Jack Stevenson
Jack Stevenson | |
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Wellsville, New York , U.S. | |
Occupation | Author Film Showman |
Jack Stevenson (born 14 September 1955) is an author and film showman, who lives in
His books illuminate aspects of cinema and history that have been largely neglected by mainstream media. Also, of value to future historians, are his published interviews of Underground figures that he did starting in the early eighties.[1]
Stevenson's most recent book is The Haunted North (Horror Stories from Viking Country), a collection of ten horror stories drawn from the extremes of Scandinavian history and culture, and spans the period from the Dark Ages to World War II. The through line of the book is witchcraft.[2]
Stevenson's book Hotrod Billy & his Friends is his first work of fiction. About it, R. Crumb wrote "Well written, unaffected and ringing with authenticity".[3]
Since 2009, Stevenson operates Husets Biograf, a cinema in Copenhagen.[4][5]
Author
Stevenson's earliest published writing was in his magazine The Living Color, published in Los Angeles in 1982.[6] The Living Color featured Stevenson's interviews, most notably of John Waters, poems he received in the mail from Charles Bukowski, his own short fiction, and works by Jim Morton and William Sikorsky.[7] A review didn't mention the Waters interview, barely mentioned Bukowski, but did say "Otherwise, there's good film coverage, especially on Godfather of Gore Herschell Gordon Lewis, a punchy sports column and a fascist advice page. A lot, really, for free."[8] In Boston Stevenson's more ambitious and bigger magazine, Pandemonium, followed The Living Color. The first issue came out in 1986. Leading up to it, Stevenson had exchanged letters with a wide range of underground and outlaw individuals. Pandemonium # 1 featured articles, correspondence, and interviews with Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Al Goldstein, and John Waters.[9] Pandemonium #2 was more ambitious with a slick cover, and articles about and/or interviews with, Divine, Mary Woronov, Cookie Mueller, Rosa von Praunheim and many others.[10] The third and final issue of Pandemonium, a "Freaks, Magicians & Movie Stars Special Edition" was published in 1989. Again improved, the issue featured articles and interviews, including Mary Vivian Pearce, Kenneth Anger, George Kuchar, and Johnny Eck.[11] Film Threat Magazine published his interview with George Kuchar in 1988.[12]
Stevenson's first book, Desperate Visions: Camp America (1996), focused on the films of John Waters and the Kuchar Brothers.[13] It had its launch party at the Lighthouse Cinema, in New York on June 12, 1996, kicking off the first ever major retrospective of the films of George and Mike Kuchar. Stevenson flew in from Denmark for the event.[14]
Stevenson followed that up with two books published in 2000, "Addicted: The Myth & Menace of Drugs in Film[15] and "Fleshpot: Cinema's Myth Makers & Taboo Breakers."[16] His book Dogme Uncut: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, and the Gang That Took on Hollywood, was published in 2003. Reviews were consistently excellent. Publishers Weekly wrote “Stevenson presents an uncluttered and jargon-free assessment of an important movement in independent film, making this an excellent choice for foreign film buffs and aficionados.” Film Comment wrote “[Stevenson's] overview of Danish society and culture, as well as the country's important filmmakers, producers, cinematographers, and studios, is invaluable for those interested in Copenhagen's hotbed of creativity. On this account, Dogme Uncut provides terrific contextual background—including the controversial workings and economics of the Danish Film Institute—for understanding the emergence of Dogme . . . . Dogme Uncut accomplishes a worthwhile task in cataloguing almost every Dogme release and introducing the (often unknown) filmmakers behind them.”[17] Stevenson has authored 7 other books on subjects ranging from Tod Browning's film Freaks, to one on the Scandinavian silent film Witchcraft Through the Ages.[18][19]
He has had dozens of stories published in a wide variety of places such as "
Stevenson has been a regular contributor to the Bright Lights Film Journal with long form essays including George Kuchar: A First-Person Life[24] and Robert Cowan (1930-2011): Unsung Superstar of the Underground.[25]
Film showman
In Boston in 1986 Stevenson began showing films at the bar Chet's Last Call,
Books
- Desperate Visions: The Films of John Waters & the Kuchar Brothers (1996)
- Tod Brownings Freaks (1997)
- Fleshpot: Cinema's Sexual Myth Makers & Taboo Breakers (2000)
- Addicted: The Myth & Menace of Drugs in Film (2000)
- Lars von Trier (2002)
- Land of a Thousand Balconies: Discoveries and Confessions of A B-Movie Archaeologist (2003)
- Dogme Uncut: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, and the Gang That Took on Hollywood (2003)
- Witchcraft Through The Ages: The Story Of Haxan, The World's Strangest Film, And The Man Who Made It (2007)
- Scandinavian Blue: The Erotic Cinema of Sweden and Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s (2010)
- Beneath Contempt & Happy to Be There: The Fighting Life of Porn King Al Goldstein (2011)
- The Haunted North (Horror Stories from Viking Country) (2020)
- Hotrod Billy & Friends (2021)
Magazine and other articles
- Mary Vivian Pearce Article and Interview (1989)
- Miss Jean Hill Article and Interview (1989)
- Johnny Eck (1989)
- Inside the World's Wildest Rep Cinema: Werkstattkino Programming Without Limits (1991)
- Underground USA: The Pike St. Cinema (1992)
- Dusan Makavejev (1994)
- Before there was MTV There was Scopitone
- Lighthouse on the Rocks (1996)
- The Day They Turned the Lights Up (1996)
- Attack on Reason: Three Propaganda Films Examined (1996)
- Freaks: The Movie and the Myth Reconsidered (1996)
- Murray Glass: King of the Narrow Gauge Still Rules (1999)
- The Day the Bronx Invaded Earth: The Life and Cinema of the Kuchar Brothers (1999)
- Film Co-ops: Old Soldiers of the Sixties Still Standing (1999)
- Market Street: Movie Theater Graveyard USA (2000)
- The Wave Breaks: Star Danish Directors Fail to Translate (2003)
- Lars von Trier: Pornographer? (2004)
- No Stories to Tell: Danish Cinema Searches for a Subject (2004)
- Jesus Fucking Christ: Lars von Trier Anti-Christ (2009)
- Porno to the People: The Danish Revolution that Liberated America (2009)
- Haunted Cinema: Movie Theatres of the Dead (2010)
- George Kuchar: A First Person Life (2011)
- In A Garden of Tin Men: Marion Eaton Remembered (2012)
- Robert Cowan (1930 - 2011) Unsung Superstar of the Underground (2012)
- Soul Diva, John Waters Star Jean Hill Dies (2013)
Interviews
- John Waters in The Living Color 1984
- Al Goldstein in Pandemonium 1 1985
- John Waters in Pandemonium 1 1985
- Divine in Pandemonium Two 1987
- John Waters in Pandemonium Two 1987
- Mink Stole in Pandemonium Two 1987
- Rosa von Praunheim in Pandemonium two 1987
- Kenneth Anger in Pandemonium Three (Interview by Dale Ashmun)1989
- George Stover in Pandemonium Three 1989
- Hubert Selby Jr. in Pandemonium Three (Interview by Pat Hollis) 1989
- Frederick Wiseman in Pandemonium Three 1989
- Mary Vivian Pearce in Pandemonium Three 1989
- Jean Hill[51] in Pandemonium Three 1989
- George Kuchar in Pandemonium Three 1989
- Mike Kuchar in Pandemonium Three 1989
- Ondine in Pandemonium Three (Interview by Pat Hollis) 1989
References
- ^ "paper-plastic: Pandemonium 2 and 3". www.paper-plastic.com.
- ISBN 978-1-71-434225-9, 2020
- ISBN 978-0-46497020-0
- ^ Stevenson, Jack (8 October 2013). "Cine-files: Husets Biograf, Copenhagen". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Husets Biograf". 19 June 2023.
- ^ The Living Color, Issue March - April 1982, Living Color Productions, Hollywood, California
- ^ "retrieved 12/26/18" (PDF).
- ^ "retrieved 12/27/18".
- ^ "PANDEMONIUM - NO.1 by Stevenson, Jack (editor); Bukowski, Charles, William S. Burroughs, Al Goldstein, Charles Manson, and John Waters (contributors): Living Color Productions, Inc. First Edition. - Captain Ahab's Rare Books". www.abebooks.com.[dead link]
- ^ Pandemonium # 2, Copyright Living Color Productions, Cambridge, Mass, 1987
- LCCN 89-80312.
- ^ "Interview: George Kuchar, by Pat Hollis & Jack Stevenson", Film Threat #17, 1988
- ISBN 978-1871592344
- ^ "12/23/18".
- ISBN 978-1840680232
- ^ Publisher: Critical Vision; 1st edition (2000)
ISBN 978-1900486125
- ISBN 978-1891661358
- ^ "Books by Jack Stevenson (Author of Desperate Visions)". www.goodreads.com.
- ^ Jack Stevenson retrieved December 27, 2018
- ^ Chemical Imbalance Magazine, Vol. 2, # 2 (tenth issue, Michael McGonigal, Editor-Publisher, New York, Ny, 1992
- ^ Divinity, Volume 2, Number 4, Editor David Flint, Stockport, England, 1994
- ^ The Big Reel, July 2000
- ^ New York Independent Monitor, Vol 5 #1, September 1999
- ^ a b "George Kuchar: A First-Person Life". Bright Lights Film Journal. 8 September 2011.
- ^ "Robert Cowan (1930-2011): Unsung Superstar of the Underground". Bright Lights Film Journal. 1 February 2012.
- ^ Man, Wal (10 July 2012). "Freedom in an Unfree World: Boston Rock Clubs of the 1980s: Chet's Last Call".
- ^ Jack Stevenson Pushing Film Exhibition to the Limit Mail Interview, Galen Young, Essential Cinema Journal of Independent Film, Seattle, Vol 1 Number 1, Fall 1993
- ^ The High Priest of Schlock, Lawrence Levi, The SF Weekly, 2/5/92
- ^ Starbrite (20 January 1991). "Fatal Visions 11 (Starbrite)" – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Assembly Line (1962)" – via letterboxd.com.
- ^ The Field Guide to Sponsored Films, Rick Prelinger, Publisher: NFPF (National Film Preservation)2006 Foundation)Ulcer at Work 1959, Sound, 26 Min, B&W
- ISBN 0822323745– via Google Books.
- ^ "Classical exploitation movies - Exploitation Films - show, producer, name, cinema, book, story". www.filmreference.com.
- ^ "Juke Box Movies" 8 Days a Week, Amy Finch, The Boston Phoenix, newspaper, 2/8/91
- ^ John Waters' Multiple Maniacs, Divine is raped by a lobster, At the Coolidge Corner Theater March 15–16 22-12, Flier, 1991
- ^ Midnight Movies at the Coolidge Corner, Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill, Wild in the Streets, etc, Poster, January - February 1991
- ISBN 978-1900486194
- ^ 1990 US American Cross-Country Summer-Fall Film Tour, Flier, no date
- ^ Misadventures in the Seattle Film Scene, The Belltown Messenger, issue # 77, March 2010
- ^ Jack Stevenson Interview by Galen Young, Essential Cinema: Journal of Independent Film, Volume One Number One, Fall, 1993
- ^ Loony Tunes, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/4/91
- ^ SF Weekly Night and Day September 4, 1991
- ^ "Werkstattkino • Fraunhoferstraße 9, 80469 München Tel/Fax: 089/2607250".
- ^ De vuilnisbelt van de cinematografie, Het Parool, Amsterdam, Vrijdag 1 April 1994
- ^ "Filmfabrik - Kino im Komm e.V. - Startseite". www.kommkino.de.
- ^ Berlingske Tidende, "Film om darlig smag" Newspaper, Onsdag 21, oktober 1992
- ^ From the Bedroom to the Bijou, Jack Stevenson, The Film Quarterly, Volume 5, Number 1, Fall, 1997
- ^ "Jack Stevenson on 'The Superstars Next Door' | SF360". sf360.org.mytempweb.com. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ SF Weekly, Reel World Kitten With a Whip and Chasing Rainbows by SF Weekly Staff, San Francisco, California 10/13/1999
- ^ "Huset's Biograf in Copenhagen, DK - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org.
- ^ "Soul Diva, John Waters Star Jean Hill Dies". Bright Lights Film Journal. 5 September 2013.
External links
Media related to Jack Stevenson at Wikimedia Commons