Troika (1969 film)

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Troika
Troika promotional poster, depicting a tall insect-like humanoid walking through a grassy field
1969 promotional poster
Directed byFredric Hobbs
Gordon Mueller
Written byFredric Hobbs
Produced byFredric Hobbs
StarringFredric Hobbs
Richard Faun
Morgan Upton
Nate Thurmond
Gloria Rossi
Parra O'Siochain
CinematographyWilliam Heick[1]
Edited byGordon Mueller
Music byFredric Hobbs
Gordon Mueller
Production
company
Inca Films
Distributed byEmerson Film Enterprises[2]
Release dates
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Troika is a 1969 American comedy anthology-art film written, directed, and produced by artist-turned-filmmaker Carl Fredric Hobbs. It stars Hobbs, Richard Faun, Morgan Upton, Nate Thurmond, Gloria Rossi, and members of the San Francisco Art Institute. The plot is composed of three separate stories threaded together around a central storyline about a fictional version of the director Hobbs attempting to gain financing for a film titled "Troika".

Troika was first conceived by Hobbs after he worked with filmmakers Ron Bostwick and Robert Blaisdell on the short film Trojan Horse, showcasing a recent sculpture of the same name. Inspired by the experience, Hobbs began developing the film into what he referred to as a "modern morality play", with its name taken from the Russian word meaning 'a set of three', referencing the three overlapping stories. The film was shot on location in early to mid-1969, utilizing various sets in and around California. The film's score was composed in collaboration with Hobbs and editor/co-director Gordon Mueller.

Troika initially had a preview screening on October 12, 1969 before officially premiering on November 8 of that same year. It received little attention from mainstream film critics, with select reviews being mixed to positive. The film served as a foundation for Hobbs' continued work in the film industry, developing three additional films until his retirement in the late 1970s. The film has currently not been released on home video, with Hobbs being unsatisfied with the current print of the film, refusing to grant distribution rights up to his death in 2018. A copy of the film was later acquired by Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts, who restored the film in collaboration with Hobbs' estate. The newly restored version of the film was screened at the Weird Weekend Cult Film Festival on October 28, 2022.

Plot[edit]

Note: Troika's storyline does not follow a conventional narrative, being composed of four stories told in differing narrative styles. This plot synopsis and chapter titles are adapted from an interview of Hobbs in the non-fiction book Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of Exploitation Independents written by Stephen Thrower, and an article for the Daily News.[4][5]

The film is structured in three segments, with the main story centering around an artist–Fredric Hobbs portraying a fictional version of himself– as he attempts to convince millionaire Gordon Goodloins (Richard Faun) to invest in a proposed art film titled Troika. In a series of increasingly desperate encounters with Goodloins, Hobbs tries to pitch the idea for the film only to be rebuffed and insulted by the producer. The sequence ends with Goodloins driving off in a limousine as Hobbs angrily chases behind him, shouting, "Up yours, Mr. Goodloins!"

Part One: The Chef[edit]

A seemingly crazed Chef (Hobbs) in ritualistic face paint is in the process of crafting an alchemical brew within a large vat, with various items such as war medals and emblems thrown into the bubbling mixture. Nearby, a homunculus fashioned out of cloths lies still as the Chef uses pieces of it as ingredients for the potion. Still not satisfied with the brew's current state, the Chef introduces a woman (Gloria Rossi), covered in similar ritualistically painted symbols, they both dance to a tango before he tosses her into the vat. Picking up a rose dropped by the woman, the Chef gazes at it for a short while before tossing it into the vat.

Part Two: Alma Mater[edit]

Functioning as a fake "expressionist documentary", the sequence depicts a student demonstration within the late 1960s. The sequence opens amid a sit-in on a college campus while police mounted on horseback amass outside. Within the classroom, students covered in white face paint recline upon toilet seats and chaise longues in place of chairs, while various college professors present their lessons to the students, who view the presentations with downcast emotions. After six individual professors complete their lecture to the crowd, the frustrated students boo their dunce-capped teacher out of the classroom as the segment ends.

Part Three: The Blue People[edit]

The segment opens with an old-west-style train stopping at a grassy landscape to let off its passengers. Exiting the train, a tall insect-like humanoid named Rax (Morgan Upton) embarks on a trek across the area into the coastal hills nearby. Shortly after making his way there, Rax is brutally attacked by a feral Warrior (Parra O'Siochain) who assaults him with a stone ax and leaves him for dead. Severely injured, Rax staggers onto a beach where he collapses and convulses in pain as an orange-colored woman (Rossi) emerges from the ocean, pushing a large sculpture with her. Upon viewing the injured Rax, the woman turns her attention to him, caressing his wounds and eventually masturbating in front of him.

The segment abruptly cuts to a seemingly rejuvenated Rax entering an ice-covered cave where he encounters a seven-foot-tall shaman known as the Attenuated Man (Nate Thurmond). Addressing Rax in Arabic, the Attenuated Man induces a vision of three thieves (a sculpture depicting three corpse-like beings) who emerge from the ceiling of the cave. Dispersed throughout the segment is a procession of the titular "Blue People" as they proceed across an otherworldly countryside accompanied by a strange vehicle. At this point, the segment cuts from the cave, as Rax, alongside the Attenuated Man, joins the Blue people who embrace him as their "savior". The procession escorts Rax in regal splendor as they march through a "ghost town", sparsely populated by Blue and Purple people before they arrive at a railway terminal. There Rax bids the group goodbye as he boards the same train he departed from at the beginning, and the segment ends with a shot of Rax as he merges with the Three Thieves.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Troika was written, directed, and produced by Hobbs beginning in early 1969. Hobbs had studied at Cornell University, graduating in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in History. After serving as a United States Air Force Officer in the Korean War, he maintained a studio in Madrid where he attended the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando before eventually moving to California.[6][7] After producing a series of acclaimed art pieces throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hobbs collaborated with filmmakers Ron Bostwick and Robert Blaisdell in 1967 on a twenty-five minute[Note 1] short documentary titled Trojan Horse, which served to showcase an art piece of the same name.[10][11] While working on the project, Hobbs became fascinated with film as an artistic medium and began to develop the concept for his own potential film, which he described as a "modern morality play".[8][12] While developing the film, Hobbs structured the film around three different stories that were threaded around a central storyline involving a fictional version of himself attempting to gain financing for the film. The film's title, Troika, was chosen as it refers to the Russian word тройка, meaning 'a set of three', referencing the three overlapping stories.[13] The film was partially financed by Hobbs and the independent production company Inca Films.[12][14]

The film's genre was categorized by media outlets at the time of the film's release as a "comedy" or "art film".[15][16] Troika incorporates several different narratives and genres for each segment. Hobbs intentionally crafted the narrative structure of the film as a series of increasingly bizarre segments, with the final segment being the one he later took the most satisfaction from.[8] For the "Alma Mater" segment, shot in the narrative style of a documentary, Hobbs reportedly took his inspiration from the Kent State riots,[5] which occurred in 1967 and later in April 1969.[17]

Casting[edit]

Troika's cast was composed of unknown performers, several of whose only acting credit was the film. Hobbs also starred in the film as a fictional version of himself in addition to the characters of the "Chef" and "Fantom".[18] San Francisco-based basketball player Nate Thurmond of the Golden State Warriors, was hired to portray the mystical Attenuated Man in the final segment of the film;[4][5] one commentator described his role as a Christ-like figure.[19] Morgan Upton, later known for his roles as Wally Henderson in The Candidate (1972)[20] and Mr. Gilfond in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986),[21] starred in the film as Rax, the Bug-Man.[4][5]

Members of the San Francisco Art Institute provided additional credits for other characters in the film, such as the students in the "Alma Mater" sequence, and the Blue/Purple People in the final sequence.[3][4] Some of the Blue people in the marching sequence were student activists of the UC Berkeley School of Law, who volunteered for small parts in the film.[5]: 359 

Filming and post-production[edit]

A medium shot of the entrance to the San Francisco Art Institute
Facilities at the San Francisco Art Institute were used as one of the film's shooting locations.

Principal photography began in early-mid 1969, with Gordon Mueller, in addition to his duties as the film's editor, stepping in to help direct certain scenes when Hobbs was on camera.[5]

Photographer-turned-filmmaker William Heick was hired as Troika's cinematographer. Heick was a close friend of Hobbs, and had previously worked with avant-garde filmmaker Sidney Peterson on various short films between 1948 and 1953.[8] The "Chef" sequence was shot inside a local brewery, where Hobbs was permitted to shoot, with the crew also utilizing their brewer's vat as a stand-in for the chef's alchemy pot.[5]: 358  For the "Alma Mater" sequence, Hobbs utilized the faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute, with the San Francisco Examiner reporting that additional filming locations took place in Hillsborough, California.[22] The documentary footage depicted in the segment was shot during the 1960s Berkeley protests.[15] Scenes of the ghost town in the final "Blue People" sequence were filmed in Collinsville, California, while the "otherworldly" landscape was shot in the outskirts of the town where a brush fire had recently occurred. The student activists portraying the Blue People during the marching sequence were extensively drilled by Hobbs to march in step.[5]: 359  Hobbs had originally intended to include a sequence involving Thurmond's character as he runs alongside the skyline. The scene was filmed at Fort Cronkhite, but was shortly abandoned after Hobbs claimed that during the take the military began firing Nike missiles as an artillery exercise, ruining the shot.[23]

In addition to the costume designs, all of the art pieces shown throughout the film were created by Hobbs, with his previous works such as Trojan Horse and Three Thieves sculptures making special appearances in the film. Hobbs also worked closely with co-director Mueller to create the film's soundtrack, which Thrower described as echoing the works of avant-garde composer La Monte Young.[5]: 359 

Release[edit]

Release[edit]

Troika received a preview screening on October 12, 1969.[19] Artwork and sculptures created for the film were exhibited at the John Bolles Gallery in San Francisco on November 8 that year,[22] and the film had its official premiere in New York on November 21.[3] It was also screened at the Granada Theater in Wilmington, California on November 28, receiving doubling-billing alongside John Perry's short film Dandelion (1969).[24] During its release, some theaters advertised it with the caption "Means Three",[25] a translation of the Russian name the title was based on.[13]

In 1979, Troika had brief airings on television in the UK and Canada, from May to December of that year.[26][27][28]

Rediscovery[edit]

A peace symbol imposed over a black background with the film's title and screening dates
Promotional poster for the film for the Weird Weekend Cult Film Festival

Troika has never been released on home video,[8] as Hobbs refused to grant any distribution rights for the film, as he later told Thrower that he was still not satisfied with the current version of the film and had been continuously editing the film.[8] Up to his death in 2018, Hobbs continued to deny any attempts to release the film, the only known print of the film stored at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives.[29][30]

After being considered unobtainable for many years, it was announced in October 2022,[31] that the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, working in collaboration with Hobbs' estate, had acquired a print of the film and had begun restoration attempts at the American Genre Film Archive.[30] Troika was screened for the first time in over fifty years at the Weird Weekend Cult Film Festival on October 28, 2022, with the screening accompanied by an introductory presentation by Stephen Thrower.[32] As of 2023 there have been no further screenings of the film.

Reception[edit]

Reviews of Troika were mixed to positive, with advocates for the film highlighting the unique visual style and narrative. Reviewing the film in its 1969 screening, Howard Thompson of The New York Times highlighted the film's unconventional story and plot, calling the film "a cluttered and disconnected collage of art objects, paintings, live-action fantasy and symbolism".[16] Its surreal and psychedelic visuals were also praised by video retail company Blockbuster Video, in their annual movie guide, calling it a "wildly offbeat look at the movie business".[33] Monthly publication TV Guide echoed this sentiment, while also noting that the film would only appeal to viewers who did not mind its unconventional narrative.[34]

While the film's visuals and unique narrative were received positively by some critics, others criticized it for these same qualities. Weekly publication Cue magazine highly criticized its visuals, which they called "grotesque", lambasting the film as a self-indulgent parade of sequences which were "devoid of talent".[35] Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times offered similar criticism, describing the film as largely incoherent, despite an admittedly unique narrative. Thomas further highlighted the film's comedic aspects as he opined that they were too heavy-handed to be funny.[15] A later summary of the film by the publication would refer to the film as "obscure and boring".[36] In her 1969 review of the film, Wanda Hale of the Daily News wrote that the film had artistic merits but was undone by 'amateurish' production values.[4]

Legacy[edit]

After the release of Troika, Hobbs continued to work in the film industry, developing three additional films throughout the 1970s.[7][11] A year after the film's release, Hobbs was approached by pornographic film producer Habib Afif Carouba with the proposition that he would finance the director's next film with the stipulation that it would be a porn film.[12][37] Hobbs' resulting film, titled Roseland: A Fable (1970), was a surreal philosophical satire on the porn industry itself. The film gained some controversy during production and after its release due to its content, which was considered scandalous for a mainstream film at the time.[38]

In 1973 Hobbs significantly increased his theatrical output, writing and directing what would be his final two films.[39] The first of these was Alabama's Ghost (1973), a horror film that combines the themes and motifs of blaxploitation and vampire films.[40] His final film, Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973), continued his exploration of the blaxploitation genre, placing the film in a horror western setting.[11] Both films were critical and commercial failures,[39][41] which, combined with behind-the-scenes conflicts with producers of both films caused Hobbs to grow discontent with the film industry, who subsequently retired from filmmaking.[39]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ While some sources list the runtime as thirty minutes,[6][8] a 1968 publication from the Library of Congress gives the runtime as twenty-five minutes.[9]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Nash & Ross 1985, p. 1290.
  2. ^ Aros 1977, p. 461.
  3. ^ a b c "Troika". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hale 1969, p. 56.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thrower 2007, pp. 357–359.
  6. ^ a b Albright 1985, p. 107.
  7. ^ a b Thrower 2007, p. 363.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Thrower 2007, p. 364.
  9. ^ Library of Congress 1968, p. 487.
  10. ^ The Art Gallery 1967, p. 59.
  11. ^ a b c Hinckle & Hobbs 1978, p. 173.
  12. ^ a b c Albright, Thomas (April 29, 1971). "Visuals: Two films from San Francisco artist Frederic Hobbs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Thrower 2007, p. 357.
  14. ^ Jimenez, Laird (July 3, 2018). "Fredric Hobbs And The Cult Afterlife Of GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS". Birth.Movies.Death. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c Thomas 1969a, p. 106.
  16. ^ a b Thompson 1969.
  17. ^ Means 2016, pp. 22–26.
  18. ^ Lee 1972, p. 504.
  19. ^ a b Lewis 1969, p. 88.
  20. ^ Aros 1977, p. 64.
  21. ^ Welsh, Phillips & Hill 2010, p. 267.
  22. ^ a b Morch 1969, p. 51.
  23. ^ Lynch 1971, p. 8.
  24. ^ The Los Angeles Times 1969, p. 26.
  25. ^ Los Angeles Evening Citizen 1969, p. 8.
  26. ^ Red Deer Advocate 1979, p. 50.
  27. ^ Birmingham Post 1979, p. 1.
  28. ^ Edmonton Journal 1979, p. 90.
  29. ^ "Troika". Berkeley Library. University of California Berkeley. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  30. ^ a b "Troika (Fredric Hobbs, 1969)". Weird Weekend Cult Film Festival. October 12, 2022. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  31. ^ Matchbox Cine (October 12, 2022). "Matchbox Cine on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  32. ^ "WEIRD WEEKEND III: Troika". Center for Contemporary Arts. October 28, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  33. ^ Castell 1995, p. 1159.
  34. ^ "Troika - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  35. ^ Glankoff 1969, p. 3.
  36. ^ Thomas 1969b, p. 28.
  37. ^ Weldon 1996, p. 474.
  38. ^ Bladen 1971, p. 13.
  39. ^ a b c Thrower 2007, p. 371.
  40. ^ Renshaw, Jerry (January 1, 1999). "Scanlines: Alabama's Ghost". The Austin Chronicle. Vol. 18, no. 18. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  41. ^ Renshaw, Jerry (October 17, 1997). "Scanlines: The Godmonster of Indian Flats". The Austin Chronicle. Vol. 17, no. 7. Retrieved August 21, 2023.

Sources[edit]

Books[edit]

Periodicals[edit]

External links[edit]

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