My Films

Just before the Wax Theatricks reunion show I went down into Steve Martin’s basement to see what vinyl I could recover. I stored our records down there when I lived with him, but it flooded and I gave them up for lost. Not only were there a lot of records in pretty good shape, but I found a lot of my old movies from the 70s.

In 1979 or 1980 my girlfriend Pam found an angel. She was able to hire actors, a theater, and fund a film I would make.

The play was called Cages and my budget was $400.00. Far and away the most I ever had to spend on a film. It had sound too.

The art director at Webster College personally raved about it. Somehow it got lost along with my other films. I began to call it my great, lost, pretentious art film. It was a lot better in my memory than it could ever live up to.

I had it digitized and began to work on it this weekend. To my great regret, the soundtrack is unusable. I have the best audio editing equipment there is and, after spending the entire weekend on it, I still can’t make out half the script.

Fortunately I saved all my notebooks and have retrieved about three quarters of it. I will overdub my part (a TV announcer) and have Valerie overdub Pam’s part. I’m sure this won’t make Pam happy but it’s the only way to save it. I call it “I Know Why They Caged the Singing Bird”.

I’ll put it on YouTube as soon as it’s finished. Meanwhile the others are being digitized right now.

I have one with Lora Steffen, one with Linda Freeland, and my epic, Beanie and Cecil Demille’s “Birth of Frustration.”

Frustration starred Paul Steffen playing the young Dominic. Filming came to an end when Paul died. I’m going to try to do something with it.

My first and longest film is still missing. I think it made its rounds to several parties and dissipated into the ether like so many of my memories from that period.

Since I don’t really have a blog this weekend I thought I would post a couple of my poems from the period.

My pea brain thoughts roll down the corridor and onto a tray lifted like my spirits on the 4^th of July Come open my zipper and we’ll explore my vast and infinite resources

Trip the light, plan spastic tactics
Sodomizing firm and supple plastic romances
Close your eyes and get lost with Playtex Love Gloves
Crack your whip and slip the load unfolding all around you

Pic is from the film. The ghostly dancer in the background is Josie Christen.