Pull My Daisy from 1959 is one of the most important films of the mid-twentieth century. For many decades it was likely written and read about more than seen, though YouTube has a few versions floating around. Co-directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, it features many of the key figures of the so-called "Beat Generation" including the poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. Striking also in terms of Frank's camera work and Jack Kerouac's seemingly spontaneous and utterly memorable narration. ("It's early morning in the universe...are cockroaches holy?...Is baseball holy?") In just under 30 minutes, the era is summed up in a rich visual and aural time capsule. The film is in my opinion, better to watch than read about so I will stop here, although I will highlight this link in which musician and filmmaker John Cohen writes about a reissued book of the film, as it is very insightful.
