Rudy Burckhardt Movies

  • 1955
    Joanne, Union Square

    Joanne, Union Square

    Joanne, Union Square

    01955HD

    Footage shot for Cornell by Rudy Burckhardt in December 1955 of a woman buying chestnuts from a street vendor and watching people and birds in a city...

    Joanne, Union Square
  • 1954
    The Automotive Story

    The Automotive Story

    The Automotive Story

    01954HD

    a quiet, humorous mockumentary on cars, with Freilicher narrating Kenneth Koch’s text and Frank O’Hara as the pianist.

    The Automotive Story
  • 1971
    Inside Dope

    Inside Dope

    Inside Dope

    01971HD

    "A pseudo-educational, fictitious documentary survey of the ups, downs, ins and far-outs of Dope. Very funny and slightly sinister, like Red Skelton...

    Inside Dope
  • 1989
    Ostensibly

    Ostensibly

    Ostensibly

    01989HD

    A collage film featuring dual narrations of Ashbery’s eponymous poem of the same name, with both Ashbery and Burckhardt appearing in in front...

    Ostensibly
  • 1953
    A Day in the Life of a Cleaning Woman

    A Day in the Life of a Cleaning Woman

    A Day in the Life of a Cleaning Woman

    01953HD

    The film's title evokes a mundane slice of life but a kindhearted maid catches a lucky break when her enchanted feather duster makes it so that the...

    A Day in the Life of a Cleaning Woman
  • 1961
    Millions in Business as Usual

    Millions in Business as Usual

    Millions in Business as Usual

    01961HD

    A piano sonata by Josef Haydn and New York City. The first, allegro movement is choreographed by midtown crowds, crossing every which way, often...

    Millions in Business as Usual
  • 1987
    Zipper

    Zipper

    Zipper

    01987HD

    "A diary or collage film, ranging from snow in the Catskills, with stop-overs in Boulder, Colorado and San Francisco, to Easter in New York, flowers...

    Zipper
  • 1975
    The Bottle of the Bulge

    The Bottle of the Bulge

    The Bottle of the Bulge

    01975HD

    "A funny and gorgeous little animated story of the war between coke and pepsi – the bottles come alive and form armies. The battle scenes are...

    The Bottle of the Bulge
  • 1973
    Caterpillar

    Caterpillar

    Caterpillar

    01973HD

    Looking down at nature's small works in the woods of Maine, then straight up at the sky, then down again at the daylong journey of an inchworm.

    Caterpillar
  • 1991
    Rubble Dance

    Rubble Dance

    Rubble Dance

    01991HD

    A film-dance, shot on 16mm film in Long Island City, Queens, NY.

    Rubble Dance
  • 1999
    Scattered Showers

    Scattered Showers

    Scattered Showers

    01999HD

    Made in the final year of his life, Rudy Burckhardt’s Scattered Showers begins its journey in the city he so scrupulously documented in...

    Scattered Showers
  • 1941
    Montgomery, Alabama

    Montgomery, Alabama

    Montgomery, Alabama

    01941HD

    A soldier on a weekend pass, with Kodachrome in his camera, takes a leisurely walk on both sides of the tracks. Piano by Earl Hines.

    Montgomery, Alabama
  • 1986
    Dancers, Buildings and People in the Street

    Dancers, Buildings and People in the Street

    Dancers, Buildings and People in the Street

    01986HD

    Here this display of New York textures and cross-sections is juxtaposed with the creation of a dance work, Jig Jag, by choreographer-dancer Douglas...

    Dancers, Buildings and People in the Street
  • 1980
    Sonatina and Fugue

    Sonatina and Fugue

    Sonatina and Fugue

    01980HD

    Images of city and landscape moving with a romantic piano sonatina by Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), then classic keyboard figures by Johann S. Bach....

    Sonatina and Fugue
  • 1978
    Alex Katz Painting

    Alex Katz Painting

    Alex Katz Painting

    01978HD

    In this film we see Katz drawing and painting. We see his paint table (he drinks Medaglia d'Oro and eats Skippy peanut butter in the country), his...

    Alex Katz Painting
  • 1958
    Seraphina's Garden

    Seraphina's Garden

    Seraphina's Garden

    01958HD

    Joseph Cornell film with input from Rudolph Burckhardt. Also the title to one of Cornell's collages.

    Seraphina's Garden
  • 1953
    Under the Brooklyn Bridge

    Under the Brooklyn Bridge

    Under the Brooklyn Bridge

    01953HD

    "…one cannot deny its documentary value or Burckhardt's eye for detail, his unpretentiousness. There are sequences — the children...

    Under the Brooklyn Bridge
  • 1953
    Eastside Summer

    Eastside Summer

    Eastside Summer

    01953HD

    Rudy Burckhardt's color portrait of Manhattan's East Side strolls along at an easy pace befitting blue skies and Thelonious Monk's piano score. Where...

    Eastside Summer
  • 1950
    Mounting Tension

    Mounting Tension

    Mounting Tension

    41950HD

    Larry is a madly energetic, oversexed artist. Jane, a combination of palm reader and psychoanalyst, is trying to straighten him out. John is a...

    Mounting Tension
  • 1974
    City Pasture

    City Pasture

    City Pasture

    01974HD

    A snow storm – Disney World – self important New York – ox-pull in Maine – a special old man – strip tease – an...

    City Pasture