Next we have a film that will be familiar to anyone that also participates in my #SilentFlickerSunday event but I love it so much I just had to show it here as well: assemblage artist Joseph Cornell’s collage film “Rose Hobart”
#LaEsoterica #RoseHobart
In “Rose Hobart” (1936) Cornell utilizes and recontextualizes images of the actress Rose Hobart from the film “East of Borneo” (1931) (it can be watched here for free https://youtu.be/5MR5ew2lquE?si=8wsPk3ccgdLDwzG1)
#LaEsoterica #RoseHobart #JosephCornell #EastOfBorneo
East of Borneo (1931) | Adventure Film | Rose Hobart, Charles Bickford, Georges Renavent

YouTube
Joseph Cornell became so enamored with Rose Hobart (the actress) after watching “East of Borneo” (1931) many, many, many times that he purchased a 16mm print and literally cut out shots featuring only Hobart that he could watch over & over again. Think of this as the first ever “Fancam”
#LaEsoterica #RoseHobart
During the 1936 debut of “Rose Hobart” at a New York City gallery, audience member Salvador Dalí caused a disturbance when he leapt up, knocked over the projector and proclaimed that Joseph Cornell had “stolen [the film] from [his] subconscious!” Subsequently, the film was not shown in public again until the 1960s when Cornell had it reprinted on rose-tinted filmstock. No word on whether Rose Hobart the actress ever learned of the film’s existence during her lifetime.
#LaEsoterica #RoseHobart
@analgesicsleep That would be a great movie scene. Cornell and Dali screaming at each other in public and Rose Hobart comes over to settle them down. #LaEsoterica