(Shirley Clarke, 1961)

Based on the groundbreaking and controversial experimental 1959 stage play about drug addicts (several of whom happen to be jazz musicians, played by actual jazz musicians actually playing jazz) written by Larry Gelber and produced by the Living Theatre. This debut feature film by legendary underground director Shirley Clarke adds another layer to the stage version's play-within-a-play structure by framing it as a mock-documentary in which the film crew interacts with the actors/addicts/musicians in the loft/stage set where they are awaiting their "connection." The brilliantly written Beat dialogue (structured as a series of jazz solo-like monologues) is interspersed with and underscored by jazz music composed and performed on screen (as on stage) by "hard bop" pianist Freddie Redd, accompanied on screen (as on stage, as well as on the 1960 Blue Note album, remastered for CD in 2005) by Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Michael Mattos on bass, and Larry Ritchie on drums. (Unlike their fellow actors in the ensemble cast, the four musicians use their own first names.) Definitely noir, and definitely jazz, this film, long out of circulation, was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and released by Milestone Film & Video in May 2012, along with several other of Clarke's films, including her 1985 documentary Ornette: Made in America. (After this series concludes, we'll be showing that along with the other Shirley Clarke titles in Milestone's catalog.)

Licensed for public exhibition through Milestone Film & Video.