Man Ray Made Movies!

The well-known surrealist photographer and artist, Man Ray (real name Emmanuel Radnitzky), also experimented with the then-new medium of movies. Below is the complete video of a short movie he made in 1923, Return to Reason. He made several more through the 1920s, the longest being only about 20 minutes.

Keep in mind that these movies were made in the days before movie sound. In original form, they might have been accompanied by live music. The music you hear in these clips was added later, and not by Man Ray.



Return to Reason (1923)

The nude torso belongs to Kiki de Montparnasse (nee Alice Prin), Man Ray's "companion" in the 1920s.

Other Man Ray Films

• 1923   Rue Campagne-Première (Campaign Street-Premiere)
• 1923   Le retour à la raison (Return to Reason)
• 1924   What Do Young Films Dream About?
• 1927   Emak-Bakia (Aunt-Bakia)
• 1928   The Starfish
• 1929   The Mysteries of the Chateau de De
• 1929   Corrida
• 1930   Autoportrait ou Ce qui manque à nous tous (Or What is Missing From All of Us)
• 1933   Poison
• 1935   L'atelier du Val de Grâce (The Workshop of the Val de Grâce)
• 1935   Essai de simulation de délire cinématographique (Film Delirium Simulation Test)
• 1937   La Garoupe [I couldn't find out what a Garoupe is!]
• 1937   Course landaise (Race Country)
• 1938   Dance
• 1938   Ady
• 1940   Juliet

It's hard to find most of these online; there's a Man Ray Trust that owns many of Man Ray's works, so maybe they don't allow it.

There's an online Man Ray gallery at the Getty Museum website with over 300 items.  His photography was better than his movies!

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