Part Two

In a previous blog post I wrote about re-reading the Beat classic On the Road, and still being moved by its energy and desolate beauty.  The impetus for a return to this seminal American novel came from the release of a new film adaptation, which I found to be a valiant effort that ultimately missed the mark, leaving open the question of whether it is possible to adapt On the Road as a feature-length film.

There have been innumerable attempts to capture The Beat Generation on film over the past fifty years.  In addition to numerous documentaries of varying quality, these include a number of feature films that range from fair to campy to awful.  Some earnest efforts include Next Stop Greenwich Village (1976), Heart Beat (1980), Naked Lunch (1991), Howl (2010), and On the Road (2012).  Others, like The Beat Generation (1959) and Bucket of Blood (1959) provide some campy fun, while MGM’s semi-big budget 1960 production of Kerouac’s essentially un-filmable The Subterraneans ranks among the worst films ever released on this planet.

Of all attempts to capture the essence of The Beat Generation on film, only one film hits the mark: Pull My Daisy, a 28-minute film loosely based on an unproduced play by Jack Kerouac, co-directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie and released in 1959.  That this film succeeds while all other attempts failed can be attributed to an amazing assemblage of talent that came together for the creation of this film, almost all at the peak of their creative powers.  Some of the artists involved:

Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso had all recently published the signature works that would define their careers and Beat literature itself: Kerouac’s On the Road (1957), Ginsberg’s Howl (1956), and Corso’s Gasoline and Bomb (1958).

Co-director Robert Frank published in 1958 what would become one of the most significant collections of photography in U.S. publishing history: The Americans, with an introduction by Kerouac that ranks among his most memorable pieces. Frank’s lengthy and prolific career as a photographer and filmmaker includes the infamous 1972 documentary Cocksucker Blues, which a lawsuit by the Rolling Stones has limited to rare screenings since its completion.  Frank’s photos are on display in the cover of the Stones’ album Exile on Main Street.

Larry Rivers (“Milo”), was an American artist, musician, and filmmaker, and is considered by many art scholars to be the "Godfather" of American pop art.  He was a fixture at the Chelsea Hotel in the sixties as one of the ringleaders of the various people associated with Andy Warhol's Factory.

The film’s music composer David Amram has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works, written scores for Broadway theater and film, including the films Splendor in The Grass and The Manchurian Candidate, and two operas.  He has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Langston Hughes, Dustin Hoffman, Willie Nelson, Thelonious Monk, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Depp and Tito Puente. 

Delphine Seyrig, cast as Milo’s wife and billed only as “Beltiane,” went on to become a leading star in some of the greatest French film classics of all time: Last Year at Marienbad, Muriel, Stolen Kisses, The Milky Way, Donkey Skin, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

Co-director Alfred Leslie enjoyed a lengthy career as a major American painter, filmmaker, and photographer, and poet Peter Orlovsky, who also appears in the film, was Allen Ginsberg’s partner for over forty years.

Pull My Daisy enjoyed a reputation as a purely improvisational work for many years, but co-director Leslie assured in a 1968 interview that the film was indeed scripted, rehearsed, and edited, which actually appears obvious when you watch the film.  The linchpin of the film is Kerouac’s reading of the narration he wrote for the film.  After a couple of failed attempts, Kerouac was brought into a recording studio, given some earphones to listen to unrelated jazz music, and he ripped off a perfect narration in one session.

Pull My Daisy is not available anywhere in the U.S., but I was able to obtain a copy from Steidl, the German publisher of photography books which also owns the rights to The Americans.  It is a joyous film to watch, virtually an eyewitness view of the birth of an important period in American art, music, and literature.  All elements are represented by their leading practitioners in this living document.  But the film is no documentary; it makes sweet music throughout its viewing, though – like jazz music – not without some improvisational side trips and bumps in the road.  It provides a brief but intimate and intoxicating glimpse into the scene that was the Beats.

Next Post:

NAKED LUNCH, David Cronenberg’s 1991 film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ seminal 1959 novel.

Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg

Peter Orlovsky, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg