All Films

Washerwoman

1956 • 1 min

8mm dance film featuring several Katherine Dunham Company performances.

Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice

1956 • 4 min • United States of America

Short film with Jack Smith as the mysterious leader of an even-more-mysterious cult, garbed in pseudo-papal regalia and adorned with jewelry and makeup. His followers do his bidding by abducting and cross-dressing an unsuspecting mailman. Smith launches a processional and is soon joined by real neighborhood children in the streets of Lower Manhattan. Eventually, the police came along and shooting ends, but Ken Jacobs gets an overhead shot of Smith trying to explain himself to the cops.

Apples on the Lilac Tree

1956 • 26 min

A married couple's living arrangement has the town abuzz--he prefers to stay at home and do the housework, while she's out spending the day at her job.

The Stolen Nose

1956 • 12 min • East Germany

Karl, Katrinchen and Spatz are visiting their grandmother every christmas. The small village is covered up by snow and so the three kids build a snowman. When they look at it the next morning, his nose - a carrot - is gone. The kids give the snowman a new nose and stay up late that day to look out for the thief.

Mr. X's Bath

1956 • 1 min • France

An abstract animation made for Bendix.

Motion Pictures No. 1

1956 • 5 min

Experimental film, in which against a black field, constantly changing coloured strips of paper cross the screen, meet each other and deflect at angles.

Un matin comme les autres

1956 • 29 min

Golden Earrings and Iron Hoe

1956 • 30 min • China

Ke Li, a farmer of the Yao nationality, and his mother are exploited and oppressed by the bully landlord, and lead a poor life. One day, an old man passing by passed out at the door of Ke's house. Ke Li gave the old man the only cake in the house and sent the old man home. The old man's daughter took off a pair of gold earrings, and turned the gold earrings into two golden locks and gave them to Ke Li.

Road to the Keltic

1956 • 17 min • Canada

A travelogue along the scenic highways of Cape Breton Island—particularily along the Cabot Trail near Keltic Lodge.

The Flaming Teenage

1956 • 55 min • United States of America

A small town boy heads for the lights of the big city and discovers the delights of hard liquor and fast women. Ere long, he becomes an addict, a dope peddler and a shop-lifter to obtain money for drugs.

Sir Francis Drake's Life and Voyages

1956 • 14 min • United States of America

Uses historic English locales, maps, paintings and animated scenes to reconstruct the life and career of Sir Francis Drake. Stresses his achievements as the first Englishman to sail around the world and as the leader of the fleet which defeated the Spanish Armada.

Pinamar

1956 • 11 min • Argentina

Documentary film about the Argentine seaside resort made by Rodolfo Kuhn in his youth.

No. 11: Mirror Animations

1956 • 4 min • United States of America

Cut up animation and collage technique by Harry Smith synchronized to the jazz of Thelonious Monk's Mysterioso.

Behind the Cameras at Lapland/The Alaskan Eskimo

1956 • 48 min

The story of life in the Arctic climate of Lapland. The country is largely made up of nomadic tribes who follow the reindeer herds, spending their winters in the lowlands and summers in the western mountains. The rest of the episode features the 1953 People & Places featurette "The Alaskan Eskimo".

The Man Who Did Not Bother With Trifles

1956 • 53 min

Lu Ban's second short titled The Man Who Doesn’t Bother about Trifles (不拘小节的人 bùjū xiǎojié de rén). He carefully toned down the political satire here, switching his target to intellectuals instead of bureaucrats. The main character, Li Shaobai, is a rude literary critic who goes to a conference to lecture about satirical literature. Li is absolutely full of himself, and constantly misunderstands other people. Like Before the New Director Arrives, The Man Who Doesn’t Bother about Trifles was greeted with plenty of positive responses. Still, while Lu tried to be more careful with this second short, this didn’t stop some critics from taking issue with its ridiculous main character and humor.

Lion in the Roar

1956 • 6 min • United States of America

In the African jungle, King Louis, is telling his son, the future King Louie, that someday he will inherit the throne of the King of the Jungle, and he must act accordingly. But young Louie's posturing and combined with his weak roar and small stature fails to impress the denizens of the jungle, and they all laugh at him. A huge gorilla appears and they quit laughing and scurry away while the gorilla attacks Louie's father. Will Louie save the day?

A Ticket for Thaddeus

1956 • 30 min

A Polish refugee and new citizen gets involved in a slight car accident, but he doesn't fully understand American life, and believes he will be sent to a concentration camp.

How He Lied to Her Husband

1956 • 27 min • Soviet Union

Young poet Henry Epjohn is passionately in love with Aurora, the wife of aristocrat Teddy Bompas. Aurora suspects that her husband has gotten hold of poems composed by Henry and dedicated to her, so she asks Henry to lie to Teddy about it. However, Henry's explanation to her jealous husband has the opposite effect.

Good Grooming for Girls

1956 • 11 min • United States of America

Young woman learns grooming tips by watching her friend, Rosemary

Wharf with the Weeping Girl

1956 • 59 min • Japan

After a gang killing forces him to flee abroad, ex-yakuza Ryūji returns to Yokohama a year later to find his lover’s sister’s killer. With help from a mysterious woman, he exposes the real culprit and brings down the smuggling ring.

I Know

1956 • 15 min • China, United States of America

The little white rabbit played hide-and-seek with her mother when she was pulling out radishes. The mother was worried that it would meet a wolf and asked it not to run around and go home quickly. The little white rabbit waved his hands after hearing this, "I know, I know", the mother asked It looks like a wolf, with "small eyes, big mouth, pointed teeth and long tail". The song was sung well, but the little white rabbit actually didn't know what the wolf looked like.

Old Silas

1956 • 5 min

A part of Strange Experiences

Rajuan Alam

1956 • 30 min

This film, produced in Indonesia and based on the old Japanese folk saying that "a man's happiness depends upon a knife, house, horse, wife, and singing bird," tells the story of the restoration of a young man to his rightful place in his society and nation, and depicts basic Indonesian traditions while outlining Indonesia's successful fight against malaria (with U.S. cooperation). The film follows Amin, a village youth who attempts to earn a living in the city. However, he is unsuccessful, and so he returns to his village to live with his wife-to-be, Marlina. Before the couple can marry, Marlina falls ill with malaria, and only after she is cured are they able to wed. The film was directed by Miriam Bucher and is a joint production of the U.S. Information Service (USIS) and Produksi Film Negara (PFN).

The Goofy Cavalcade of Sports

1956 • 48 min

Explaining the outset that the concept of athletic training was born of necessity, Goofy scans a scrapbook of his escapades in boxing, swimming, golfing, baseball and other sports.