Scotch Tape

Shot in 1959, Scotch Tape is Jack Smith's first film -- a joyous, three-minute romp, in color, using Peter Duchin's rhumba "Carinhoso" for its soundtrack. Three young men merrily bop through the wreckage of razed buildings at the site of what would become Lincoln Center. Apparently, Scotch Tape was never edited and, instead, was cut in the camera by Smith, combining long shots and close-ups while filming mostly from overhead. The title comes from a small strip of scotch tape that was accidentally stuck on the camera and so is visible in the lower-right corner of the frame throughout the film. Note that one of the shimmying trio is Ken Jacobs, who'd begun directing Smith in 1957 with Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice and Little Cobra Dance. On his own, Jacobs made such major works as Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son (1969) and his multi-projector "Nervous System" series