Bongo Beatin' Beatniks at Oddball Films March 20, 2009

Event: Bongo Beatin’ Beatniks! Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of rare 16mm films and video clips from the Beat Generation: both the real deal and the parade of Hollywood exploitation flicks. Genuine artifacts include the rare as hen’s teeth USA: Poetry – Allen Ginsberg & Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b+w, 1969), The Interview (color, 1960), Help, My Snowman’s Burning Down (color, 1964), plus clips from The Bloody Brood (b+w, 1959), Beat Girl (b+w, 1959), Bucket of Blood (b+w, 1959), The Rebel Set (b+w, 1959), The Beat Generation (color, 1959), High School Confidential (b+w, 1958), Take Her, She’s Mine (b+w, 1963) plus The Munsters, Beverly Hillbillies and more TBA at show time.
Date: Friday, March 20, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]
Web: http://oddballfilm.com/resources/events_parent.html

Bongo Beatin’ Beatniks!
Beats and Beatniks on Film

On Friday, March 20, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of rare 16mm films and video clips illustrating both the sacred and profane portrayals of the Beat Generation. Few genuine historic articles were recorded for posterity, but Hollywood wasted little money and no time pumping out hilarious/ludicrous exploitation flicks soon after Herb Caen coined the term beatnik in 1958. True, the bearded, sandal and beret-wearing, poetry-spewing bongo beaters were ripe for ridicule, but the common thread of angel-headed murderers and sadists was strictly a Hollywood fantasy. Nonetheless, they are highly entertaining time capsules that coolly skewers the squares and riff on a real gone world that never was. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bongos/Berets/Bottle of cheap Chianti). Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: [email protected] or 415-558-8117.

Films Include:

USA: Poetry – Allen Ginsberg & Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b+w, 1969)
Super-rare documentary focused on two Beat Generation legends: local hero Ferlinghetti and the late Ginsberg. Both men read and discuss Beat history- filmed in City Lights Books and around North Beach.

The Interview (Color, 1960) dir. Ernest Pintoff
Animated short by the brilliant Ernie Pintoff has square interviewer befuddled by fictional hipster jazz musician Shorty Petterstein (voiced by Henry Jacobs) as the Stan Getz combo blows and riffs off camera. Like, don’t hang me- I didn’t wanna fall up here in the first place!

Help, My Snowman’s Burning Down (Color, 1964)
Academy award-nominated short by Carson Davidson starring Bob Larkin (later in the cult film Putney Swope). Beatnik lives on a boat dock off Manhattan with only bathroom furnishings. Stop motion and surreal effects, original music by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

PLUS: Hollywood sends up the Beat Generation- sadistic killer beatniks, ubiquitous bongos, seedy pads, espresso joints and gone poetry.

Video clips from the following masterworks:
The Bloody Brood (b+w, 1959) Peter Falk (of Columbo fame) stars in this beatnik murderer flick. Quote: Did he die, or was he murdered by life?

Beat Girl (b+w, 1959) English beat scene starring the devastating Ye-Ye singer Gillian Hills and Adam Faith. Quote: Why can’t you sit up? I like floors!

Bucket of Blood (b+w, 1959) The quintessential beatnik exploitation film by Roger Corman. Burn gas, buggies, and whip your sour cream of circumstance.

The Rebel Set (b+w, 1959) More murder and crime-committing beatniks. Quote: When in Rome, do the Romans.

The Beat Generation (color, 1959) Vampira recites poetry with a rat on her shoulder.

High School Confidential (b+w, 1958) Amazing clip featuring poetess Phillipa Fallon accompanied by Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester from the Addams Family). Quote: Turn your eyes inside and dig the vacuum.

Take Her, She’s Mine (b+w, 1963) Bob Denver channels Maynard G. Krebs to serenade James Stewart.

The Munsters (1965) Far Out Munsters. Poet Herman Munster – That cat is deep!

Beverly Hillbillies (1965) Cool School is Out. and more TBA at show time.

Curator Biography:
Pete Gowdy (aka DJ Chas Gaudi) is host of San Francisco’s Shellac Shack, a weekly 78 rpm listening party and a DJ specializing in vintage sounds: soul, jazz, country, punk and new wave. A graduate of the Vassar College Film Program, he is an associate producer of Marc Huestis Presents, the long-running movie legend tributes at the Castro and Victoria Theatre.

Official Website: http://www.flarerecord.com