Description
| Summary: | THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. Robert Florey, a French cineaste, and William Cameron Menzies, a top Hollywood art director, combined talents to show the influence of Caligari and other European film experiments, which tended to be ignored by Hollywood productions. Florey went on to make the expressionistic "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1932) and "Beast with Five Fingers" (1946). --KEVIN BROWNLOW. French cinéaste, journalist, author and film and television director, Robert Florey came to Hollywood in 1921 and worked as an assistant director before collaborating on "The Life and Death of 9413 - A Hollywood Extra". He made at least three other short experimental films and directed over 50 Hollywood features during the 1930-40s. In 1953, he moved to television. --BRUCE POSNER. Trained as an illustrator, William Cameron Menzies (1896-1957) virtually invented the art of production design. He designed the landmark films "Thief of Bagdad" (1924) and "Gone with the Wind" (1939) and subsequently worked on some 30 features. Menzies occasionally directed films as well, the most notable being "Things to Come" (1936) and "Invaders from Mars" (1953). --JAMES CURTIS. 35mm 1.33:1 black and white silent with music 20fps 15:07 minutes. Camera: Edward Fitzgerald.
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| Item Description: | Title from resource description page (viewed June 16, 2020).
"American surrealism".
"Early American avant-garde film, 1893-1941". |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (16 minutes) |
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| Playing Time: | 00:15:42 |
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| Production Credits: | Camera: Edward Fitzgerald; Set design: William Cameron Menzies; New music by Donald Sosin. |
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| Participant or Performer: | Featuring Tamara Shavrova, Joseph Marievsky, Anielka Elter. |
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| Language: | Silent with musical accompaniment. |
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