Filmography

The following films by Peter Whitehead are listed in order of their production:

The Theft. (GB, 1963). B/W, 5 mins. Whitehead's first film: an experimental short, filmed at the Slade School of Fine Art.

Parallels. (GB, 1963). B/W, 10 mins. An investigation into the technical production of media and other visual images, and the art of painting.

The Perception of Life. (GB, 1964). B/W, 20 mins. Commissioned by the Nuffield Foundation Unit for the History of Ideas, this film explores the history of biological theories about life, as revealed by microscopes.

Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. (GB, 1964). B/W, 20 mins. Promotional film showing the group arriving in England and performing a number of concerts in London. Includes footage of performances in Notting Hill nightclubs and at an open-air concert in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Wholly Communion. (GB, 1965). B/W, 33 mins. A film of the 1965 Poetry Incarnation at the Albert Hall.

Pop Promos. (GB, 1965-1972). Color and B/W, approx. 3-4 mins. each (listed in chronological order):
The Rolling Stones:
"Get Off of My Cloud."
"Have You Seen Your Mother Baby?" (Drag version)
"Have You Seen Your Mother Baby?" (Live version at the Albert Hall)
"Have You Seen Your Mother Baby?" (Slow motion footage)
"Lady Jane."
"Let's Spend the Night Together."
"Ruby Tuesday."
"We Love You."
"Tumbling Dice."
Nico, "I'm Not Sayin'."
The Move, "I Can Hear the Grass Grow," Interview.
Twice as Much, "Crystal Ball."
P. P. Arnold, "The Time has Come."
The Small Faces, "Get Yourself Together" and "Itchycoo Park."
Murray Head, "She Was Perfection."
Billy Nichols, "It Brings Me Down."
The Dubliners, "Seven Drunken Nights."
Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Hey Joe."
Eric Burdon and the New Animals, "When I Was Young."
The Shadows, "Maroc 7" and "Bombay Duck."

Charlie Is My Darling. (GB, 1966). B/W, 57 mins. The Rolling Stones documented on their first tour of Ireland: "the first English road movie."

Benefit of the Doubt. (GB, 1966-1967). Color and B/W, 65 mins. A study of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of the polemical play US, under the direction of Peter Brook.

The Little Bastard Immediate. (GB, 1967). B/W, 12 mins. Promotional film made for Andrew Loog Oldham and Immediate Records. The Beach Boys in London. (GB, 1967). Color, 30 mins. Cinema verité film of the band's first trip to London that included footage of their live performances.

Jeanetta Cochrane. (GB, 1967). B/W, 6 mins. An experimental short similar in tone and imagery to The Theft and Parallels. The film was intended to be included as part of the play Oh! at London's Cochrane Theatre.

Pink Floyd in London, 66-67. (GB, 1967). Color, 30 mins. A compilation of footage shot between 1966 and 1967. The Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd is shown at work in the studio, performing onstage at the night club UFO and at the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream.

Tonite Let's All Make Love in London. (GB, 1967). Color, 70 mins. Whitehead's "take" on the Time magazine cover story, "London: The Swinging City." Here Come the Nice. (GB, 1968). Color, 12 mins. A second promotional film made for Andrew Loog Oldham.

The Fall. (GB/US, 1969). Color, 120 mins. A long-form narrative treatise on protest, violence, and the media. The film moves from protest on the streets of New York to the occupied classrooms of Columbia University.

Led Zeppelin Live at the Albert Hall. (GB, 1970). Color, 100 mins. A tight, dynamic concert performance by Led Zeppelin at the start of their first UK tour.

Daddy. (GB/FR, 1973). Color, 87 mins. Made in close collaboration with the sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle, this film is a series of fantasies and rituals that express her desire to overthrow the power of patriarchy.

Fire in the Water. (GB/CH, 1977). Color, 90 mins. Initially intended as a "Requiem for the Sixties," this film is an alchemical allegory dealing with the collapse of the personal in an intense engagement with the elemental forces of the natural world.

Terrorism Considered as One of the Fine Arts. (GB/AT...