David E. James, Professor in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, is author of Power Misses: Essays across (Un)Popular Culture (1996) and Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties (1989), among other books.

"The Most Typical Avant-Garde transforms our sense of the history and geography of American independent cinema, by demonstrating the many and varied contributions of filmmakers who have worked in and around LA. James's range and thoroughness are astonishing. Indeed, those who have worked at chronicling independent cinema will be disappointed with only one thing: the fact that we didn't write this remarkable book!" - Scott MacDonald, author of the Critical Cinema Series"

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Avant-Garde Cinemas in Los Angeles 2. The Twenties: Avant-Garde in Hollywood 3. Hollywood Extras: A Great Tradition in Avant-Garde Cinema 4. The Thirties: Avant-Garde in the Industry 5. An Impossible Avant-Garde: Working-Class Cinema in Los Angeles 6. The Idea of the Amateur 7. The Forties: Wizards of the Id, Maya Deren and Her Acolytes 8. Minor Cinemas: Institutions of the Avant-Garde 9. Film and the Other Arts 10. Minority Cinemas: Film and Identity Politics in the Seventies 11. Narrating Los Angeles: Art Films and Independent Features 12. Documenting Southern California: Structural Film and Landscape Notes Acknowledgments of Permissions Index

David E. James, Professor in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, is author of Power Misses: Essays across (Un)Popular Culture (1996) and Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties (1989), among other books.

"The Most Typical Avant-Garde transforms our sense of the history and geography of American independent cinema, by demonstrating the many and varied contributions of filmmakers who have worked in and around LA. James's range and thoroughness are astonishing. Indeed, those who have worked at chronicling independent cinema will be disappointed with only one thing: the fact that we didn't write this remarkable book!" - Scott MacDonald, author of the Critical Cinema Series"

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Avant-Garde Cinemas in Los Angeles 2. The Twenties: Avant-Garde in Hollywood 3. Hollywood Extras: A Great Tradition in Avant-Garde Cinema 4. The Thirties: Avant-Garde in the Industry 5. An Impossible Avant-Garde: Working-Class Cinema in Los Angeles 6. The Idea of the Amateur 7. The Forties: Wizards of the Id, Maya Deren and Her Acolytes 8. Minor Cinemas: Institutions of the Avant-Garde 9. Film and the Other Arts 10. Minority Cinemas: Film and Identity Politics in the Seventies 11. Narrating Los Angeles: Art Films and Independent Features 12. Documenting Southern California: Structural Film and Landscape Notes Acknowledgments of Permissions Index

David E. James, Professor in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, is author of Power Misses: Essays across (Un)Popular Culture (1996) and Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties (1989), among other books.

"The Most Typical Avant-Garde transforms our sense of the history and geography of American independent cinema, by demonstrating the many and varied contributions of filmmakers who have worked in and around LA. James's range and thoroughness are astonishing. Indeed, those who have worked at chronicling independent cinema will be disappointed with only one thing: the fact that we didn't write this remarkable book!" - Scott MacDonald, author of the Critical Cinema Series"

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Avant-Garde Cinemas in Los Angeles 2. The Twenties: Avant-Garde in Hollywood 3. Hollywood Extras: A Great Tradition in Avant-Garde Cinema 4. The Thirties: Avant-Garde in the Industry 5. An Impossible Avant-Garde: Working-Class Cinema in Los Angeles 6. The Idea of the Amateur 7. The Forties: Wizards of the Id, Maya Deren and Her Acolytes 8. Minor Cinemas: Institutions of the Avant-Garde 9. Film and the Other Arts 10. Minority Cinemas: Film and Identity Politics in the Seventies 11. Narrating Los Angeles: Art Films and Independent Features 12. Documenting Southern California: Structural Film and Landscape Notes Acknowledgments of Permissions Index