An Optical Poem
Tickets to this program include admission to the screening of The Tales of Hoffmann immediately following.
[GEORGE EASTMAN GREETING SMPE]
US 1930
Print source: George Eastman Museum
Running time: 1 minute
About the print: A gift from the Kodak Research Laboratories, this is one of several prints of the same footage that are housed in the museum vaults. Not often used, this print shows very little damage. Shrinkage: 0.98%
About the film: George Eastman welcomes attendees of the national Society of Motion Picture Engineers conference held in Rochester in 1930. Filmed at the Eastman Theatre, 26 Gibbs Street.
AN OPTICAL POEM
Oskar Fischinger, US 1937
Print Source: Library of Congress
Running time: 6 minutes
ALLEGRETTO
Oskar Fischinger, US 1936/1943
Print Source: Library of Congress
Running time: 3 minutes
About the prints: These prints were donated to the Library of Congress in 1969 from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum via the American Film Institute. Both prints retain the spectacular colors that made the films famous. Shrinkage: 0.8% (An Optical Poem); 0.95% (Allegretto).
About the films: Two of Fischinger’s troubled Hollywood productions, An Optical Poem was created for MGM, and Allegretto was intended to be part of The Big Broadcast of 1937 for Paramount. Both are animated choreographies of shape and form set to instrumental music.