Film Screenings / Programs / Series
PASSAGES FROM THE YALE ARCHIVE: THE FILMS OF TED NEMETH AND MARY ELLEN BUTE
December 10 – December 12
On the occasion of Yale University’s new restorations of two films made by Mary Ellen Bute (1906-1983) and Ted Nemeth (1911-1986), Anthology presents a three-day event spotlighting Nemeth’s multi-faceted oeuvre.
The eclecticism of Ted Nemeth’s work is evidenced by the fact that this may be the only time Ginger Rogers, Jim Henson, and James Joyce are mentioned in the same sentence. Nemeth began his career in commercial advertising and documentaries and transitioned into experimental film as cinematographer on Bute’s groundbreaking abstract animations from the 1930s to the 50s. As Bute and Nemeth moved into the realm of narrative film, their funding came from Nemeth’s work on television (with Perry Como, Steve Allen, and SESAME STREET), and on other enterprises such as Henson’s Academy Award-nominated TIME PIECE (1965), many of which display innovations in stop-action, color, and the coordination of visual and musical rhythms. In 1956, Bute and Nemeth collaborated on their first narrative short, THE BOY WHO SAW THROUGH; and in 1965 their first narrative feature, PASSAGES FROM FINNEGANS WAKE, the first, and arguably best, visualization of James Joyce. With grants from the National Film Preservation Foundation, the Yale Film Study Center has recently restored the 35mm masters of both films.
All of the films from the Yale Archive in this series are part of an extensive collection of Bute-Nemeth films and papers, donated by the filmmakers’ family following Bute’s death. The collection includes picture and sound elements as well as scripts and other documents for two unfinished films, principally OUT OF THE CRADLE ENDLESSLY ROCKING: PASSAGES FROM THE ODYSSEY OF WALT WHITMAN. Until now, footage from this film has never been shown publicly.
Special thanks to Ann Horton-Line, the Yale University Film Study Center, Anthony Sudol, and the family of Mary Ellen Bute and Ted Nemeth.
All prints from the collection of the Yale Film Study Center except as noted.
