Frank Stauffacher (1917 – 24 July 1955, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

) was an American

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

maker, best known for directing the cinema series "Art in Cinema" at the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

from 1946 to 1954. He was the cinematographer for ''Mother's Day'' (1948) and ''Adventures of Jimmy'' (1950), two films by

James Broughton James Broughton (November 10, 1913 – May 17, 1999) was an American poet and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance, a precursor to the Beat poets. He was an early bard of the Radical Faeries, as well as a member of ...

. His brother,

Jack Stauffacher Jack Werner Stauffacher (December 19, 1920 – November 16, 2017) was an American printer, typographer, educator, and fine book publisher. He owned and operated Greenwood Press, a small book printing press based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He ...

, is a well-known printer and typeface creator. On December 18, 2013, ''Notes on the Port of St. Francis'' was selected for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

. From November 1948 until his death at age 38 from a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

, Stauffacher was married to graphic artist Barbara Stauffacher Solomon. Stauffacher's short film ''Zigzag'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in 2013.

Selected filmography

*''Sausalito'' (1948) impressionistic film of

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

*''Zigzag'' (1948) color film of

neon signs In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Dece ...

*'' Notes on the Port of St. Francis'' (1951) with narration by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

read by

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Bibliography

*Frank Stauffacher, ''Art in Cinema'' (San Francisco: Society for Art in Cinema, 1947) first edition
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Memoir of North Beach, SF and Frank Stauffacher n Zyzzyva magazine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stauffacher, Frank 1917 births 1955 deaths American experimental filmmakers Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in California