SCENE ONE: TAKE ONE   A Man, a Woman and a Gun 1970

 

Scene One: Take One was filmed in a remote location at Land's End, San Francisco.  Once again, the film maker collaborated with actress Elizabeth Harris. Once again, the film is constructed around a formal central idea. The scenes are constructed to suggest a number of popular European directors of the period, Antonioni, Godard, etc. but these styles morph into a free-for-all of film genres, including film noir, Noel Coward comedies, romantic costume drama, etc.

A quasi-personal voice over dovetails with minimum dialogue scenes. The film winds up being something of an essay, illustrating the major life choices and laid-back values of the hippie-era .  The brief appearance of members of the Cockettes (the reigning company of drag queen camp at the time) and a cast happy to discard their clothes when asked adds to the general mayhem.  The film had it's premiere in 1971 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in an evening of new films by underground film makers curated by Edith Cramer.

 

STILLS FROM THE FILM

THE FILM: SCENE ONE: TAKE ONE A Man, a Woman and a Gun 1970

( 30 MINUTES TRT)