George Dumpson's Place (1965) User Reviews

Amateurish photography left me confused.

[Art-22 · 3/10 · 26 February 2003]

I assume Ed Emshwiller did the photography since there was no credit for it, but it struck me as very amateurish. Closeups were often panned so quickly it was impossible to digest or even discern what was being filmed. Such closeups wind up as a jumble difficult to comprehend. So it was in this film. Occasionally the camera slowed but some closeups were still so extreme I couldn't comprehend the image. I gathered George Dumpson's place had a garden filled with junk art. Inside, the house was poorly lit, so I had the same trouble. After one minute I was totally confused and somewhat frustrated, but I stuck it through. A second viewing did not help much. Perhaps it may be clearer if projected in a theater rather than viewed on a large screen TV from a video print, where it is definitely not recommended despite some rather nice music.

George's place is a dump

[ackstasis · 4/10 · 15 October 2008]

George Dumpson was aptly named, for he lived on a property that can only be described as a rubbish tip, with junk strewn across the ground, a violent clash of forest and metal. This is probably what drew experimental artist Ed Emshwiller (1926-1990) to the site. That Dumpson, a poor African-American on Long Island, was an artist of sorts himself (a handyman, more precisely) meant that Emshwiller had a lot of sympathy for him, and his camera surveys the old man's pig-sty with curious affection. Unfortunately, whatever this filmmaker saw in George Dumpson's place is pretty much lost on the camera, and there's really little to justify spending eight minutes watching a guided tour of a home you'd rather not visit. This might have been different if Emshwiller had done something interesting with the camera, but his bag of technical tricks is limited to brisk, occasionally-dynamic panning shots – the camera is never static – and certainly contains nothing that, given a video camera, I couldn't have done myself.

Emshwiller considered Dumpson an artist because "my definition of an artist is a person reorganising the world, creating a world in his internal likeness." Maybe there are traces of its owner's personality in the haphazard scattering of rubbish at Dumpson's place, but, regardless, the film is at its strongest when focused directly on the owner himself, closely observing his withered hands and stark, sincere face (Dumpson would not live long enough to see the film released). Also, on the plus side, 'George Dumpson's Place (1965)' is furnished with a soothing, relaxed music score performed by Stuart Scharf, Jay Berliner and Bill Lee. For all those interested parties, this experimental short film is available on the National Film Preservation Foundation's "Treasures from American Film Archives" compilation DVD. I don't know if I'd recommend this film to the casual film-goer, but anybody with a passing interest in experimental cinema should at least consider a single viewing. Maybe you'll notice something that I didn't.

The original music of the film was different - the film is extraordinary

[falicoff · 9/10 · 24 August 2006]

The original film circa 1963 shown in a NY film festival (I believe the NY Film Festival) had different music than the version released in 1965 which is the current viewable version. In the 1963 version (which won an award) the music was performed on a single classical guitar. I was 18 years old at the time when I composed and played the music for Ed Emshwiller's film. (Ed accidentally erased my tape recorded music shortly after its first showing at the film festival. The music was separate from the film in the first showing.) His film in my opinion is extraordinary. I cannot comment on the later music which I am sure is very different from mine. However, I believe that the film speaks with its own voice with or without the music. Even though I have not seen his film in over 40 years, the images still resonate in my mind. The camera floats through a man-made world that is imaginative, strange and at times beautiful.

By the way for those who need proof of my claim of an earlier version of the film, it is mentioned in the book "Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970" by Clifford McCarty on page 97.

Four point six??

[JohnSeal · 8/10 · 17 November 2010]

I was shocked to discover that George Dumpson's Place is so poorly regarded by all 49 (now 50) users who have rated it. I guess everyone enjoys dumping on poor old George, not to mention filmmaker Ed Emshwiller. As for me, I fluctuated between giving the film a seven or an eight, finally settling on the latter due to the film's evocative guitar score, the ominous overtones of which reminded me of The End by The Doors. In fact, parts of George Dumpson's Place feel like a brief pre-echo of Apocalypse Now: one feels as if transported into an uncharted and possibly dangerous land populated by broken down old dolls and a limitless assortment of other ephemera and bric-a-brac. What a character George must have been: it's a great pity we don't get to hear him tell his story.

My Uncle George Dumpson (Dempsey)

[efisher-00929 · 10/10 · 1 October 2015]

I Haven't seen Uncle George since I am a little girl. He would visit our home on Mill River Road in Oyster Bay, NY. I always remember Uncle George to be a happy, and content person. I would think of him sometimes today when I go back to memory lane. Uncle George was my grandfathers brother. My mother would prepare food for him and he didn't want to stay anyplace else but at his "home sweet home". I Didn't have any pictures of Uncle George but now I can review this wonderful film. I am so very happy to see this film and I thank everyone involved. I will contact my relatives in Oyster Bay, NY and various parts of Long Island to tell them about this wonderful film I found of our Uncle George.

I'm not sure how this one made the collection...

[planktonrules · 12 August 2011]

This is the final film from the third DVD from the "Treasures from American Film Archives (2000)" set. It consists of a rather faded 16mm print of a tour through the collection of an old guy living in the woods (Dumpson). To me, he seemed like a crazy old hoarder and I really can't see the significance of the film historically speaking--though I am sure psychologists would be fascinated by this bizarre man who lived a rather schizoid life (by schizoid I mean that he had no real desire to interact with others and just 'did his thing' in a tumble-down shack in the woods). I just can't see how a film about a junk collection is important to preserve.

The film is accompanied by a slow jazz score done by guitar and bass and is filmed in color. There is no narration or narrative, though I must admit a few of the shots did appear rather artsy for such a cheap looking film. At just under eight minutes, it sure felt like 30, as it dragged and dragged. It's also impossible to really rate this sort of film.