Lullaby is a dance drama choreographed as a new mother’s premonition of the aftermath of the explosion of the first nuclear bomb. It was filmed on a professional Hollywood sound stage by two world-renown cameramen – Wilmos Zsigmond and Leslie Kovacs – who had personally just escaped with their lives and cameras from the Hungarian revolution, and were understanding of the import of this premonition, as were the two film directors – Frank Gardonyi and Ivan Nagy – who also had recently escaped Hungary’s bloody revolution.

The drama unfolds in the mother’s dream as she sings her baby to sleep. We are transported to the construction drillers, active in their work, the gorgeous woman with the long hair preening in front of the mirror, the three card players and their dance of cheating, and the secretary. And the mother is caught up in their lives. Somehow the bomb falls, the worst possible scenario happens and the mother searches for her baby amongst the desperation and ruins. The dream is over. The beautiful dance of the mother and her newborn, in relief, begins again. Is it a dream?

The film placed third in the International Film Festival in San Francisco in ’60-’61.

The music is by C.B. Jackson, who also composed for the groundbreaking, revolutionary, multi-cultural Los Angeles Dance Center* and went on to compose for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. He was the founder and director of the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

*See article on Anne Lief Barlin.

Original Cast, 1961

Scenario & Choreography . . . . . Fanchon Shur
Music Composer . . . . . C.B. Jackson
Directed By . . . . . Frank Gardonyi and Ivan Nagy
Cinematography . . . . . Wilmos Zsigmond and Leslie Kovacs
Mother . . . . . Joan Nicholson
Drillers . . . . . Howard Henderson and Larry Warren
Girl With Long Hair . . . . . Kate Hughes
Cardshark . . . . . Gail Ziffersteln
Players . . . . . Julian Reyno and Marianne Megulre
Typist . . . . . Sandy Levitt
Set Design . . . . . Stuart Miller
Costume Design . . . . . Jay Arre
Narrator . . . . . Murray Wagner
Make-Up . . . . . Stuart Miller and Judy Levitt
Gaffer . . . . . John Vicarle

Video

Lullaby from Fanchon Shur on Vimeo.