imitates and savages the legacy of Sirk, Preminger and Minnelli that inspired him, gleefully intertwining the suggestive and the scatological, while also pointing towards the later postmodern parodies of Cindy Sherman. The Devil’s Cleavage is also a rich time capsule of 1970s San Francisco, replete with cameos from Curt McDowell and Art Spiegelman." —hcl.harvard.edu
Naughty Words is a 3 min experimental film by Curt McDowell, covering the gamut of cinematic profanity.
Himself (Voice)
Naughty Words is a 3 min experimental film by Curt McDowell, covering the gamut of cinematic profanity.
Director
Naughty Words is a 3 min experimental film by Curt McDowell, covering the gamut of cinematic profanity.
A comedic satire of psychological thrillers.
Editor
A series of vignettes illustrating sexual fantasies.
Producer
A series of vignettes illustrating sexual fantasies.
Director of Photography
A series of vignettes illustrating sexual fantasies.
Screenplay
A series of vignettes illustrating sexual fantasies.
Editor
A vehicle for the talented Mrs. Kathleen Hohalek, as the tenant of the Pyramid Penthouse, with George Kuchar and Bob Hohalek as the burglars, "Slug," and "Boom Boom," John Thomas as "the Cooper" and Ainslie Pryor as "the maid."
Writer
A vehicle for the talented Mrs. Kathleen Hohalek, as the tenant of the Pyramid Penthouse, with George Kuchar and Bob Hohalek as the burglars, "Slug," and "Boom Boom," John Thomas as "the Cooper" and Ainslie Pryor as "the maid."
Director
A vehicle for the talented Mrs. Kathleen Hohalek, as the tenant of the Pyramid Penthouse, with George Kuchar and Bob Hohalek as the burglars, "Slug," and "Boom Boom," John Thomas as "the Cooper" and Ainslie Pryor as "the maid."
Director
A short comedy by Curt McDowell.
Director
"A surreal meditation on a cigarette billboard using a very strange ballerina as an allegory for something or other Indescribably funny." - Seattle International Film Festival, 1978
Director
A series of vignettes illustrating sexual fantasies.
Director
A comedic satire of psychological thrillers.
Eve is stuck in an abusive relationship with her lover, Frank, but after attending a few swing parties, she begins to lose her inhibitions in more ways than one.
A short film in two parts by Curt McDowell.
Mean Brother
Two men hypnotize their roommate and attempt to force him to fall in love.
Mean Brother
Two brothers are stood up and lament through song.
Writer
Two brothers are stood up and lament through song.
Director
Two brothers are stood up and lament through song.
Director
A short film in two parts by Curt McDowell.
Director
Two men hypnotize their roommate and attempt to force him to fall in love.
Director
A musical about an unhappy couple and the man that stands between them.
Mugsy
A musical about an unhappy couple and the man that stands between them.
Editor
Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents.
Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents.
Producer
Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents.
Writer
Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents.
Director
Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents.
Writer
“PEED INTO THE WIND smears across the screen like one of those dirty underground comic books. It’s loaded with a lot of big scenes and unusual looking people that make this epic resemble a clogged toilet. Unfortunately, since several of the performers were not as loyal as Ainslie Pryor and John Thomas, the plot is difficult to follow but in no way hinders the sewer-like sequences. It’s quite enjoyable and possesses the releasing power of an enema.” –George Kuchar
Curt McDowell relates an idea for a film to Ted Davis.
Director
Curt McDowell relates an idea for a film to Ted Davis.
Director
A short promotional film directed by Curt McDowell for 'Underground Cinema 12'.
Director
A short promotional film directed by Curt McDowell for 'Underground Cinema 12'.
Director
A San Francisco bohemian deadbeat sits around his apartment and fantasizes about women.
Director
“PEED INTO THE WIND smears across the screen like one of those dirty underground comic books. It’s loaded with a lot of big scenes and unusual looking people that make this epic resemble a clogged toilet. Unfortunately, since several of the performers were not as loyal as Ainslie Pryor and John Thomas, the plot is difficult to follow but in no way hinders the sewer-like sequences. It’s quite enjoyable and possesses the releasing power of an enema.” –George Kuchar
Mick Terrific
“PEED INTO THE WIND smears across the screen like one of those dirty underground comic books. It’s loaded with a lot of big scenes and unusual looking people that make this epic resemble a clogged toilet. Unfortunately, since several of the performers were not as loyal as Ainslie Pryor and John Thomas, the plot is difficult to follow but in no way hinders the sewer-like sequences. It’s quite enjoyable and possesses the releasing power of an enema.” –George Kuchar
Writer
Ronnie is a short exposé of a handsome young street hustler Curt McDowell met in San Francisco.
Director
Ronnie is a short exposé of a handsome young street hustler Curt McDowell met in San Francisco.
Willy and Billy attempt to entertain while struggling with their primal urges.
Director
Willy and Billy attempt to entertain while struggling with their primal urges.
A musical revue of lewd routines.
Super 8 home movie footage of McDowell's trip home to Indiana, with voice-over by McDowell and Ted Davis.
Director
Super 8 home movie footage of McDowell's trip home to Indiana, with voice-over by McDowell and Ted Davis.
Director
A musical revue of lewd routines.
