THIS PAGE IS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PICPAL.COM THE PICTURE PALACE
Les Blank's Flower Films
Above:Michael Doucet in
"J'ai Été Au Bal"
Steve's brush with fame:
Les Blank is a legend. Not "legend" in the usual sense of Marilyn or Elvis, but the sort of character you hear about on a regular basis. And everytime you think, "Wow, what a wild guy!" Then you don't hear about him until he does justice to some other little-known or just plain goofy idea. Well, I heard and I heard, and then one evening at a convention I was out with literally a busload of people (believe me, someone else picked up that tab). We were escorted by someone in the business who's from Brazil, so we wound up in this Brazilian restaurant someplace in Vegas that no tourist ever sees. What a great meal! They just kept handing around food and we all had a blast. But one thin, gray man sat nearby all night and didn't seem to say a word. It was only after we all went back to our hotels that someone clued me in: I had missed my chance to meet Les Blank, the man who made Burden of Dreams, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers and Gap-Toothed Women! Boy was I shattered, until I realized he comes to video conventions for the same reason anyone else does. He has a tremendous back catalog and he's a master of self-promotion. The next time I saw him was on the convention floor, and of course I couldn't miss him. He was wearing a Garlic Is... t-shirt! This is one list of films that is fun to read just because of the startling range of subjects, and ethnic cultures that don't have a high profile in the
States. For Les Blank, even good old fashioned White Bread culture is fascinating. Look in Garlic for the geology of family reunion tablecloths -- one lady peeling back year after year of her folks' history. Like I said, it's the kind of thing you hear about, and then you finally find out it's all the work of one man (with a little help from his friends). Even if you don't want to shell out to buy one of these tapes, (though keeping J'ai Été Au Bal around is a sure defense against the blues) *please* bug your local rental store to keep some of the following titles in stock:
Always For Pleasure 1978 (58 minutes).An intense insider's portrait of New Orleans including street parades, Mardi Gras, the Jazz Festival. Features Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. $49.99
The Best of Blank 1989 (94 minutes).An entertaining compilation of the finest musical moments from Les Blank's films, 1967-1987. Hot music! (Contains no scenes from Blank Buffet.) $49.99
A Blank Buffet 1988 (60 minutes).A sampler of the most memorable scenes of music, food and people from all of Les Blank's films through 1987. A good introduction to Blank's work. (Contains no scenes from Best of Blank.) $39.99
The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins 1969 (31 minutes).The great Lightnin' Hopkins reveals his inspiration for the blues. Includes Lightnin' in outstanding downhome performances; at an outdoor barbeque and a black rodeo; and returning to his boyhood town of Centerville, Texas. Also contains The Sun's Gonna Shine, 1969 (10 minutes). A lyrical recreation of Lightnin' Hopkins' decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for his living. $49.99
Burden of Dreams(Video) 1982 (94 minutes).An extraordinary documentary about the messianic German director Werner Herzog, as he struggles to make his epic Fitzcarraldo in the Amazon basin. Burden of Dreams was honored with the British Academy Award in 1982. $59.99
Chicken Real 1970 (23 minutes).An often surrealistic look at a large scale chicken farm that produces 156 million chickens a year! Lots of chicken songs. $39.99
Chulas Fronteras 1976 (58 minutes).A complex, insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored by the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, such as Flaco Jimenez and Lydia Mendoza. Comes with additional feature Del Mero Corazón (see below for description). $49.99
Cigarette Blues 1985 (6 minutes).Oakland bluesman Sonny Rhodes sings the Cigarette Blues: a warning that compares cigarette smoking with playing with a loaded gun. $19.99
Del Mero Corazón (See Chulas Fronteras) 1979 (29 minutes).A lyrical journey through the heart of Chicano culture as reflected in the love songs of the Tex-Mex Norteña music tradition.
Dizzy Gillespie 1965 (22 minutes). (B & W) Rare images of immortal jazzman Dizzy Gillespie talking about his beginnings and music theories and blowing a lot of hot music on his famous bent horn. $34.99
Dry Wood 1973 (37 minutes).A fascinating look at black Creole life in French Louisiana, held together by the wild, insistent music of Bois-Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot. $49.99
Gap-Toothed Women 1987 (31 minutes).Les Blank's charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth ranges from lighthearted whimsy to deeper issues of self-esteem and societal attitudes about standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted among over one hundred women including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. $49.99
Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers 1980 (51 minutes).A zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic. Lipsmacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose. With chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and a jumping soundtrack. $49.99
God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance 1968 (20 minutes).Hippies and flower children dance and create rituals at the historic Los Angeles "Love-In" on Easter Sunday, 1967. A '60s classic documenting this once-in a lifetime phenomenon, preserving all the fashions, energy and idealism of the first "alternative lifestyles". With psychedelic special effects! $34.99
Hot Pepper 1973 (54 minutes).Portrait of Clifton Chenier, the King of Zydeco, who combines the pulsating sound of Cajun with African overtones, and belts out his music in the sweaty dance halls of South Louisiana. $49.99
In Heaven There Is No Beer? 1984 (50 minutes). A joyous romp through the dance, food, music, friendship, and even religion of the Polka. The energy and bursting spirit of the polka subculture is rendered with warmth and dedication to scholarship in this journey through Polish-American celebration. Features such polka stars as Jimmy Sturr, Eddie Blazonzyck and Walt Solek. $49.99
Innocents Abroad 1991 (84 minutes).A warmly amusing look at American tourists on a whirlwind bus tour of Europe. The eclectic soundtrack includes Mozart, Bob Dylan, Sandy Denny, Jonathan Richman, others. $49.99
J'ai Été Au Bal (I Went to the Dance) 1989 (84 minutes).The definitive film on the history of the toe-tapping, foot-stomping music of Southwest French Louisiana. Includes both Cajun and Zydeco greats, featuring Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Marc and Ann Savoy, D. L. Menard, and many others. $49.99
Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge 1991 (11 minutes).80 year old Julie Lyon, sister of Old Time fiddler Tommy Jarrell, lights up this gem of a film as she tells tales of her Appalachian childhood in North Carolina and her first romance. $19.99
The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists (54 minutes).Meet Gerry Gaxiola, aka The Maestro, an ex-wage slave who gave up everything to make art for art's sake. What happens when a dedicated husband and father quits his job, adopts the persona of the Western Cowboy, takes on the entire art establishment including Christo and Andy Warhol, and refuses to take money for his art? The answer may surprise you, and just might inspire a whole new generation of aspiring Van Goghs. $49.99
Marc & Ann 1991 (27 minutes).Portrait of Marc and Ann Savoy, Cajun musicians who are dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Cajun culture. Marc's an irreverent storyteller and accordion maker, his wife Ann's the mother of four and author of the book Cajun Music: Reflection of a People. $49.99
My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge 1995 (17 min).The long-awaited sequel to Sprout Wings and Fly (Les Blank's first film about this homegrown Appalachian fiddler and raconteur) is a gentle tribute to mountain living, a once-thriving American way of life. This film portrait contains more of Tommy's unpretentious folk wisdom and reminiscences. The soundtrack features his singing and fiddling, spiced with a visit to the Smithsonian to test-drive an authentic Stradivarius violin. $34.99
Puamana 1991 (38 minutes).This aloha-filled portrait of Auntie Irmgard Farden Aluli, one of Hawai'i's best loved composers, gently focuses on Hawaiian women's contributions to the family structure, art, music and dance. An intimate glimpse into the real culture of the islands. $49.99
Running Around Like A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off 1960 (4 minutes). Black & white. Les Blank's first student film, starring Les Blank, Gail Blank and Pieter Van Deusen. With hommáge to Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal, the film that inspired Blank to become a filmmaker. $19.99
Six Short Films of Les Blank 1960-1985 (90 minutes). Compilation of six of Blank's shorter films including Dizzy Gillespie, Chicken Real, Cigarette Blues and other earlier works. (For individual descriptions, see titles starred with an asterisk). $49.99
Spend It All 1971 (41 minutes).Rich portrayal of the lives and music of French-speaking Cajuns of Louisiana. Features the Balfa Brothers, Marc Savoy and Nathan Abshire. $49.99
Sprout Wings and Fly 1983 (30 minutes).This touching tribute to Appalachian culture profiles legendary old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell. His unpretentious folk wisdom interlaces with family scenes and reminiscences, plus plenty of old time music. $49.99
Sworn To the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella (35 min)
Carlos Santana reveres him. Bill Graham honored him. Katharine Dunham wouldn't let him go home for 5 years. Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee are among those who swear by him. His feats of endurance are legendary among his contemporaries. He's a master of both the batá tradition of drumming in the sacred tradition of Santería, Abaqua and Yezá, and secular Latin jazz and salsa styles. He's been called a Rosetta stone of African culture. Discover this enigmatic Cuban drummer who has been so historically influential in the growth of Latin jazz, pop and fusion in the U.S. since the 1950's. $49.99
A Well Spent Life 1971 (44 minutes).Instead of growing bitter, tough times made him sweet. Meet Mance Lipscomb, lifelong husband, sharecropper, and Texas songster, considered by many to be the greatest blues guitarist of all time. $49.99
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe 1979 (22 minutes).Yes, German film director Werner Herzog really does eat his shoe to fulfill a vow made to fellow filmmaker Errol Morris, upholding his belief that people must have the guts to attempt what they dream of. Inspiring. $39.99
Yum, Yum, Yum! 1990 (31 minutes).Les Blank marries his passion for spicy, down home food and his admiration for Cajuns and Creoles to create this mouth-watering, exploration into the cooking and other enthusiasms of French-speaking Louisiana. Features tangy music, Marc Savoy, Paul Prudhomme, and other great cooks. $49.99
Ziveli! Medicine for the Heart 1987 (51 minutes).A portrait of the Serbian-American communities of Chicago and California, highlighting their history in this country, their music, dancing and religion. $49.99
Talk about a bug
on the windshield!Harrod Blank
It must be in the genes! When Les' son built his own personalized VW bug, the wheels of fate began to turn as well. By the time he got his 50th traffic ticket for violations like "carrying an unstable load," he decided he couldn't be the only guy in the US with the same problem. Turns out he wasn't! So why not make a documentary about...
Wild Wheels
(1992) Harrod Blank's parade of hand-built automobiles includes the 'vette that looks like a hippo (well, it looks more like a big piece of unshaved gingerroot until you notice the head...), but there are more than Art Cars here. One guy rebuilt his hog until it looked like a cow!
(64 min., Color, $29.99 on tape)
Mail-O-Matic
Zines
Index Page
Databases
What's New
The Picture Palace Home Page
Our site last updated 03/23/2007
Print out our order form (PDF), query about an existing order with an email
Fax us at 1-800-261-0906 (US only)!
The Picture Palace, PO Box 281, Caldwell, NJ 07006.