The Beats In Film

This is a list of all the films I can think of with any sort of substantial connection to the Beat writers. Some of the connections are obvious, others subtle; some connections exist perhaps only in my own mind.

NOTE: I'm afraid I've fallen far behind in adding stuff to this page. Since the web has taken over my life I really don't have much time to rent videos, and I don't like to write about films I haven't seen. Among the films I know I'm delinquent on covering here: "Chappaqua", "Shadows," "Buckets of Blood," "Home of the Brave," etc. etc. Someday I'll get to all of this, I promise!

Films By The Beats

Pull My Daisy by Robert Frank, Alfred Leslie, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, many others

Documentaries About The Beats

The Beatniks a contemporary documentary
The Beat Generation another contemporary documentary
Whatever Happened To Kerouac? a documentary
Kerouac a documentary
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg a documentary
The Beats: An Existential Comedy about the beatnik scene, especially that of Venice California

Dramatic Films About The Beats

The Last Time I Committed Suicide about the young Neal Cassady in Denver
Heart Beat based on the book by Neal Cassady's wife, Carolyn Cassady
Naked Lunch directed by David Cronenberg

Films Based on Beat or Beat-related Novels

The Sheltering Sky based on Paul Bowles' novel
The Subterraneans based on Kerouac's novel

Films With Beat Appearances

Don't Look Back Bob Dylan's 1965 London tour
Drugstore Cowboy directed by Gus Van Sant
Renaldo and Clara a Bob Dylan movie

Tangential Beat Connections

Hairspray a John Waters film
So I Married An Ax Murderer a Mike Myers comedy
Quiz Show by Robert Redford
Heaven And Earth Magic by Harry Smith
American Pop directed by Ralph Bakshi
Easy Rider the 1969 classic
This Ain't Bebop directed by Ralph Bakshi
Wild At Heart directed by David Lynch
City Lights a Charlie Chaplin film
Bird about jazz great Charlie Parker

TV Episodes

Quantum Leap an episode about Jack Kerouac

Other Connections

Any film by James Dean or Marlon Brando, especially 'Rebel Without A Cause' (Dean) or 'The Wild One' (Brando) is beat-related.

I occassionally get mail asking about the status of the Francis Ford Coppola film of 'On The Road,' which I auditioned for in February 1995. As of June 1997 the project is still in cold storage; Coppola has not actually announced that he has abandoned it, but it seems doubtful that the film will get made in the near future. Check my Beat News page for future updates, if there are any.

Finally, one of the best collections of original Beat-related films and documentaries for sale is at Mystic Fire Videos. Among the available films are "Fried Shoes, Cooked Diamonds," a documentary about a Beat gathering at the Naropa Institute, and a number of experimental works by William S. Burroughs. Hard-to-find videos like "Pull My Daisy" are also available at online Beat bookstores like Water Row and Fog City Fact and Fiction.

I hope to write more about many more Beat films when I finally find some free time!

Literary Kicks
by Levi Asher