I'm a bit confused by the RKO connection, since the Kino notes specifically designate the video series a "four-part tribute to the Paramount musical shorts." Perhaps the article will clarify the issue. Thanks. Meryem On Thu, 26 Mar 1998 [log in to unmask] wrote: > Both Murphy's *Black and Tan Fantasy* and his Bessie Smith short, > *St. Louis Blues,* are mesmerizing. A discussion of Murphy's film work > can be found in William Moritz, "Americans in Paris," in Jan-Christopher > Horak, *Lovers of Cinema: The First American Film Avant-Garde, 1919-1945,* > 118-136. Moritz states the shorts were RKO releases, which may well be, > since I believe they were part of a series of musical short subjects made > to promote RCA's new variable-area sound recording system, although, as I > recall, *Black and Tan Fantasy* contains animation that looks very > Fleischeresque, which would be the Paramount connection. I doubt > Paramount would have released through RKO! > > Moritz's chapter gives a good overview of the career of Murphy, > who was *definitely* an interesting dude, creating music videos forty > years before music videos. > _______________________________________________________________________________ > William Lafferty, PhD > > Department of Theatre Arts [log in to unmask] > Wright State University office (937) 775-4581 or 3072 > Dayton, OH 45435-0001 USA facsimile (937) 775-3787 > > The universe was once conceived almost as a vast preserve, landscaped > for heroes, plotted to provide them the appropriate adventures. The rules > were known and respected, the adversaries honorable, the oracles articulate > and precise as the directives of a six-lane parkway. Errors of weakness or > vanity led, with measured momentum, to the tragedy which resolved > everything. Today, the rules are ambiguous, the adversary is concealed in > aliases, the oracles broadcast a babble of contradictions. > > --- Maya Deren, from her notes for *At Land* > > ---- > Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite > http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite > ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]