Monday, July 25 – Tuesday, July 26

Monday, July 25

Worth devotes five pages to his description of the World Premiere. A sample of his observations:

(1) They laugh at the boy carrying water in Mike’s film – there were comments during the scene of the boy carrying water that was several times quite loud, all laughs when they wash clothes and when you see close-ups – laugh when the boy is scrubbing – the old woman siting to the left of me is smiling and commenting in the dark towards the end. The scenes where everybody is walking seems to give the audience time to talk. Lots of fun at this one.

(2) Most people watching are very absorbed – the little kids seem very restless – there is a slight laugh as Sam pulls the roots out of the ground. They seem more restless during this film than during the first film – there are lots of remarks when Sam points his fingers during the finger painting – there are really big laughs when Dick is working. A little kid just said look during the sand painting – more laughs when Yazzie paints Dick’s head – laughs when they look at the hay – more laughs during the second sand painting when Dick sits on it. When Huski comes on there are laughs – I’m watching Nazba and Elizabeth  – They are sitting there entranced laughing at Sam eating – a real uproar at Sam mugging – when he looks at the audience, it really breaks them up.

(3) There seems to be general silence for Johnny’s film – Nazba and Elizabeth are very sterned face now. They don’t seem happy – the older men and women are talking importantly to each other – the men seem very interested – one old Navajo of about fifty isn’t even looking at the film more than half the time – most of them are rapidly watching – some of them are watching me – one man left during this film – two girls left –

(4) There don’t seem to be any laughs when Susie’s mother washes anything – there seems to be wrapped attention for this film despite this little boy monster (Elizabeth’s kid) who keeps on running around no one stopping him – now the lot god damn little kid is yelping – but there are no sounds from the audience so far.

(5) There are giggles throughout the mine sequence of Johnny’s film – I could barely sit through most of the showing because of the strong feeling of nothing happens for so long and for such a large portion of time – there are giggles just at the moment when there is a close-up of Ballou’s head which is supposed to be thinking out loud – this is the loudest giggle in any film so far except the shot of Sam Yazzie mugging – check Dick’s log to see if the laughs really come at the close up of Ballou.

After the films are shown, Adair interviews the audience with the help of William Morgan, a Navajo translator from outside of Pine Springs (B14FF30PP321-2).

Tuesday, July 26

Worth observes Susie teaching Alta to film, noting that,

As I left them, Susie and her mother were sitting under the tree continuing the lesson as peacefully as one could want. Actually it was one of the most idyllic and rather beautiful scenes that I have seen this summer. The picture, and I feel that I must describe it even though it’s of no value to anybody but myself, (it will trigger the whole thing back for me) her mother brought out a folding chair. And Susie brought out a box, and they instantly seemed to disregard me in terms of looking at me or paying any kind of attention to what I was saying or doing, (actually I wasn’t saying much). It isn’t however that Susie forgot my presence, because every once in a while she would mumble an aside to me in English which I hope I was able to catch on the tape, filling me in in the most pleasant way, into the situation (B14FF30PP324-5).

This is the last recorded entry of his field notes. Evidently he was happy to have finished dictating his notes, as the final words of the transcript are,

THIS IS THE END OF THE JOURNAL. THANK GOD. END OF DICTATION. END OF DICTATION! (B14FF30P337).

Back: July 18-24

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