The Films of Ron Rice

Series Site

In December of 1964 in Acapulco, Mexico, a doctor pronounced Ron Rice, age 29, dead of bronchial pneumonia. In his lifetime he completed only three films (THE FLOWER THIEF, SENSELESS, and CHUMLUM) and assembled a rough cut of THE QUEEN OF SHEBA MEETS THE ATOM MAN. Yet even with this small body of work, he had a major impact on the burgeoning American independent and experimental film scene of the early 1960s and established himself as a significant figure within the New American Cinema movement. He defiantly rejected Hollywood’s three-act structures and cause-and-effect narratives for something far looser, livelier, and more sensual. Rice’s playful, uninhibited, often improvised films retain all their mischievous humor and sense of rebellion over 50 years later. We are pleased to present a full retrospective of Ron Rice’s singular body of work, including the premieres of Anthology’s new 35mm blow-up restorations of CHUMLUM and THE QUEEN OF SHEBA MEETS THE ATOM MAN (the latter highlighted with a full week-long revival engagement).