''Flaming Creatures'' is a 1963

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

directed by Jack Smith. The film shows performers dressed in elaborate drag for several disconnected scenes, including a lipstick commercial, an orgy, and an earthquake. It premiered April 29, 1963 at the

Bleecker Street Cinema The Bleecker Street Cinema was an art house movie theater located at 144 Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It became a landmark of Greenwich Village and an influential venue for filmmakers and cinephiles through its screenings ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Because of its graphic depiction of sexuality, some venues refused to show ''Flaming Creatures'', and in March 1964, police interrupted a screening and seized a print of the film.

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

Ken Jacobs Ken Jacobs (born May 25, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American experimental filmmaker. His style often involves the use of found footage which he edits and manipulates. He has also directed films using his own footage. Ken Jacobs directed ...

, and Florence Karpf were charged, and the film was ruled to be in violation of New York's

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

laws. Mekas and

Susan Sontag Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her ...

mounted a critical defense of ''Flaming Creatures'', and it became a ''

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

'' for the underground film movement.

Plot

Most of the film's characters are sexually ambiguous, including

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

, and drag performers. ''Flaming Creatures'' is largely non-narrative, and its action is often interrupted by cutaways to close-ups of body parts.Siegel 1997, p. 95. The film opens with credit sequence set to the soundtrack of ''

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

'' and the announcement that "Ali Baba comes today!". Two creatures laze in a garden and dance. In what Smith called the "smirching sequence", characters apply lipstick while a mock advertisement poses the question, "Is there lipstick that doesn't come off when you suck cocks?" Two creatures chase each other, and one throws the other to the ground. Several creatures gather around her in a rape scene, which grows into a large orgy. The earth begins to quake, and the creatures collapse. A vampire resembling

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

climbs out of a coffin and drains some of the lifeless creatures. This reignites the action, and the creatures rise again to dance with one another.

Production

Smith shared an apartment with artist

Marian Zazeela Marian Zazeela (born April 15, 1940) is an American light artist, designer, calligrapher, painter and musician based in New York City. She was a member of the 1960s experimental music collective Theatre of Eternal Music, and is known for her collab ...

for a period in the early 1960s.Joseph 2008, p. 231. He published ''The Beautiful Book'', a series of photographs with Zazeela that began to develop the aesthetic of ''Flaming Creatures''. Smith conceived the film as a vehicle for Zazeela. However, she began working with composer

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

and was unable to participate in Smith's project. After she moved out, he became roommates with

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both d ...

and replaced Zazeela with Sheila Bick. He filmed ''Flaming Creatures'' in mid to late 1962. He held shoots during weekends on the roof of the Windsor Theatre, at 412 Grand Street in the Bronx. Dick Preston offered his loft above the theatre for use as a prop department and dressing room. Smith had observed the effects of using out-of-date film working on Ken Jacobs' ''

Star Spangled to Death ''Star Spangled to Death'' is a 2004 experimental film directed by Ken Jacobs, consisting almost entirely of archive footage, depicting Jacobs' view of the United States in film. Jacobs began compiling material in the late 1950s, and premiered the ...

'' and decided to use the technique after seeing

Ron Rice Ron Rice (born Charles Ronald Rice; 1935 in New York City – 1964 in Acapulco, Mexico) was an American experimental filmmaker, whose free-form style influenced experimental filmmakers in New York and California during the early 1960s. Caree ...

's ''

The Flower Thief ''The Flower Thief'' is a 1960 underground film directed by Ron Rice. Production Shot in 1959 in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood and using surplus 16mm film, the film features non-professional actors like Taylor Mead and Eric "Big Daddy ...

''. He used stolen Army surplus

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Plus-X reversal film. The reels were out-of-date, giving parts of the film a foggy or high-contrast texture. The film's working title was ''Pasty Thighs and Moldy Midriffs''; Smith also considered using ''Flaking Moldy Almond Petals'', ''Moldy Rapture'', or ''Horora Femina''. Smith made ''Flaming Creatures'' as a way to film "all the funniest stuff he could think of" and depict "different ideas of glamour." He produced the film on a very low budget of $300. Smith shared an apartment with

, who produced the film's soundtrack. The two lived in a building on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

, where

Angus MacLise Angus William MacLise (March 14, 1938 – June 21, 1979) was an American percussionist, composer, poet, occultist and calligrapher, known as the first drummer for the Velvet Underground who abruptly quit due to disagreements with the band pla ...

lived and René Rivera (later known as

Mario Montez René Rivera, (July 20, 1935 – September 26, 2013), known professionally as Mario Montez, was one of the Warhol superstars, appearing in thirteen of Andy Warhol's underground films from 1964 to 1966. He took his name as a male homage to the act ...

) moved. They held informal group sessions during the evening which Conrad recorded. The soundtrack incorporates "Siboney" by

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

, "Amapola" by Joseph Lacalle, and various

pasodoble Pasodoble (Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military march gave rise r ...

s. Smith began screening unfinished versions of ''Flaming Creatures'' to friends.

Piero Heliczer Piero Heliczer (June 20, 1937 – July 22, 1993) was an Italian-American poet, publisher, actor and filmmaker associated with the New American Cinema. Life and career Heliczer was born in Rome to a German mother and a Polish father. His film ca ...

held a benefit for the film at painter Jerry Joffen's loft. Mekas discussed a private screening of the film through his column in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', and Conrad produced a second version of the soundtrack for the film's theatrical premiere.Leffingwell, Kismaric & Heiferman 1997, p. 161.

Release history

Early screenings

''Flaming Creatures'' premiered April 29, 1963 as part of a double feature with ''

Blonde Cobra ''Blonde Cobra'' is a 1963 short film directed by experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs. Footage for the unique and at the time controversial film was shot by Bob Flieshner. Marc Siegel states that the 33-minute film is "generally considered to be one ...

'' at the

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Later screenings were held at the

Gramercy Theatre The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two co ...

. Because the film had not been submitted for licensing, the shows were free and audiences were asked to donate to the "Love and Kisses for Censors Film Society". ''

Film Culture ''Film Culture'' was an American film magazine started by Adolfas Mekas and his brother Jonas Mekas in 1954. The publication's headquarters were in New York City. Best known for exploring the avant-garde cinema in depth, it also published artic ...

'' voted in December 1963 to award Smith its Independent Film Award for the film. It rented the Tivoli Theatre, known for showing

sexploitation film A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sex ...

s, and planned a screening of ''Flaming Creatures'', excerpts from Smith's ''

Normal Love ''Normal Love'' is an experimental film project by American director Jack Smith. It shows the adventures of an ensemble of glamorously dressed monsters. Smith filmed the project in 1963 and began screening the work in pieces in 1964. Although ''N ...

'', and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's ''Newsreel''. The theatre canceled the event due to the obscene content in ''Flaming Creatures''. Several hundred people gathered at the theatre, and Smith was given his award in an impromptu ceremony. A crowd of several hundred people led by

Barbara Rubin Barbara Rubin (1945–1980) was an American filmmaker and performance artist. She is best known for her landmark 1963 underground film ''Christmas on Earth''. Life and career Barbara Rubin grew up in the Cambria Heights neighborhood of Queens, ...

occupied the Tivoli until police could clear the building. At the third Knokke Experimental Film Festival, the selection committee rejected ''Flaming Creatures'' out of concern that it fell afoul of Belgium's obscenity laws. In protest, Mekas resigned from the festival jury, and several American filmmakers threatened to withdraw their films. Mekas smuggled in the film in a canister for

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large ...

's ''

Dog Star Man ''Dog Star Man'' is a series of short experimental films, all directed by Stan Brakhage, featuring Jane Wodening. It was released in instalments between 1961 and 1964 and comprises a prelude and four parts. In 1992, ''Dog Star Man'' was includ ...

'' and held continuous private screenings out of his hotel. On New Year's Eve, Mekas, Rubin, and

P. Adams Sitney P. Adams Sitney (born August 9, 1944 in New Haven, Connecticut), is a historian of American avant-garde cinema. He is known as the author of ''Visionary Film'', one of the first books on the history of experimental film in the United States. Life ...

forced their way into a projection booth and screened a portion of the film.

Obscenity trial and censorship

In February 1964, the Film-Makers' Cinematheque successfully showed the films from the Tivoli program at the New Bowery Theater, as a program titled "Our Infamous Surprise Program". During the program's third showing on March 3, police stopped the event while ''Flaming Creatures'' was being screened. They arrested Mekas, Ken Jacobs, Florence Karpf, and Jerry Sims and seized the film reels and projection equipment. The police department did not return the only print of Warhol's film, about the making of ''Normal Love'', and it is now considered lost. Mekas held a benefit screening of '' Un chant d'amour'' to raise money for a legal defense fund but was arrested again. Civil rights lawyer Emile Zola Berman accepted the case, believing it would potentially reach the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. Sims, who had been taking tickets, managed to avoid prosecution by claiming he had not seen what was on the screen. ''People of the State of New York v. Kenneth Jacobs, Florence Karpf and Jonas Mekas'' was heard on June 12, 1964.Hoberman 2008, pp. 44–6. As part of the defense, expert testimony came from filmmaker

Shirley Clarke Shirley Clarke (née Brimberg; October 2, 1919 – September 23, 1997) was an American filmmaker. Life Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, she was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother w ...

, poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, writer

, filmmaker

Willard Van Dyke Willard Van Dyke (December 5, 1906 – January 23, 1986) was an American filmmaker, photographer, arts administrator, teacher, and former director of the film department at the Museum of Modern Art.http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/6278/rel ...

and film historian Herman G. Weinberger. The defendants were convicted but given suspended sentences. They appealed on the grounds that the trial had excluded the expert testimony provided. The

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

heard the appeal and reversed the convictions. It stated in its opinion that "whatever view this Court might hold as to the obscenity of 'Flaming Creatures,' it is manifest that the appellants herein believe in good faith that the film is not obscene." Fifty years later, the prosecutor for the case issued an apology to Mekas, writing, "Although my appreciation of free expression and aversion to censorship developed more fully as I matured, I should have sooner acted more courageously." In April 1965, an off-campus screening by students of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

was raided by police, who seized the print. In November 1966, a screening by the

UT Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

chapter of

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

was broken up. A January 1967 screening at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

resulted in the confiscation of the film and the arrest of four students, triggering protests and a sit-in by students. A screening at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

at its Pornography and Censorship Conference in 1969 was canceled. When students attempted to screen prohibited films, police interrupted the event, leading to the school's first known violent conflict between police and students.

Later history

Smith and Mekas fell out, with Smith accusing Mekas of stealing the original ''Flaming Creatures'' print on behalf of

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema. Smith was opposed to giving his works a fixed form, preferring to continue re-editing his films. The print was lost until 1978, when Jerry Tartaglia found it in a discarded pile of scrap and returned it to Smith. It was not until after Smith's death in 1989 that larger institutions started to screen ''Flaming Creatures''. Critic

J. Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

and performer

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

saved Smith's belongings and had a restoration of the film made, a project which took five years. The

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

showed the film in 1991, and the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...

included it in a 1997 retrospective of Smith's work.

Senate use and effect on Fortas' Supreme Court nomination

In 1968,

Abe Fortas Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from Rhod ...

was nominated to be Chief Justice of the United States. Fortas had supported reversing the original convictions for screening ''Flaming Creatures'', so Senator

James Eastland James Oliver Eastland (November 28, 1904 February 19, 1986) was an American attorney, plantation owner, and politician from Mississippi. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate in 1941 and again from 1943 until his resignation on Decem ...

, chairman of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

, requested that the print seized at the University of Michigan be sent to Washington. James Clancy, representing

Citizens for Decent Literature Citizens for Decent Literature was a pro-censorship advocacy body founded in 1956 in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio by the Roman Catholic anti-pornography campaigner Charles Keating which advocated reading classics, not "smut". Many priests were also ...

, showed the film among other material, inviting senators to view what Fortas had held in several decisions did not constitute obscenity.

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

adviser

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, an ...

credited the effort with ruining Fortas' nomination.

Reception and legacy

Ken Kelman described ''Flaming Creatures'' as a Miltonian "ancient ritual chant…not for the Paradise Lost, but for the Hell Satan gained." Arthur Knight called the film a "faggoty stag-reel ... defiling at once both sex and cinema."

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

described it as "a sophomoric exercise in the kind of sex that

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

dealt with 30 years ago." Following the seizure of the film, the director of the Homosexual League of New York called ''Flaming Creatures'' "long, disturbing and psychologically unpleasant".

Amos Vogel Amos Vogel ( Vogelbaum; April 18, 1921 – April 24, 2012) was a New York City cineaste and curator. Biography Vogel was born in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type ...

likened it to a

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

that "despite flashes of brilliance and moments of perverse, tortured beauty" was full of "limp genitalia and limp art."

praised the film in a 1966 essay as a "rare modern work of art: it is about joy and innocence." P. Adams Sitney described ''Flaming Creatures'' as "a myth of recovered innocence" in which Smith "utterly transforms his sources and uncovers a mythic center from which they had been closed off."

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

called the film "one of the greatest and most pleasurable avant-garde movies ever made". Anthology Film Archives included the film in its Essential Cinema Repertory collection. According to ''The Village Voice Film Guide'',

Gregory Markopoulos Gregory J. Markopoulos (March 12, 1928 – November 12, 1992) was an American experimental filmmaker. Biography Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1928 to Greek immigrant parents, Markopoulos began making 8 mm films at an early age. He attended USC Film Sc ...

"was only slightly exaggerating when he commented that ... early audiences were astounded when their secret Hollywood fantasies burst upon the screen". It is listed in the film reference book ''

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a ...

'', which says "The film's distinctive beauty is due largely to Smith's nimble use of the handheld camera. His unexpected framings yield dense images of fabrics, body parts, and heavily made-up faces." Having never seen the original film, video artist Bec Stupak created a "remake" of ''Flaming Creatures'' in 2006 based only on descriptions of the film.

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

alludes to the film with a fictional band named the Flaming Creatures in his 1998 feature ''

Velvet Goldmine ''Velvet Goldmine'' is a 1998 musical drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes from a story by Haynes and James Lyons. It is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, and tells the story of fictional bisexual pop star B ...

''.Morrison 2007, p. 66.

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film in ...

's 2009 film ''

The Little White Cloud That Cried "The Little White Cloud that Cried" is a popular song written by Johnnie Ray and published in 1951. The biggest hit version was recorded by Ray and The Four Lads in 1951. The recording was released by Okeh Records as catalog number 6840. It was ...

'' was conceived as a tribute to ''Flaming Creatures''.Andrea Grover
"Jack Smith and Kenneth Anger's Love Child"
''Glasstire'', April 27, 2010.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0054880, title=Flaming Creatures
Flaming Creatures by Constantine Verevis''Flaming Creatures'' on MUBI
1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1963 LGBT-related films 1963 films American black-and-white films American erotic films American LGBT-related films Censored films Drag (clothing)-related films Film censorship in the United States Film controversies in the United States Films directed by Jack Smith LGBT-related controversies in film LGBT-related controversies in the United States Obscenity controversies in film Sexual-related controversies in film 1960s English-language films 1960s American films