The Hangman (1964)

A parable about the consequences of being a bystander to evil, from a disturbing poem by Maurice Ogden, read by Herschel Bernardi. Shadows and shifting geometric planes lend a Chirico-like quality to Julian’s animation. Great musical score by Serge Hovey. About the film, Steve Goldman writes: “Les Goldman was my father. Creating this film was one of the most important accomplishments of his life. He was inspired to make this film after hearing the poem ’Hangman’ read on Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles by Les Claypool. My father almost single-handedly raised the money to make the film, with $100 and $200 donations from friends and associates. Paul Julian, Serge Hovey, and Herschel Bernardi were friends and colleagues of my father. He elicited their help in making the film. Though the poem on which the film is based has Holocaust parallels, the poet, Maurice Ogden, was actually writing about America during the McCarthy era. Ogden was an actor and writer who was denied work and