Once Upon An El(1955)

Name: Once Upon An El
Director: Daisy Aldan
Released: 1955-01-01
Duration: 21 min
Cast: James Broughton, Frank O'Hara, Kenward Elmslie, Jane Freilicher, Grace Hartigan

James Broughton Frank O'Hara Kenward Elmslie Jane Freilicher Grace Hartigan

"The poet Daisy Aldan (who brought Gerard Malanga into the world of experimental filmmaking) directed a beautifully evocative and impressionistic documentary, Once Upon an El, in 8mm color with a 7 1/2 ips tape soundtrack. The 15-minute film's cast included John Ashberry, James Broughton, Chester Kallman, Frank O'Hara, Olga Petroff, Kermit Sheets, and other luminaries of the Avant-Garde, the soundtrack was composed by Storm de Hirsch. Once Upon An El documented the activities of a group of writers and composers...[demonstrating] against the demolition of New York's Third Avenue elevated railway (FMC 1967, 7-8) , which was demolished anyway" - Wheeler Winston Dixon