One area which may interest Susan Crutchfield's study of the "theatrical heritage of American film" an its use of theatrical conventions and forms is the pre-mechanical theater of projected images, whose aesthetics and formal questions (going back to wayang kulit) continue into film. In terms of Euro-American precedents, this projected image theater is covered in Werner Nekes's film "Film before Film" (1989), which shows shadow play, magic lanterns, perforated images, panoramas, perspective boxes, zoetropes, stereopticons, etc. The use of abstraction in early film follows earlier projected image theater forms as well. I know of more European examples than American ones, but if Melies is important here (cf. Crutchfield's mention), perhaps these are ger- mane: - Dudley Murphy (an American) and Fernand Leger's collaborative effort "Ballet Mecanique" (1923). - the abstract films of Viking Eggeling (i.e. "Diagonal Symphony"), Joris Ivens (i.e. "Rain" 1929, "The Bridge" 1928), and Oskar Fischinger (i.e. "Spiritual Constructions" 1927, "Study 6" 1930), which have American connections. - Man Ray's films ("Emak Bakia" 1927, "L'Etoile de Mer" 1928, "Le Retour a la Raison" 1923). - Hans Richter's films. "Fugue" transports painted scroll performance to film (painted scroll theater going back to at least 300 B.C.E); "Rhythmus 21," 1921 (originally titled "Film is Rhythm"), and the Dadaist "Vormittagspuk," 1928, are interesting for their version of projected image theater as well. Maybe these would be helpful: Larry Kardish, "International Avant-Garde Film: Scattered Pieces," _Circulating Film Library Catalog_, NY: MoMA, 1984. Rudolf Kuenzli, ed., _Dada and Surrealist Film_. NY: Willis Locker, 1987. Malcolm LeGrice, _Abstract Film and Beyond_. Cambridge, 1977. Robert Russett and Cecile Starr, _Experimental Animation: An Illustrated Anthology_. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976. John Bell