Blonde Cobra

Blonde Cobra (1963)

Why shave when I can’t even think of a reason for living?

Jack Smith poses in elaborate costumes, plays with everyday objects, and performs for the camera while his disjointed voiceover unfolds through songs, personal reflections, and provocative stories. Assembled by Ken Jacobs from unfinished footage shot by Bob Fleischner, this experimental film blends performance, fantasy, and dark humor into an unconventional portrait of its subject.

Date of release
1963-04-08
TMDB
3.0 / 10 (41)
Runtime
33m
Director
Ken Jacobs

Casting

Interesting facts

Blonde Cobra is a 1963 short film directed by experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs. Footage for the film was shot by Bob Flieshner. The film is meant to be accompanied by the presence of a live radio during the screening. The film's title was derived from two of Jack Smith's favorite movies, Blonde Venus and Cobra Woman.

Background and production

Ken Jacobs made the film out of the surviving footage of two parodies of Hollywood movies shot in the late 1950s that had been abandoned by his friends Bob Fleischner and Jack Smith. The film borrows from various artistic influences, including: the "disruptive techniques" of Bertolt Brecht; John Cage's "embrace of chance operations and indeterminacy"; and Marcel Duchamp's transformation of everyday objects into art.

Jacobs also drafted a set of instructions that were distributed with the film, stipulating that, at specific moments during the film's broadcast, the soundtrack was to be interrupted by a live radio broadcast, to supplement the film's soundtrack. The film projectionist would be prompted by a visual signal shortly after the film began, "to dial in scratches of mostly talk, any kind".

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