''The Savage Eye'' is a 1959 "dramatized documentary" film that superposes a dramatic narration of the life of a divorced woman with documentary camera footage of Los Angeles. The film was written, produced, directed, and edited by

Ben Maddow Ben Maddow (born David Wolff, August 7, 1909 in Passaic, New Jersey – October 9, 1992 in Los Angeles, California) was an American screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 1970s. Educated at Columbia University, Maddow began ...

Sidney Meyers Sidney Meyers (March 9, 1906 – December 4, 1969), also known by the pen name Robert Stebbins was an American film director and editor. Sidney Meyers is best known for two documentary films: '' The Quiet One'', which he wrote and directed, a ...

, and Joseph Strick, who did the work over several years on their weekends. ''The Savage Eye'' is often considered to be part of the

cinema vérité Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Production

Benjamin Jackson has noted that Irving Lerner, Strick's collaborator on the earlier documentary ''

Muscle Beach Muscle Beach is the birthplace of the United States physical fitness boom, which started in 1934 with predominantly gymnastics activities on the south side of the Santa Monica Pier. Muscle Beach Venice is the contemporary title of the outdoor we ...

'' (1948), "was part of the original group, but left in the middle of production.". This review, which is perhaps the most comprehensive discussion of ''The Savage Eye'' in the literature, indicates that Strick was responsible for half the cinematography (uncredited). The camera footage for the film was shot over four years by the principal cinematographers

Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Inte ...

Helen Levitt Helen Levitt (August 31, 1913 – March 29, 2009) was an American photographer and cinematographer. She was particularly noted for her street photography around New York City. David Levi Strauss described her as "the most celebrated and least ...

, and Jack Couffer; the sound editing for the film was one of

Verna Fields Verna Fields (née Hellman; March 21, 1918 – November 30, 1982) was an American film editor, film and television sound editor, educator, and entertainment industry executive. In the first phase of her career, from 1954 through to about 1970, F ...

' early credits.

Barbara Baxley Barbara Angie Rose Baxley (January 1, 1923 – June 7, 1990) was an American actress and singer. Early life Barbara Baxley was born on January 1, 1923, in Porterville, California, the daughter of Emma (née Tyler) and Bert Baxley and sister to H ...

enacted the role of divorcée Judith X, while

Gary Merrill Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...

was the male narrator who voiced her angel, her double: "That vial dreamer, your conscience."

Exhibition

The film premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival in August 1959 and received the Roy Thomson Edinburgh Film Guild Award; at the Venice Film Festival, it took the Italian Film Clubs Prize. It also won the 1959 BAFTA Robert Flaherty Award for Best Feature Length Documentary. Reviewing its debut at the Edinburgh Film Festival, the art critic David Sylvester called its imagery "sharp, intense, spectacular, and imaginative". The film opened commercially in New York City on June 6, 1960. In his ''The New York Times'' review, A. H. Weiler characterized the film: John Hagan has written further of the film's influence that: "One can see how, in its study of a woman whose marital problems have estranged her from the world, it anticipated, if not influenced, such films as '' The Misfits'', '' Red Desert'', and ''

Juliet of the Spirits ''Juliet of the Spirits'' ( it, Giulietta degli spiriti) is a 1965 fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, and Valeska Gert. The film is about the vi ...

''." 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 ...

preserved ''The Savage Eye'' in 2008.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savage Eye, The 1960 films 1960 documentary films American documentary films Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films directed by Sidney Meyers Films directed by Joseph Strick Films set in the 1950s 1960s English-language films 1960s American films