The Secret Cinema

This article is about the film. For the UK-based events company, see Secret Cinema (events company).

The Secret Cinema is a short black-and-white film produced, written, and directed by Paul Bartel, and released in 1966, gaining somewhat wider distribution in 1968.^[2][3] The film is about a woman who is manipulated by people around her so a director can film her to screen the results in a theater.^[4] The film is described as voyeuristic or surveillance film, though obviously staged.

The Secret Cinema
Directed by	Paul Bartel
Written by	Paul Bartel
Produced by	Paul Bartel Bob Schulenberg
Starring	Amy Vane Philip Carlson Barry Dennen Connie Ellison Gordon Felio Estelle Omens
Cinematography	Fred Wellington
Edited by	Sam Moore
Music by	The Rusty Nails
Production company	Hacienda-Tropicana-Madness
Distributed by	The Film-Makers' Cooperative
Release date	1966 (1966)[1]
Running time	30 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5,000

Plot summary

Jane (Amy Vane) is a secretary whose daily activities are being secretly filmed, with the knowledge and assistance of those who are closest to her. She's sexually harassed by her corpulent boss, Mr. Troppogrosso (Gordon Felio), humiliated by her boyfriend, given the gaslight treatment by the people around her, etc. The film is then shown in theaters. She is starting to suspect that something isn't quite right.

Notes

• In 1986, Paul Bartel remade the film as an episode of Amazing Stories (season 1, episode 20), in which Bartel also played the part of the psychiatrist Dr. Shreck.
• This film has been released on videocassette by Rhino Entertainment, packaged with a 7-minute erotic short entitled The Naughty Nurse.
• In 1998, the premise of someone's life being secretly filmed was used in The Truman Show.
• In 2012 The Secret Cinema, along with The Naughty Nurse, was released as a bonus feature on The Criterion Collection's DVD and Blu-ray releases of Eating Raoul.
• In 2017, The Secret Cinema was restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.^[5]

See also

• List of American films of 1966
• List of films featuring surveillance