Curt McDowell
Also Known As: Curtis A. McDowell
Biography: Curt McDowell worked in San Francisco from the late 1960s until his death in 1987 – a period that witnessed the Summer of Love, gay liberation, and the onset of HIV/AIDS, to which he succumbed at the age of forty-two. The author of numerous films that recast the American dream of plenty in pansexual terms, McDowell, like so many artists of his generation, indulged in the era’s carnal abundance, and his appetites and experiences are reflected in his work, which alternates between the revealing and the puerile.
Department: Directing
Place of Birth: Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Adult: No
Birthday: January 09, 1945
Age: 80 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: June 03, 1987
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Known For:
The Devil's Cleavage
Overview: A shady motel manager becomes obsessed with a neglected wife.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-11-28
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Pornogra Follies
Overview: A musical revue of lewd routines.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-01-01
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Stinky-Butt
Overview: A comedic satire of psychological thrillers. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-01-01
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Dora Myrtle
Overview: A short film in two parts by Curt McDowell. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-01-01
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Naughty Words
Overview: Naughty Words is a 3 min experimental film by Curt McDowell, covering the gamut of cinematic profanity.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-07-10
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Symphony for a Sinner
Overview: Symphony for a Sinner (1979) was a long, lavishly photographed color film generally considered the magnum opus of the class productions.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-09-21
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Riverbody
Overview: A continuous dissolve of 87 male and female nudes. "The film's fascination lies with the suspense of that magic moment, halfway between two persons, when the dissolve technique produces composite figures, oftentimes hermaphroditic, that inspires awe for the mystery of the human form." - B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Art Institute
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-03-11
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A Reason to Live
Overview: "This film is about depression, although it's not that depressing. I suppose it has a message of faith and hope in it ... it does for me .... But then again my interest may not match yours. It was shot in San Francisco and in Central Oklahoma with a cast of one man and four women. Crushing emotions are indulged in against a massive meteorological background that brings inspiration and terror to the characters involved."
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-01-01
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Siamese Twin Pinheads
Overview: Willy and Billy attempt to entertain while struggling with their primal urges.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-01-01
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The Mongreloid
Overview: A man, his dog, and the regions they inhabited, each leaving his own distinctive mark on the landscape. Not even time can wash away the residue of what they left behind.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-09-21
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Confessions
Overview: Curt McDowell has a confession for his parents. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-03-15
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Peed Into the Wind
Overview: “PEED INTO THE WIND smears across the screen like one of those dirty underground comic books. It’s loaded with a lot of big scenes and unusual looking people that make this epic resemble a clogged toilet. Unfortunately, since several of the performers were not as loyal as Ainslie Pryor and John Thomas, the plot is difficult to follow but in no way hinders the sewer-like sequences. It’s quite enjoyable and possesses the releasing power of an enema.” –George Kuchar. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-01-01
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Wieners and Buns Musical
Overview: A musical about an unhappy couple and the man that stands between them. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-05-12
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The Mean Brothers "Get Stood Up"
Overview: Two brothers are stood up and lament through song. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-01-01
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Truth for Ruth
Overview: Curt McDowell relates an idea for a film to Ted Davis. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-01-01
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A Visit to Indiana
Overview: Super 8 home movie footage of McDowell's trip home to Indiana, with voice-over by McDowell and Ted Davis.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-01-01
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George Kuchar: The Comedy of the Underground
Overview: A documentary portrait of filmmaker George Kuchar conducting a tour of his apartment where he displays memorabilia and his toys which were used for props.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1983-04-01
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Little Showoffs
Overview: From filmmaker Zachary Youngblood (Deep Tango) comes Little Showoffs, an intimate study of the sexual fantasies of real people, brought to the screen. From the surreal, to the highly personal, Little Showoffs explores the range of erotic desire through six vignettes framed by and starring the actual people who conceived them.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-08-13
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Video Album 5: The Thursday People
Overview: The comings and goings of the late underground filmmaker, Curt McDowell—and the people and activities that came and went along with him—are the themes that run through this existential diary of daily life. McDowell was dying from AIDS-related illnesses during the production of the diary. “An elegy for McDowell, the videowork captures Kuchar’s mournful remembrances of his long-lasting friendship with the young filmmaker. But it also has the inquisitive charm, perverse humor, and quirky candor that places Kuchar’s visual expressions in a gritty niche all their own.”
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-01-01
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Loads
Overview: Curt McDowell offers an account of his adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-06-21
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Thundercrack!
Overview: An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers - four men, three women and one gorilla - who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Genres: Comedy Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-12-29
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It Came from Kuchar
Overview: It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-09-22
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Boggy Depot
Overview: Two men hypnotize their roommate and attempt to force him to fall in love.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-01-01
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Naughty Words
Overview: Naughty Words is a 3 min experimental film by Curt McDowell, covering the gamut of cinematic profanity.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-07-10
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Resurrection of Eve
Overview: Eve is stuck in an abusive relationship with her lover, Frank, but after attending a few swing parties, she begins to lose her inhibitions in more ways than one.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-09-13
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Xmas 1986
Overview: "In Xmas 1986, George Kuchar’s mother Stella has come to stay with him for the holidays. After a series of dinners with friends, Stella’s repeated discussions about her shingles and Kuchar’s ominous film-noirish narration, Kuchar rescues the morale of a dinner party gone bad thanks to an undercooked ham by presenting his hosts with a very memorable holiday gift." – Kyle Riley
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1986-12-25
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Audience
Overview: Barbara Hammer’s Audience is a fascinating deep cut from the director’s prodigious filmography. Relatively raw in its design, this 16mm diary of audience reactions at retrospectives of Hammer’s work in San Francisco, London, Toronto, and Montreal in the early 1980s bears none of the distinctive visual flourishes and essayistic form one usually finds in her filmmaking. Today, Audience serves as an invaluable historical archive, providing quick but complex portraits of lesbian scenes in different cities and countries: the San Francisco women are bold and raucous, treating Hammer like a celebrity; the London crowd more reserved and tentative; the Canadians politely critical after initial hesitation. It also functions as a testament to the power of Hammer herself as a figure of lesbian culture, showing how fully she engages audiences to incite new forms of discourse about representation.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1982-01-01
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