DONOR
The Birkhill Family Foundation
Dr. Chicago
George Manupelli
1968 | 110 | 16mm
Preserved by Anthology Film Archives through the Avant-Garde Masters grant program funded by The Film Foundation and administered by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
This is the first of Manupelli’s four-film Dr. Chicago series, in which revered avant-garde composer Alvin Lucier gives an unexpected, uproarious performance as the singular Dr. Alvin Chicago, a sex-change surgeon on the run from the law. Accompanied into the unknown woods by his girlfriend, his nurse, an ailing patient, and a Harpo Marx-esque silent stranger, the good Dr. soon finds that there are many obstacles on the road to Sweden. Filled with Warhol-ian long takes, semi-improvised scenes, and exquisite black-and-white photography, Dr. Chicago is entirely unique, an atmospheric screwball comedy. Features Alvin Lucier, Mary Ashley, Steve Paxton, and sound by Robert Ashley.